And this is right here in Millsboro and the Indian River School District, where one Shaun Fink is trying to impose his religious bigotries (beliefs masquerading as bigotry) on the high school students in the District. You can read the details of Mr. Fink’s attempt to impose this atrocious bit of Christian Sharia law in this NJ article. Mr. Fink is hiding behind his so-called Christianity to try to demonize and ostracize LGBT people, objecting to the teaching of differences in sexual orientation as against his beliefs. Unfortunately, Mr. Fink still thinks he is living in the last century where not only could you get away with that kind of bigotry, but there was little price to be paid for it. In this century, this kind of bigotry is simply not a survial skill or a leadership skill — two things you want your kids to have. An official demonization of LGBT people — objecting to making them normal (as if they aren’t already) not only does not serve these kids, but also tries to use the government to impose your bigotry on others. Even more, what Mr. Fink knows is that kids are more tolerant of differences among them, including LGBT differences. Trying to curb a basic course on sexuality to impart Mr. Fink’s message that LGBT people are not “normal” is about him imposing his beliefs on these kids — because he knows that they don’t prioritize these differences. And trying to control other people — their behavior and their beliefs is what Sharia Law is all about, right?
But take a look at this bit of Mr. Fink’s Christianity:
“It’s not my fault there is a high suicide rate amongst young gay people,” Fink said. “I would say those reasons have nothing to do with the fact that the definitions of their particular orientation are not defined in school health classes.”
Whether or not to define some words is not what’s at stake, Fink said. To create an environment where LGBT students feel safe, you’d have to go a step further, he said.
“How are they, because of what happens at school, more likely to feel depression, anxiety or have thoughts and desires of suicide?” Fink said. “You’d have to go beyond definitions, you’d have to get into a situation where you’re teaching the straight students how the gay students are just like them, and they’re normal and they’re okay, and you should love them. You should love that they’re gay. That’s normal, there’s no difference between you and them. You would have to teach them that would you not? In order for that child to be safer?”
No compassion, no understanding, no love for these kids who struggle with their difference. A struggle that is exacerbated by people like Mr. Fink insisting that his bigotry is somehow supposed to be normal. Mr. Fink not only missed out on the key message of the New Testament, but completely bypassed the empathy that a WWJD question is supposed to evoke. But that is what Sharia Law looks like, right? It isn’t tethered to the foundational messages of religion or to the documents that underlie that religion. It is utterly manmade and designed to increase the power of those imposing it and to increase their control of the weakest members of their religion. Which is why Shaun Fink and those who think that their bigotries are supposed to be the narratives and the law of the land. It doesn’t matter who gets hurt, it doesn’t matter that this aligns with nothing crucial in the New Testament, it just matters that Mr. Fink gets to tell you who is normal and who is not. And not one bit of Fink’s agenda is about educating a kid or making sure that they are prepared for a larger and more complex world — on that Mr. Fink is clearly not equipped to handle.