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Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The STL
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|  Who gets the kids? | |
ORLANDO, Fla. (Jan. 17) - As conservatives and liberals plan for the battles ahead, they're enlisting a new generation of foot soldiers: kids.
Dylan Morris, 14 years old, says he is distraught over the 2004 election results. The son of self-described activist liberals, he worries President Bush plans "to crush our rights," expand the "oil war," and ignore global warming. A veteran of many protest marches, he says it is "very Orwellian" when conservative radio hosts dub liberals as "the enemy."
Natalie Hair, 15, attends First Baptist Church of Orlando, a 10,000-member evangelical church. She says she feels a duty to "witness" by telling public-school classmates the Bible forbids homosexuality, abortion and premarital sex. She's glad her church teaches creationism. "That helps me defend my belief that evolution is false," she says. She's a fan of George W. Bush, who won a mock election among young parishioners at First Baptist, with 95% of the votes.
The divide that became so evident during the presidential race has advocates from both sides trying to win the hearts and minds of youngsters, many of whom will be able to vote in 2008. Without funding from political parties, a host of groups are pursuing social agendas involving kids -- addressing some of the most polarizing issues in the political debate.
"The entire cultural battle is over the children," says Mathew Staver, who heads the Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal-defense group that has been at the forefront of fights over gay marriage, school prayer, and abortion. While activist campaigns have long targeted young people, the divisiveness of today's political landscape, and the proliferation of grassroots groups boosted by the Internet, have added intensity to current efforts.
Mr. Staver, a lawyer, is also vice chairman of the Moral Majority Coalition, a group headed by the Rev. Jerry Falwell. That group says it is mounting "an evangelical revolution" built on the momentum of Mr. Bush's victory. Its goals include lobbying for "pro-life, strict constructionist" Supreme Court justices and federal judges, and working for a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Mr. Falwell says the coalition hopes to register 10 million new young voters by 2008 "to make sure Hillary Clinton remains a senator" -- and never becomes president. He sends e-mails to hundreds of thousands of students every week, he says, using addresses collected by church youth groups and 22 recruiters the coalition has on the road. "I'm the Pied Piper," he says.
Meanwhile, a Washington, D.C.-based group calling itself "Turn Your Back on Bush" is reaching out to kids as it organizes a protest for this week's inauguration. To signal unhappiness about the president's policies, protesters plan to turn their backs as his motorcade passes. The group says it has organizers in 41 states, who've been handing out fliers at high schools, inviting teens to participate. "Young people are trying to figure out where they fit in," says Sarah Kauffman, the group's youth-mobilization organizer. "It's important to give people a sense of belonging in the political spectrum at an early age."
The American Civil Liberties Union has online "activism kits," aimed at kids, which include details on how to lobby legislators. Its Web site offers young people information on how to start Gay Straight Alliance clubs at their schools.
Some liberals say it's not easy for them to reach kids. While conservatives have large forums, such as evangelical churches, "there aren't ACLU buildings that have meetings every Saturday for kids," says the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based group.
Mr. Lynn predicts many children who now endorse their elders' conservative values will reject them when they grow up. "At age 10, you don't know [peers] who've become pregnant, or are gay," he says. "You haven't learned the nuances on complex issues."
Open Minds
The Liberty Counsel's Mr. Staver argues that even if children's thinking is more simplistic, their minds are more open. He calls ages 5 to 12 the key years for guiding children in "the right direction." He says his group discovered the line "whoever captures the kids owns the future" in a gay-rights essay in the magazine "The Advocate." Now, he says, conservative activists are determined to prove that true -- on their terms.
There's even a niche market in politically abrasive children's literature. One new book is titled "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!" It tells the fictional tale of two boys who try to run a lemonade stand, while liberals keep showing up, taking half their money in taxes, and forcing them to remove the photo of Jesus that hangs on the stand.
The book is written under a pen name because the author says she fears for her children's safety. In Fort Mill, S.C., 10-year-old Abbey Kirrane received the book from her mom. "If you listen to liberals," she says, "they take away your dreams and hopes for the future." Abbey believes the book accurately describes liberals. "They can be pushy. They tell you what to do."
The book, which is sold in some bookstores and online, is the first in a series by World Ahead Publishing, of Gardena, Calif. Up next: "Help! Mom! Hollywood is in my Hamper!"
