IndoctriNation

Right Wing Watch recently highlighted a new documentary by Colin Gunn entitled IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America. Due for release on June 28th, IndoctriNation follows Gunn (a homeschooling father), his wife, and seven children on a bus trip across the U.S. as they examine American public education. The project was financed by several Christian homeschool organizations, including Christian Liberty Academy School System and Exodus Mandate, according to Mother Jones and the film's website.

IndoctriNation is not the first Gunn film to promote right-wing ideas. As Mother Jones reminds readers, Colin Gunn and his brother Euan were the filmmakers behind The Monstrous Regiment of Women, an anti-feminist film that won an award at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. (See www[dot]monstrousregiment[dot]com) The Gunn brothers also released a film entitled Shaky Town, which alleges that Christians are under attack from homosexuals in San Fransisco. (See www[dot]shakytown[dot]com)

The latest trailer for the film offers a taste of the movie's content, which revolves around the allegedly un-Christian messages being taught to children in public schools. Messages about how schools are supposedly failing and how Christians have lost the culture wars portray public schools in a negative light.

At the 0:48 mark, viewers briefly see a scene from the documentary It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School, in which a teacher asks her students to write about what comes to mind when they hear "gay" or "lesbian" -- presumably shown to evoke horror in viewers assumed to be anti-LGBT. A statistic alleging that 88% of Christian children deny their faith by graduation flashes on the screen, amidst sound bites from fundamentalist Christian commentators. For example, at the 0:16 mark, Charles Stanley, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, claims that parents are sending their children into "a pagan society" when they send them to school. At the 0:58 mark, Erwin Lutzer of Moody Church laments that "they are stealing our children." At the 1:40 mark, Brian Rohrbough, former president of American Right to Life who has linked school shootings to abortion and the teaching of evolution, spoke of the "dangers" that threaten to destroy children. In short, the IndoctriNation trailer depicts public schools as ominous, anti-Christian environments.

Watch the full trailer below. (Click here if you're having trouble viewing the video.)


IndoctriNation Trailer from IndoctriNation on Vimeo.

The Day of Silence Draws Fire from the Religious Right

Friday, April 15th was the National Day of Silence, an annual event sponsored by GLSEN in which students take a day-long vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT bullying. Given the pervasive anti-LGBT bullying reported in schools, as well as numerous high-profile cases of LGBT youth suicides linked to bullying, the Day of Silence is more relevant than ever.

Unfortunately, some Religious Right groups have used the Day of Silence as an opportunity to disparage the LGBT community and downplay bullying against LGBT youth. People for the American Way highlighted these efforts in their recent article, "Big Bullies: How the Religious Right Is Trying to Make Schools Safe for Bullies and Dangerous for Gay Kids." I'd also like to list some of the Religious Right counter-initiatives on the Day of Silence to remind readers that homophobia and transphobia are very much alive.

News Tidbits

Beliefnet: Court Dismisses Challenge to National Day of Prayer

Pennlive: Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum takes next step toward 2012 Republican presidential primary

Daily Monitor: Ugandan cabinet wants gays bill dropped

New York Times: Uganda: Pulling Out All the Stops to Push an Antigay Bill

The Advocate: Message to Gay Conservatives: Be Less Gay

Politics.co.uk: UK Government hands services for trafficked women to religious evangelicals

American Independent: Archbishop Chaput pushes to deny communion to pro-abortion rights Catholic politicians

American Independent: Colorado Christian group gave suspect civil unions poll data to Judiciary Committee

Edge Boston: Illinois Lawmakers Seek to ’Blindside’ GLBT Families with Anti-Gay Amendment

Florida Independent: Resolution would allow voters to repeal ban on state funding for religious organizations

Commentary Tidbits

Telling Secrets: 1 + 0 = 1

Life as a Reader: Mormonism and Marriage

Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion: Jim Bakker Predicts

RH Reality Check: There's Little Balm in Comparing Ourselves to Gilead

Religion Dispatches: American Prosperity Gospel Makes South Sudan "Ripe for Exploitation"

Truth Wins Out: Hate Group Leaders Encourage Truancy As Salve For Hurt Fee Fees

Talk to Action: `Bleeding Kansas' Threatened with Bloodshed by Anti-Abortion Extremists

Media Matters: Apocalypse Now: Beck Cites Prophecy From Isaiah To Describe Effects Of Japan Earthquakes

Right Wing Watch: Barton's Deepening Dominionism

Commentary Tidbits

The Gaytheist Agenda: Bill Donohue Whines and Spews More BS While Trying to Deflect Accusations of Abuse in Catholic Church

Louis J. Marinelli: The illusion that makes up NOM's base of support

Right Wing Watch: NOM Spokesman: Marriage Equality Will Ban Preaching

Good Reason: EXPELLED from Creation Ministries International!

Politicus USA: For Idaho Republicans, Rape is Part of God's Plan

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Saddest Video You'll See Today

Talk to Action: All of the Bigotry, None of the Book Burning

Mother Jones: Tennessee House Passes Creationism Bill

The Atlantic: Why College Students Are Losing Their Religion 

News Tidbits

Times Free Press: Tennessee House OKs bill shielding teachers who doubt evolution, global warming

Times of India: Historian says gays caused downfall of Rome, sparks row

News Times: ACLU Asks Info on Rapides' Ten Commandments Vote

American Independent: Texas pays higher rate for abortion alternatives counselors/mentors than for family planning nurses

Minnesota Independent: Bachmann: Dem ‘elites’ have ‘declared war’ on marriage, families, fertility, faith

Minnesota Independent: Bachmann to join Gingrich at Minnesota Family Council event

A Review of 12TH AND DELAWARE

I recently watched the documentary 12th and Delaware, a 2010 film by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady of Loki Films, the filmmakers behind Jesus Camp. In the wake of Operation Rescue and the Maryland Coalition for Life setting up a "pro-life center" across from Dr. LeRoy Carhart's late-term abortion clinic in Germantown, MD, a review of 12th and Delaware seems timely.

