Political Correctness run Amok

[SuperScout]

DENVER ? A Christian mother is appealing a judge's decision that prohibits her from teaching her daughter that homosexuality is wrong. Cheryl Clark, who left a lesbian relationship in 2000 after converting to Christianity, was ordered by Denver County Circuit Judge John Coughlin to "make sure that there is nothing in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor child is exposed to that can be considered homophobic."
Dr. Clark filed her appeal with the Colorado Court of Appeals last week. Her former lover, Elsey McLeod, was awarded joint custody of the child, an 8-year-old girl who is Dr. Clark's daughter by adoption. The case has raised red flags among some Christians, who say the decision infringes upon the mother's right to freedom of expression and religion.
While custody cases involving homosexual parents are becoming more common, the Denver decision goes beyond previous court orders, said Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a public-interest law firm based in Orlando, Fla.
"We've seen cases around the country where the court will order one parent not to say anything negative about the other spouse's lifestyle, but this goes much further than anything we've seen," said Mr. Staver, whose firm specializes in constitutional issues involving marriage.
Mr. Staver said he filed a friend-of-the-court brief last month with the Colorado Court of Appeals at the request of Dr. Clark's attorney and that the order effectively prevents the mother from practicing her religion in her daughter's presence.
"The mother is a Christian, and that's a major part of her lifestyle," he said. "She would be prohibited from reading her daughter Romans 1 or anything in the Bible on sexual fidelity in marriage, going to Bible study, or listening to a sermon on marriage or fidelity." Mr. Staver said he has acted as a spokesman for Dr. Clark, a physician, and her attorney, who have avoided speaking directly to the media. Miss McLeod's attorney, Gina Weitzenkorn, said the case has been put under seal and would not comment.
A spokeswoman for the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, a homosexual rights advocacy group, declined to comment, saying she was unaware of the case. Judge Coughlin, who issued his ruling April 28, did award Dr. Clark sole responsibility for the girl in the area of religion, although with the caveat about exposing the child to anything "homophobic."
He also said the two women "will never be able to agree regarding the religious upbringing of the minor child." Mr. Staver pointed out that the judge gave no similar orders to Miss McLeod regarding remarks or teaching about Christianity or Christians. "It's a real one-way street on this," he said.
In his order, the judge said there was "a great deal of strife" between the two women. Dr. Clark had argued that Miss McLeod should not have joint custody because she was not interested in the adoption while it was taking place and that it was never their intention that she would act as a parent.
"Elsey never adopted this child. It's an egregious situation because the court is giving custody to someone who is not related to the child and has not adopted the child," Mr. Staver said. The girl spent more than seven years as part of Miss McLeod's life, however, prompting Judge Coughlin to rule it would be in the best interest of the child for joint parenting to continue.
If his ruling stands, it could affect Christian parents across the nation, said Mr. Staver. "These things progressively build on one another, so we're trying to stop this before it goes any further."

[Kinda makes one wonder if the judge who issued the current ruling ever bothered to read the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law...or the free exercise thereof..." Or I wonder what his definition of "homophobic" is - does he realize that homophobia, if it really exists, is a fear of homosexuals? How can teaching Biblical principles be considered homophobic? $20 says his ruling is overturned!]

[BLUEHAWK]

Make that $40... and I'll throw in a Concordance.

[SuperScout]

At a Senate committee meeting on Head Start last week, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton made a case for why Congress should stop a nationwide test of Head Start 4-year-olds, which is already under way.
The test is "culturally insensitive," said the New York Democrat and former first lady. For instance, she said ? pointing to a big poster with drawings of a dam, a river, a valley and a swamp ? disadvantaged 4-year-olds are being asked to look at the pictures and "point to swamp." This is an unfair question for urban children, such as those in the Bronx, because they are unlikely to have ever seen a swamp, said Mrs. Clinton, who asked for the test to be delayed until it can be "fully vetted by experts."
Wade F. Horn, assistant secretary for families and children at the Department of Health and Human Services, which has oversight of Head Start, says there's no reason for the national test to get bogged down over some pictures.
First of all, the "swamp" question comes directly from a Head Start test developed during the Clinton administration, he said.
Second, when Head Start 4-year-olds were asked in 2001 to "point to swamp," "urban children were slightly more likely to get that item correct than rural children," said Mr. Horn, noting that 22.4 percent of urban children picked the right picture, compared with 20.2 percent of rural children.
"So much for the urban-bias theory," he said.

[Editor's Notes: doesn't she have anything bette to do with her time as a senator? Are the folks in NY really getting their money's worth?]

[reconeil]

There's not much I can say about both tidbits of apparently quite asinine human behavior,...other than embarassment that such inconsequential fools depicted are ALSO Americans, and that such nonsense is even deemed newsworthy in America.

Damn! No wonder The French, Germans, Russians, UN, and even some American lords try to always stick-it-to-us every which way possible. Americans come-off as a bunch of fools whom can be easily dictated and/or easily led-by-the-nose. Downright embarassing for: "The Land of The Free and The Home of The Brave". Don't you think?

Neil

[BLUEHAWK]

Recon -

Well, at least one would think there's coming pretty much an end to the embarassment, I sure to heaven hope.

We'll get it worked out... timing though, is everything, eh?