Christian radio host says COVID-19 stops children being “brainwashed into normalizing sexual deviancy”
Bryan Fischer says more time spent together by families can reverse "anti-family trends" in society
A conservative Christian radio host with a history of making inflammatory, anti-LGBTQ statements is at it once again.
American Family Association radio host Bryan Fischer has claimed that one of the few positive things to result from the COVID-19 pandemic is that children will not be “indoctrinated” into accepting certain values, such as supporting LGBTQ causes.
Fischer made the comments in column posted to AFA’s website, explaining that, while the pandemic is concerning, some good may result if children are left at home with only their parents due to social distancing.
He begins the column by saying he believes the “coronavirus epidemic has been hysterically hyped beyond all reason,” and expresses skepticism about the need for large-scale quarantines or “shelter in place” orders recently issued by some political leaders.
“But even if we assume the worst, it’s worth asking the question: can anything good come out of coronavirus? This is not to say the coronavirus a good thing, or that we should be unconcerned about the health of our fellow-citizens,” notes Fischer. “No, the coronavirus is a bad thing. But can something good come out of this terrible thing? I believe the answer is yes.”
Fischer praises the idea of “beneficial changes in our culture” that could result from social distancing, which would be difficult to break once the shutdowns end — premised on the idea that Christians would be able to instill moral values into their children if they are the only adults to which those children are exposed on a daily basis for an extended period of time.
“For instance, closing public schools will protect vulnerable young children from force-fed indoctrination into the absurd and anti-science environmental agenda,” Fischer says. “It will protect them from being brainwashed into normalizing sexual deviancy, gender confusion, and Drag Queen story hours. By forcing parents to home school their children at this time, big government nannies may discover that all they did was to give parents a chance to try home education and discover they liked it more than they thought.”
See also: Religious conservatives are blaming gay people for coronavirus
Fischer notes that by requiring employees to work from home, parents — particularly fathers — will “play a larger role in their children’s lives.”
Similarly, shutting down restaurants, he says, will force families to sit down and share meals together, allowing them to make stronger connections and enabling parents to “instruct their children in the teaching and admonition of the Lord” and “model a life of faith before them.”
He concludes: “Coronavirus might create a fantastic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse some anti-family trends and move back toward the America we used to be. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”
The LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD posted a guest column from Jeremy Hooper response to Fischer’s column.
“As we come together in these trying times, most of us are holding on to hope. Hope for the health of those who have contracted the virus. Hope for the economic wellbeing of those who are hard hit. Hope for the mental health of those who are under long term lockdown. Ultimately, hope for a timely and resounding end to this global pandemic,” writes Hooper.
“But leave it to the American Family Association and its spokespeople to latch onto a worldwide crisis and use it to continue their anti-LGBTQ crusade.”
Hooper condemns Fischer for being “heartless” for suggesting that the burdens placed on families due to fears over COVID-19 — from the disruptions in their daily lives to the lost educational opportunities for their children — are some kind of a “blessing.”
“They say that crises really show people and communities for who they are. Well, AFA — we hear and see you!” Hooper writes. “While you all spend this time of crisis misplacing your ‘values’ and pushing your un-American obsessions that seek to harm families, the rest of us will work to save the world from normalizing deviant values like yours.”
Related:
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Anti-gay American Family Association isn’t happy about Walmart’s “pro-homosexual” commercial
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