Is ‘Pride’ the New ‘Religion in Schools’?

Bob McCoskrie
National Director
Family First

We’ve been made aware of a new resource designed primarily for faith-based schools by InsideOut.

InsideOut is a Rainbow Youth programme funded by the Ministry of Social Development which is being pushed under the banner of ‘anti-bullying’, and aimed at children as young as Year 7. Our children are being indoctrinated with the message

“Gender identity is a person’s own sense of identification as male, female, neither, both, or somewhere in between. Sometimes people get confused about the difference between gender and sex. Gender refers to the gender that someone identifies with, while sex is usually refers to the sex someone is assigned at birth.”

This new resource is ‘Join this Chariot: Christian Schools Supporting Rainbow Students’ Wellbeing’ – and is described as being a “carefully and very lovingly crafted theologically grounded educational resource” and “a taonga.”The claim that the resource is “a truly compassionate narrative” is gobbledygook. Only people can be compassionate. The resource is neither theologically grounded nor carefully crafted. Its Foreword quickly indicates that the resource is neither theologically grounded nor a Taonga.

What this precious resource provides is an exemplary reading of the Gospel text, ‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly . . .’ For just as Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees for not taking care of those for whom they are responsible, for instead acting as those who bring fear and potential harm into the lives of those most vulnerable, he is also insisting it is the human right of all to choose if they so desire, to ‘come out [sic] and to go find abundant pasture’!

This of course is a complete (and offensive) misrepresentation of the words of Jesus in John 10:9. Further below are excerpts from the resource which you may find both amusing but also offensive and alarming.

WHY CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS WILL IGNORE THIS RESOURCE
(and why parents of students at these schools should check)

State integrated and private faith-based schools have a designated special character which is mostly Christian (there are some Islamic schools also). In the case of Christian schools, these schools have a responsibility to uphold their Christian character. The character of these schools is being increasingly pressured by the mores of our time rather than those virtues intrinsic to the special character of a Christian school.

A Christian school hardly needs to be told by the state that it must not discriminate; treat others as inferior to oneself. The New Testament makes that clear. However, the same Testament tells us we must be discerning; in day-to-day practice that has come to mean understanding the distinction between tolerance and affirmation.

The political concept of inclusion, if taken seriously, must also include, accept and “keep safe” those young Christians who believe in a biblical sexual ethic, and that sexual behaviour is sinful outside the protection of biblical marriage.

These schools exist on the foundation of Scripture. Otherwise it has no special character worthy of note. Few people would suggest that young people should not be treated with fairness and understanding. But neither fairness nor understanding demand in any Christian environment the skewing of Scripture to support sinful behaviour in the name of inclusion.

There is an essential underlying problem in that the writers of InsideOut have a different understanding of what it means to be human than that presented in the Bible.

As we have previously stated, these types of programmes are wanting to politicise the sexualisation of school children under the guise of bullying programmes rather than deal with the school bullying issue as it should be dealt with. They are predominantly about promoting a LGBT-narrative.

READ MORE: To the Minister of Education: Keep ALL Students Safe From Bullying

This resource from InsideOut is not the authority on sexual ethics. The questions that parents should be asking are:

• Does the school actually reinforce the traditional Christian teaching that all sexual behaviour outside of marriage between a man and a woman is sinful? If not, why not?
• Is the school teaching the students the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its implications for behaviour, hope and meaning, and of course, sexual order and biological reality, or is it encouraging them to believe in the contemporary gospel of relativism presently articulated in the cult of diversity, inclusion and tolerance?
• Does the school teach a biblical theology of the person?

EXCERPTS FROM THE RESOURCE
(our emphasis added)

“RAINBOW-ISH STORIES IN THE BIBLE”

“The story of Ruth and Naomi (in the book of Ruth), and David and Jonathan (in 1 Samuel) are both about life-long commitment between people of the same gender.”

Somehow a friendship between two males or two females is now unique and an indication of sexuality!

“Ruth and Naomi were not in an intimate relationship, but they had a deep commitment to each other. Ruth’s decision to marry Boaz (a rich land-owner) was more about finding a way to provide for herself and Naomi than it was about being in love with Boaz.”

In other words, Ruth married Boaz for the money – but was in love with another woman

“Jonathan and David were in a committed relationship that may have been sexual.  Jonathan warned David that he was in danger from King Saul (Jonathan’s father), because Jonathan ‘took great delight in’ David. ‘Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul’ (1 Samuel 18:3). When David and Jonathan have to part for safety reasons, they kiss, ‘they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded’ (1 Samuel 20:41, KJV). The word here translated as ‘exceeded’ literally means ‘become large’, i.e. David had an erection.”

This bizarre interpretation is both shocking and offensive. It continues…

“Many modern translations have hidden this, instead saying ‘they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more’ (NRSV).”

Yes – because biblical scholars have come to that same conclusion

“The story of the Roman Centurion and his servant (Luke 7:1-10) is also a story of care and devotion between two men. The Roman Centurion goes outside of his culture and status to ask Jesus to heal his ‘pais’, which Jesus does, praising the centurion’s faith. The word ‘pais’ was commonly used at the time to refer to a younger person in a same-gender relationship.”

Board member Bruce Logan (who has written additional commentary in our full post) comments – Pais … can be translated variously child (can be either male or female) boy, youth. To suggest that it was “commonly used at the time to refer to a younger person in a same-gender relationship” is not supported by any authority. And even if it were so it would not give any authority to the relationship.

The resource goes on to say that the story of Philip and the eunuch in Acts 8:26-39,“is where the name of this resource comes from. It is about a person who is a gender minority becoming a Christian after a conversation with Philip. In this interaction, both people were changed: the eunuch became a Christian, and Philip’s cultural prejudices about who is acceptable to God were challenged!”

The Ethiopian eunuch was not a “gender minority person”. To make that claim requires that a reader must read back from his or her predilection to the text. To identify ritual uncleanness with unworthiness to worship God is a strange reading of the text. But it does of course fit the ideology of the writers of InsideOut. The sheer unsubstantiated boldness of the claim exposes the limitations of the resource’s method of interpretation.

In his book What do you learn in School, Brian Watts states,“… Christian education should teach our children to think from a biblical worldview. Our goal is to train a generation of young people who can build on God’s Word and who will be part of the solution to the coming crises in our culture.”

It is important that parents are aware of these resources and their content – especially parents who have chosen faith-based schools to avoid this type of material

Please share so others can discover The BFD.