





Shooter That Targeted FRC Attended Conservative Christian School with Anti-Gay Policy Rachel Tabachnick print page Sun Aug 19, 2012 at 07:24:21 PM EST Within hours of the shooting at the Family Research Council in D.C., rightwing organizations were claiming that the episode was the result of "anti-Christian" and "radical homosexual" ideology. Police arrested 28 year old Floyd Corkins, Jr., who had volunteered for several months at the front desk of an LGBT center. But according to numerous press reports, Corkins attended Grace Brethren Christian School (GBCS) in Clinton, Maryland. He would have graduated about ten years ago, but if the information about his educational background in the press is correct, Corkins spent his formative years in a conservative Christian school with a very strict anti-homosexual policy. The point is not that this school should in any way be tainted by Corkins' horrific and senseless crime, but to counter the wave of claims coming from FRC and similar organizations that this shooter is obviously the product of "anti-Christian" hatred or environment. There has been little public information made available about Corkins, but it is almost certain that he was not raised in a Marxist/atheist/radical homosexual environment as some rightwing sources immediately claimed. If the news reports are correct, the shooter came from a conservative Christian environment and attended a school which refuses admission to homosexuals or students with homosexuals in their family. Parents of students attending the school must sign a "Family Commitment Statement" that includes the following, "Periodically, the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home may run counter to the Biblical lifestyle that the school teaches. This includes, but is not limited to, sexual immorality, homosexual orientation, or inability to support the moral principles and discipline policies of the school. GBCS reserves the right, in such cases to refuse admission of an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student." Teachers applying to Grace Brethren Christian School must sign a "Statement of Faith" that includes belief in biblical inerrancy and a "Declaration of Moral Integrity." The latter includes, I declare that during the past year I have not engaged in, at the current time I am not engaging in, and promise that I will not during the term of my employment or volunteering, engage in inappropriate sexual conduct. Inappropriate conduct includes, but is not limited to, such behaviors as the following: heterosexual activity outside of marriage (e.g. premarital sex, cohabitation, extramarital sex), homosexual or lesbian sexual activity, sexual harassment, use or viewing of pornographic material or websites, or sexual abuse or improprieties toward minors as defined by Scripture and federal or state law." Another question on the faculty application is, "To what degree are you familiar with various Christian or secular textbooks such as ACSI, ABeka, Bob Jones, Saxon Math, Open Court Reading" and the applicant is asked if they have an ACSI teaching certificate. Although it is not clear which textbook series the school uses, GBCS is a member of ACSI or Association of Christian Schools International. This is the school organization that took the University of California system to court for its refusal to grant high school credit for courses taught from Creationist textbooks and some of the other texts published by A Beka Books and Bob Jones University Press. (I have previously written numerous articles about A Beka and Bob Jones in the context of their textbooks being used by schools in publicly funded "privates school choice" programs.) Teachers applying to Grace Brethren Christian School must sign a "Statement of Faith" that includes belief in biblical inerrancy and a "Declaration of Moral Integrity." The latter includes,Another question on the faculty application is,Although it is not clear which textbook series the school uses, GBCS is a member of ACSI or Association of Christian Schools International. This is the school organization that took the University of California system to court for its refusal to grant high school credit for courses taught from Creationist textbooks and some of the other texts published by A Beka Books and Bob Jones University Press. (I have previously written numerous articles about A Beka and Bob Jones in the context of their textbooks being used by schools in publicly funded "privates school choice" programs.) Again, my purpose for posting this information is not about tying this school in any way to Corkins' crime, but to counter the claim by FRC that he is obviously the product of an "anti-Christian" environment. Tony Perkins, president of FRC, has already tried to blame the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as well as the Obama administration for the shooting. He has targeted the SPLC because the organization has designated FRC as an anti-gay hate group since 2010. Perkins blamed the Obama administration for the shooting, claiming that it was, "clearly linked to that same atmosphere of hostility that's created by the public policies of an administration that's indifferent or hostile to religious freedom." Perkins apparently expects us to believe that Corkins went to FRC with 50 rounds of ammunition because the Obama administration supports insurance coverage for birth control.

Perkins apparently expects us to believe that Corkins went to FRC with 50 rounds of ammunition because the Obama administration supports insurance coverage for birth control.



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