Pastor's visit to public school ignites controversy.SEVEN MEMBERS OF A BIBLE study Bible study may refer to:
Danbury's Mission Statement: "Danbury High School is an academic institution, in partnership with parents and other members of the community, committed to promoting high standards in all aspects of school life. in Connecticut attended an after-school meeting to hear a preacher deliver an antigay message in celebration of the national Day of Truth in April. North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. pastor Valerie Pinnex was allowed to speak at the school only after Principal Catherine Richard received a threatening e-mail from the Alliance Defense Fund The Alliance Defense Fund ("ADF") is a conservative Christian non-profit organization with the stated goal of "defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation. , a conservative legal alliance group. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. its Web site, the Day of Truth was created in 2005 by the Alliance Defense Fund to "counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda The homosexual agenda (or the gay agenda) is a term used by some social conservatives in the United States to describe the goal of increasing LGBT acceptance and equality through public policies, media exposure, and cultural change. and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective." It was established as a pointed response to the national Day of Silence, the 10-year-old student-led action towards creating safer schools for all students regardless of sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. , gender identity or gender expression and whose name comes from such students' collective feeling of being silenced by others. After Richard first told the student group, Youth Alive Club, that the formerly gay preacher's personal story of finding Jesus and being "cured of sinful homosexual behavior" was too controversial and would send the wrong message to students, the club president contacted the Alliance Defense Fund. Upon receiving the e-mail, the school board attorney counseled Richard and Superintendent Salvatore Pascarella that the students' First Amendment rights would be curtailed if Pinnex was not allowed to speak. So the talk went on as planned. It was held during the school's annual Peace Week event, which includes random acts of kindness Kindness See also Generosity. Allworthy, Squire Tom Jones’s goodhearted foster father. [Br. Lit. and a day for students to give others compliments. Danbury High teacher Cindy NeJame, who helped organize the Day of Silence as part of Peace Week, attended the talk and was appalled by Pinnex's message. But Debbie Stence, also a teacher and the Youth Alive Club advisor, insists there was nothing wrong with having the pastor come to speak and tell her story. "Christian students have a right to express their opinions as well," she says. Nonetheless, Stence says that the meeting has generated considerable animosity at the school and notes that students have chided her behind her back with facetious remarks about their "going to hell." Richard hasn't ruled out the possibility that the school might now face a lawsuit from the other side. "It's a very emotional, interesting situation," she said. "We'll have to wait and see what happens." |
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