Shot in Fort Pierce, Florida, 12th and Delaware focuses on A Woman's World, a reproductive health center that provides abortions, and Pregnancy Care Center, an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center (CPC) right across the street. Here, at the corner of S. 12th Street and Delaware Avenue, an ongoing drama plays out between the abortion clinic, the anti-abortion CPC, and a cluster of passionate anti-abortion protesters.

Anti-Abortion Groups Rent Space Near Dr. Carhart's Clinic

According to the Washington Post, Operation Rescue and the Maryland Coalition for Life have rented office space in Germantown, MD, across from a clinic where Dr. LeRoy Carhart performs late-term abortions. The anti-abortion website Kick Carhart Out of Maryland is gleeful about this development, given its resistance to Dr. Carhart ever since he began performing procedures in Germantown.

The Maryland Coalition for Life's website describes the new space as a resource and referral center for both women who are considering abortion and for women who have already undergone abortion. The Washington Post article quotes Operation President president Troy Newman describing the new center as a place where pregnant women can find friendship and assistance. The Germantown Patch reports that a local physician will be providing free ultrasounds to "abortion-vulnerable women" at the office.

The NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland blog does not believe that the new center's intentions are noble. In an April 1st post, NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland described the center as a fake clinic and warned readers about its anticipated tactics.

"Operation Rescue has tried this tactic in the past, opening up a fake pregnancy clinic across from Dr. Tiller’s Wichita Kansas clinic. The fake clinic operates exactly as a Crisis Pregnancy center would, with the intent to misinform, manipulate, and mislead women from making their own reproductive choices."

Operation Rescue and the Maryland Coalition for Life are not referring to this office as a "crisis pregnancy center," but rather as a "pro-life center."* Since the facility is anti-abortion and will reportedly offer resources, referrals, and ultrasounds to pregnant women, I'm confused about what distinguishes it from a crisis pregnancy center.

I am deeply concerned about this development, given that some crisis pregnancy centers near abortion clinics have been accused of misinforming women about their pregnancy options. The National Abortion Federation, NARAL, NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, Legal Momentum, the Guttmacher Institute, and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform have written about the misinformative tactics of some crisis pregnancy centers in trying to prevent female clients from seeking abortions. The hard-hitting documentary 12th and Delaware demonstrates how one crisis pregnancy center in Florida used manipulative tactics to goad women out of procuring abortions at a nearby abortion clinic. Whether "crisis pregnancy center" or "pro-life center" is the correct term for this new center, I worry about the implications for women who want to make informed reproductive decisions in Germantown.


For additional news and commentary, visit the following links.

Montgomery Village Patch: Pro-Life Groups Set Up Shop Near Germantown Abortion Clinic

Ms. Magazine: Anti-Abortion Center Opens Near Dr. Carhart's Clinic

RH Reality Check: Operation Rescue Moving in Across the Street from Carhart

Amanda Hess: Crisis Pregnancy Center Opens Across from LeRoy Carhart's Germantown Abortion Clinic

Commentary Tidbits

Media Matters: Glenn Beck’s Fox News Show Ending

Media Matters: Pat  Robertson: "The Problem Is" Ivory Coast "Has Been Run By A Christian That's Going To Be Into The Hands Of Muslims"

Salon: Christian right stands by its man in Ivory Coast

Salon: Evangelical Liberty University received half a billion dollars in federal aid money

Politicus USA: David Barton's Plan for Biblical Slavery for America

Texas Freedom Network Insider: The Chuck Norris Amendment

RH Reality Check: Fame Comes with Anti-Choice Shift

John Culhane at 365 Gay: How the National Organization for Marriage rewrote my words

Religion Dispatches: Coming Out on a Christian Campus, Then and Now

Towleroad: Newt Gingrich Confronted About Funding Anti-Gay Hate Group

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Trump Could Get Religious Right Support

News Tidbits

Voice of America: Religious Groups Demand Debate on Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill

WPBF: Bill Gives Florida School Districts Right To Allow Prayer

Chicago Pride: Wal-Mart Harassment Policy upheld in case of gay harassment 

New York Times: An Iowa Stop in a Broad Effort to Revitalize the Religious Right

Sydney Morning Herald: Australia school bans 'homosexuality cure' seminar

Seattle Times: File shows threats on abortion doctor George Tiller

Beliefnet: Group Says Park Service Stalling on Religious Displays

Beliefnet: Supreme Court Takes Dim View of Church-State Challenges 

American Independent: Huckabee is questioned about his support for David Barton on The Daily Show

American Independent: Using KKK symbol, ‘Black Genocide’ groups protest abortion outside Boehner’s office

Florida Independent: Amendments to shift taxpayer funding from crisis pregnancy centers to family planning fail

Texas Independent: Christian’s Western civilization mandate sparks heated debate in Texas House

Minnesota Independent: Herman Cain slams Ellison, says he supports Sharia law

Colorado Independent: Denver Archbishop Chaput praises lawmakers for killing civil unions

The Advocate: Lady Gaga Confronts Christian Fundamentalist

On Top Magazine: FRC's Peter Sprigg Says His Group Debates Policy, Doesn't Hate Gay Folks