Day of Silence - a truly Christian response

I first heard of the Day of Silence at a board meeting recently. On April 25, 2008 students are being encouraged to have a day of silence in honor of a student who was shot and killed because of his sexual orientation which I would assume was homosexual. While I completely disagree with the homosexual agenda, I whole-heartedly disagree with violence to gays.

I am writing today because I have never believed that we will get anywhere with those we disagree with by carrying banners, protest marches, petition drives and the like. We are called to love those with whom we disagree. This is called grace and I would rather be known for what I am for rather than what I am against.

Our senior high pastor, Mark Forstrom, has written an incredible article on the subject and it is posted on his blog. Much of what he says is an answer Don Wildmon and the American Family Association (AFA) which has a very ungracious and unchristian response to the Day of Silence. (Please know that Tye's Jazz dot com does not endorse AFA in any way.)

Here is part of Mark's response which can be read in its entirety on his blog:

I’ve started receiving numerous emails about boycotting the April 25th Day of Silence (details below) and I want to offer my perspective for consideration.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about it as well as some research about this event. The DayofSilence.org website says the purpose of the event is to: “observe a daylong silence to protest the bullying, harassment and name-calling—in effect, the silencing—faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and their allies in schools.” In contrast, The American Family Association website (AFA) claims their purpose is “to disrupt the classes while promoting the homosexual lifestyle.” The Mission America website goes even further: “This pro-homosexual day communicates clear (and false) messages to ALL students in the school that: homosexuality is a worthy lifestyle; that it has few or no risks; that some people are “born” homosexual, including students; and that those who oppose this behavior are hateful and uninformed.”

Despite what these Christian organizations infer as to the purpose of the event, I believe we must base our response on their stated purpose, not our assumptions or interpolations. To do otherwise makes us look like fear-mongering, paranoid, extremists, who don’t understand plain English.

Surprisingly, I can fully agree with the stated purpose of the Day of Silence which says that the bullying, harassing, and name-calling of gays is deplorable. Though I strongly disagree about the correctness of homosexuality, I believe we should love those with whom we disagree. If we’re ever going to reach their hearts and change their values, I believe it will happen through love, not protesting.

Click here to read the rest of the article. I hope you will. Tye out.