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| The American Family Association wants schools to post one of the '10 Commandments' to reduce gun violence. |
While the country has been reeling from the latest school shooting (this time, two weeks ago in Florida) and the survivors of the shooting have been leading the charge to demand action about gun control, the supposed Christian group, the American Family Association, has been taking a different road in the debate.
When one takes a gander at the articles and columns from its supposed news source, One News Now, about the shooting and the aftermath, it's easy to see whose side AFA is on:
Why school shootings: Not enough God, not enough guns
Cruz blasts Hollywood's gun control hypocrisy
Lott: Let's have fair debate on guns, our laws
Aside from these items, AFA has just sent a fundraising email suggesting an idea to combat the problem of gun violence in our schools. According to the subject of the email, the group claims that "The liberals are gonna hate this great idea!" ;
American Family Association is asking every school in the country to put this statement on their school marquee or school sign for one week: "You shall not murder."
While the country is discussing gun control laws, we think our young people should also be reminded that innocent human life is precious. Murder is against the law in every state, and these four words also emphasize that it's morally wrong.
Schools regularly use words to encourage and discourage behavior. We tell students, "Say no to bullying," "Don’t text and drive," and "Say no to drugs." In light of the increasing violence in our schools, let's send the clear message, "You shall not murder."
This is the sixth of the Ten Commandments.
TAKE ACTION
Add your name to our Open Letter to America's Schools.
Contact your local school administrators and ask them to post "You shall not murder" on the school marque for one week.
Share this alert via Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to use Twitter hashtag #Number6.
Tweet a picture of your school sign using Twitter hashtag #Number6.
Pray for the families of victims of school violence.
If our mission resonates with you, please consider supporting our work financially with a tax-deductible donation. The easiest way to do that is through online giving. It is easy to use, and most of all, it is secure.
It's no secret to anyone who knows me or follows this blog that I very much despise the American Family Association for its long history of pushing homophobic propaganda under the guise of being a religious organization.
But I feel safe in assuming that no one will accuse me of bias when I say I hope the AFA is accurate in saying that liberals will hate the idea. In fact, I would venture to say that I hope people with good sense in general hates the idea.
Because it's not a great idea. It's a stupid, shallow, inane idea.
And it is not an adequate substitute for a much-needed debate on gun control as well as violence in our schools? It's ignorantly lazy, totally devoid of any understanding of nuance. It reminds me of a book report given by a lazy child who tries to stretch it to a required word count.
It's not what we need. At all. And its suggestion underlines just how useless right-wing evangelical groups like the AFA are in situations such as these.
