Courant Botches DCF Story
July 17th, 2009 by Peter
So the Courant writes this story saying that FIC made DCF remove website links to “churches that welcome gays” and you can guess what happened next. Colin McEnroe’s already out of the gate with his usual combination of debating points (does Faithworks violate the First Amendment?) and smarminess (FIC’s the “Washington Nationals” of political activism, even though we defeated the opposition every year until a 4-3 court ruling redefined marriage). The inevitable Susan Campbell column for next Sunday practically writes itself (“Why can’t those poor dears at FIC escape their misbeggoten fundamentalist upbringing and go on to write feminist dribble like me?”) which will probably be followed by more “tsk tsk”ing from a Courant editorial and, if we’re really lucky, an Englehart cartoon.
There’s just one problem. The story is false. We sent a five page letter to DCF asking that they remove certain religious materials from their website and threatening legal action if they did not. They wrote us back a letter saying they would comply. Neither letter made any mention of churches. In a lengthy interview with the Courant for the article linked to above I never made any reference to churches and neither did the reporter. Imagine my surprise when I saw the article. Jennifer Warner Cooper is right to object to the suggestion that churches “indoctrinate children…into beliefs.. their parents are utterly opposed to.” That quote, from me, is taken utterly out of context.
What FIC objected to were one-sided religious materials and links on the website of Safe Harbor Project–a collaboration between DCF and True Colors–and DCF-sponsored True Colors religious workshops aimed at youth, which present only the revisionist view that the Bible and religion approve of homosexual activity and attacking those churches which disagree. TC’s DCF-sponsored workshops included An Ex Gay Primer: Homo No Mo! (presented ex-gay ministries as religiously oppressive and illegitimate); Christianity and Sexuality; What the Bible Really Says; Gay and God: Reconciling Your Sexual Orientation With your Childhood Religion (aimed especially at homosexuals who were raised Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon or Evangelical); LGBTs and the Real Jesus in the New Millennium (projects on to Jesus what they would have him say on sexuality); Looking at GLBTQ issues Facing Catholic Education; and Introduction to Tantra for Teens.
DCF had, in effect, taken sides in a theological debate by using SHP and True Colors, which it sponsored, to promulgate a particular interpretation of the Bible and Christian doctrine regarding homosexuality. That is a violation of the First Amendment and that is what our complaint to DCF was about.
Our attorney sent the Courant a letter to the editor yesterday, shortly after 9 am. It is not in today’s edition but we hope it will be published soon. I also spoke with the reporter today, who said she would speak to her editor about a possible correction.
Dear Peter,
Thank you for clarifying. We still a have difference of opinion on this, but I think we agree that we can do so without shunning others, or feeding reporters damaging quotes.
Respectfully,
Jennifer
I stand by the quote in its proper context. Unfortunately, that was not the context in which it appeared. The question remains, who fed the Courant the false “gay friendly church” spin that the paper too eagerly ran with?
That’s fine, Peter; you are entitled to your belief on that issue, as am I. I do see that you understand my objection and appreciate the clarification.. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone else objects (in a LTE) and/or if the paper runs a correction/ LTE from you.
[…] when FIC forced DCF to break its links to “gay Bible” workshops last year and the Courant botched the story: The inevitable Susan Campbell column for next Sunday practically writes itself (”Why can’t […]