Lexington C.A.R.E.S.In his front page article Mr. David Parker states he asked the Westboro Baptist Church not to come to Lexington. Of course he did not want them to come: their language is too harsh, not nuanced, not socially acceptable. But their message is the same as Mr. Parker's and Mr. Jed Snyder's: Society should prevent homosexual people from having the same rights as straight people. The Westboro Church adds their own clever language: "God hates fags." Mr. Parker and Mr. Snyder use circumspect, less overt, more socially acceptable language.
God hates. Of course, anyone that God hates is less human than the rest of us, right? Mr. Parker and Mr. Snyder don't say "God Hates Fags," but do they respect gay people as full human beings?
Mr. Parker asserts "I want to be the gatekeeper about telling my children about gay families. Anytime the school talks about gay families or an adult near the school talks gay families, I need to be notified." That doesn't seem so hateful, does it? Mr. Snyder, a pastor, says we should praise a parent who wants to be such a gatekeeper. But isn't Mr. Parker saying that our town needs to hide gay families from his children? Are these families somehow lesser than other families?
Mr. Parker says he has a certain unity of purpose with the Article 8 Alliance, an anti-gay lobbying group aimed at overturning the rights of people to marry whom they choose. Mr. Parker wants to deny people he has never met the same opportunities to a full and rich life that he enjoys, namely to marry the person they love and have a family. From his view, homosexuals must not be people the same way he is; homosexual people don't deserve the basic joys of life, family and love that he does. Why? Are they lesser people?
Of course Mr. Parker and Mr. Snyder don't want the Westboro Baptist Church delivering their message, but they agree with its sentiment. They agree that homosexual people are less worthy, less human.
This dehumanization is morally wrong. Our town earned its reputation fighting for the rights of all people to live free. Apparently, our fight is not over.
Bill McKenney
Winthrop Road
I just dropped off my son at Estabrook Elementary School, the focus of this morning's demonstration by the Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas. As many parents of the school, we chose to bring him late to school so that he would not be exposed to the graphic anti-gay signs and violent anti-gay rhetoric that the Westboro Baptist Church is now nationally known for. Although we avoided the demonstration itself, we used this incident, and the incident that lead to the demonstration with the arrest of David Parker (a parent at my son's school) as another opportunity to discuss with our child the importance of tolerance and respecting differences.
The Westboro Baptist Church has come and (hopefully as of this writing) gone from our town of Lexington. What they leave however for many of us is a heightened awareness of the need for teaching tolerance and respect for differences to our children. Would David Parker have created a situation (and staged his arrest/media attention), and would the members of a church in Kansas and other "hate groups" have joined the bandwagon, if they all had gone to schools that had a curriculum that taught the values of respect and tolerance for diversity? Consider what it might have been like for them today if they all had had the opportunity as children to have Diversity Book Bags like the one that David Parker's son brought home.
Harvy Simkovits
Angier Road
I found "Parker Responds to Recent Flap" in last week's Minuteman to be confusing. On one hand, David Parker says that he agrees with the Lexington schools that students should be taught respect, but he wants to be informed when the topic of respect for same-sex marriage is discussed?
I'm not aware that the curriculum is broken down into one day teaching respect for heterosexual marriage, another day for families headed by single parents, another for families with adopted children, etc. My understanding, as an involved parent, is that the Lexington Schools try to promote tolerance and respect for diversity in general.
The other point that I found confusing in the Mr. Parker's response to the community, is he refers to the Massachusetts law where parents are required to be notified by the schools if they are teaching anything of a sexual content. The voluntary nature of The Diversity Book Bag given to Lexington students seems to have been lost in the media sound bites, as well as the content of the actual book "Who's in the Family" that was included in the bag.
My mind does not jump to sex education at the thought of a book including different kinds of families. I'm confused at the connection that David Parker and his supporters seem to see-what I see is teaching our children and reminding us as a community that no one family is exactly the same. This makes sense to me, as we do have children in classes with our children who have same-sex parents, just as we have children from single parent families, blended families and adoptive families, as well as from many different cultures. What makes a family and a community is love, tolerance and respect.
It certainly is no coincidence that various hate groups have jumped on David Parker's bandwagon of intolerance. Article 8 Alliance seems to have a close connection with Mr. Parker and he admits to a "unity of purpose" with this group that would request parent's permission before a teacher could mention the same-sex parents of a student. This is why we, as parents and as a community need to actively teach and promote respect and tolerance for all. It is perhaps no coincidence that Lexington, so prominent in our country's fight for "liberty and justice for all" is at the forefront of this battle.
Beth Davenport
Angier Road
When David Parker put Estabrook Elementary School on the national map, did he not anticipate what the consequences of his actions were going to be? When David Parker associates himself with the Article 8 Alliance, did he not realize that he condones the philosophy of such organizations? Despite the reasonable and civilized packaging of Mr. Parker's opinions, the logical extension of his thinking is as hateful and intolerant as the Westboro Baptist Church message.
So when I read that Mr. Parker e-mailed and called the Westboro group telling them not to come, and when I heard that he urged the group to protest in front of his house and spare Estabrook, one thought went through my mind: You can't have it both ways. Because of Mr. Parker's actions, the spotlight was placed on Estabrook and on Lexington, opening the door to hate groups to come to our town, spread their vile message that all our children and adolescents got to read. You can't have it both ways, Mr. Parker.
Alessandro Alessandrini
Massachusetts Avenue
TMM, Precinct 2
I am happy to read that David Parker "opposes the hatred of Fred Phelps" (p. 1, Lexington Minuteman, June 2, 2005.) Yet I wonder why he continues to appear in public forums shoulder-to-shoulder with Brian Camenker and the folks of the Article 8 Alliance?
Visit the Article 8 Web site and you will find heated, hateful rhetoric, including some wildly extremist descriptions of our town and our citizenry. One example, "... jackbooted thugs currently in control in Lexington," is enough. There are many more.
In the last few weeks, Mr. Parker has been on radio and television together with Article 8's leadership. Mr. Parker allowed himself to be the center of a statewide Article 8 Alliance rally in Wayland on Sunday, June 5. If David Parker has no truck with Mr. Phelps's hate-filled methods, why doesn't he fully disassociate himself from the extremist invective of Mr. Camenker and Article 8?
As an Estabrook parent, I welcome Mr. Parker to participate in the public school process in a meaningful way, where we may yet come to an acceptable solution that works for all the children and families who call Lexington home.
Juli Davidson
Eaton Road
Regarding David Parker's allegation that families with two mothers or two fathers are sinners, how does that square with the Bible where polygamy was the norm. Just as it is pure speculation what type of sexual activities take place in nontraditional families, it is also pure speculation what types of sexual activities took place in biblical times.
David E. Kling
James Street
I read Rev. Jed Snyder's commentary with great interest. I noted in particular his implication that the curriculum of our schools needs an "antiseptic." Ignoring the repeated calls for civil discourse on this issue, Rev. Snyder has chosen language that reveals his underlying agenda and attitudes: to cleanse the schools of any "version of values" that conflicts with his own, thus preventing contamination by other values or ideas. You may not believe that this conflict over the right of children from different kinds of families to feel safe and welcome in the schools is your battle to fight. Still, you might wonder what set of ideas or values will be identified as the next target for antisepsis. Can you be confident that the "values gatekeepers" Rev. Snyder wants in our schools will let your "version of values" in through the door?
Vicky Parker
Harding Road