By Gudrun Schultz
SCOTSDALE, Arizona, April 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Christian students at more than 700 high schools across the country observed a national Day of Truth today, offering a peaceful witness of Christian viewpoints on homosexual activity to their fellow students and school faculties.
The second annual Truth day was sponsored by the Alliance Defence Fund, an organization that defends religious freedom in the U.S., in response to yesterday’s Day of Silence. Sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, the Day of Silence is a no-talk day observed by students in protest of opposition to homosexuality.
The Day of Truth was established to “counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective,” says the Alliance Defence Fund’s website.
“In the past, students who have attempted to speak against the promotion of the homosexual agenda have been censored or, in some cases, punished for their beliefs. It is important that students stand up for their First Amendment right to hear and speak the Truth about human sexuality in order to protect that freedom for future generations. The Day of Truth provides an opportunity to publicly exercise our free speech rights.”
Students are encouraged to participate by wearing T-shirts and handing out cards with the message:
I am speaking the Truth to break the silence.
Silence isn’t freedom. It’s a constraint.
Truth tolerates open discussion, because the Truth emerges when healthy discourse is allowed.
By proclaiming the Truth in love, hurts will be halted, hearts will be healed, and lives will be saved.
The ADF says student registration for the event this year has doubled over last year’s event, despite several cases of pressure from school authorities against students attempting to promote the event.
“We wouldn’t have come up with the Day of Truth if Christian kids hadn’t been silenced in the first place,” Mike Johnson, an ADF attorney from LA, told Fox News. “The public school is part of the free market of ideas – if the other side is going to advance their point of view, it’s only fair for the Christian perspective to present their view, too.”
The ADF say the Day of Silence is a vehicle for GLSEN to promote homosexuality, despite the organization’s claims that the protest is about ending harassment of gay students.
“No one is for bullying and harassment,” Johnson said. “But that’s cloaking their real message – that homosexuality is good for society.”