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02/21/2011
Audio: 'Dialogue', as long as it's in an anti-LGBT echo chamber
Focus on the Family is gearing up for its "Day of Dialogue," the purposely rebranded attempt to make the former, so-called "Day of Truth" sound like a more balanced effort:
(← click to play audio clip)
*AUDIO SOURCE: Day of Dialogue Launch [Focus on the Family CitizenLink]
Don't buy it. Just like the old "Day of Truth" (which was co-sponsored by the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund and the "ex-gay" Exodus International), the new incarnation (which Focus is still co-hosting with ADF) is still all about Christian students telling gay students that they are broken/wrong/less entitled to adult equality. The Day of Dialogue website most prominently pushes one-sided dictums detailing God's supposed one and only design for sexuality, with homosexuality still described as "broken." The program still instructs students to invite a speaker "who has experienced homosexuality and walked out of it to share their story," telling them that "Exodus International is a good resource for finding possible speakers in your area." There's still an "Am I Gay?" section, with the long-winded answer culminating in an emphatic "no." Gay students are still monolithically placed under a "those who struggle" label.
This new brand name is little more than PR, from the "new, softer" post-Dobson Focus on the Family that new president Jim Daly has been so focused on fostering. At the end of the day (or "end of the gay," as per FoTF's unchecked wont), there is no openness to actual dialogue. For this organization, school bullying is worthy of address in the abstract, just as long as the specific roots of certain forms of aggression are not accurately identified. Church/state separation is a nice concept, just as long as conservative, evangelical Christianity still influences all public institutions. And dialogue on LGBT matters is super nifty, just as long the conversation begins and ends at reparative therapy's door step of anti-science.
It's mostly fine, as far as expression goes. Just don't be fooled into thinking there's any openness to the idea that out and proud LGBT people are part of rather than a threat to the grand plan. There's simply not.
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**EARLIER: Candi Cushman's "dialogue" advocates for scientifically-discredited "ex-gay" therapy: Candi Cushman's 'loving and respectful' dialogue: Perhaps, unless you love and respect the fair presentation of credible science [G-A-Y]
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