A left-leaning children's book "No, George, No!" depicts a "Truth Fairy" showing a cartoon Mr. Bush the errors of his ways on issues from the Iraq war to the environment. The book is designed to teach children "to be people of integrity, unlike our president," says author Kathy Eder, who self-published it and says she has sold about 1,000 copies. Brian Henson, 11, of Orinda, Calif., received a copy as a gift from his grandmother. "The book made things clear for me," he says.
The political parties are also keeping an eye on youngsters. During last year's presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee had a program called "Kids for Kerry." At about 100 campaign stops, children were invited to speak or ask questions of the Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry. The group, which has more than 1,000 children enrolled, has been renamed "Kids for Democracy."
The Republican National Committee reaches out through groups such as "Teen Age Republicans." This week, the RNC is asking supporters to join its "Parties for the President" program by inviting neighbors and their kids into their homes to watch the inauguration. "There will be hundreds of parties with thousands of people," says a spokesman.
Metropolitan Orlando, with a population of 1.8 million, is fertile territory for politically charged cultural arguments because it has become a center of evangelical life. The area is headquarters for Wycliffe Bible Translators, a nonprofit group which translates the Bible into foreign languages, Campus Crusade for Christ, and a host of other ministries. At the same time, liberal arrivals from blue states are relocating here. Mr. Kerry won Orange County, which includes Orlando, by about 800 votes.
More than 100,000 gays and lesbians come to Orlando each June for "Gay Days." Area theme parks welcome the money these tourists spend, while weathering protests by conservatives.
In Orlando, like elsewhere, there are people with moderate views trying to help children find the political middle ground. But among those passionately entrenched in liberal and conservative camps, many feel the stakes are too high for compromise.
Connie Price, who belongs to First Baptist, says she feels "threatened by the liberal perspective that wants me to accept homosexuality." She tells her four children "to love our enemy" and be respectful, "but if you know you're right, based on biblical principles, stand firm."
Dylan Morris went with his parents to a protest at the Tampa Fox-TV affiliate, because they believed Fox was "beating the drums of war" in Iraq. Dylan feels so strongly about political issues that last Halloween, he and three friends boycotted homes with Bush campaign signs.
Orlando mother Annalise Abraham says she's proud her daughters, ages 7 and 11, served as flower girls when their Unitarian Church held a marriage ceremony for 11 gay couples. "Our values are respect, tolerance and inclusiveness," she says.
As they become politically active, young people come face to face with America's divide. Dominique Roberts, 18, says she can't forget a woman she met while going door-to-door on behalf of the Kerry campaign. The woman explained that she was glad Mr. Bush had gone to war because if he hadn't, "the terrorists could come to Orlando, pull you into the street, and chop your head off," Ms. Roberts recalls.
Sara Trollinger is among those in Orlando working to help young people embody conservative values. She is the founder of House of Hope, a residential facility that counsels teens in crisis using biblical principles.
Her political ties were forged through a miracle of sorts. On May 28, 1985, an article was written about her program in the Orlando Sentinel. That day, President Ronald Reagan happened to be in town giving a speech. Ms. Trollinger says she prayed he would see the article. He got on Air Force One after the speech, read the story, and wrote the facility a personal check for $1,000.
Today, a photocopy of Mr. Reagan's check hangs in the facility's entryway. A large painting of Jesus is surrounded by photos of Ms. Trollinger with Mr. Reagan, George W. Bush, and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. When conservative leaders speak of faith-based initiatives, they often laud House of Hope, which has seven affiliates.
Most of the 37 teens living in the Orlando facility have awful histories: violence, abuse, addictions. Almost all of them say they support Mr. Bush. They've discussed that he was a drinker who found God, and they see themselves in that story. "God can change your character if you let him," said Gus, 16. Ms. Trollinger describes Bill Clinton as "a terrible role model for our young people." She had residents pray for him when he was president.
The teens are also schooled in the nuts and bolts of politics, including taking road trips to the state capital in Tallahassee to see how bills are passed.
"This is the generation that will change the morality of America," Ms. Trollinger says. "The scripture says 'a little child will lead them.' "
'Good News Club'
At Orlando's Englewood Elementary School, about 50 children meet once a week after school for a "Good News Club," sponsored by the Warrenton, Mo.-based Child Evangelism Fellowship. Good News Clubs have proliferated since a 2001 Supreme Court ruling, citing the right of free speech, allowed a club in New York to meet, after hours, in a public school. There are about 5,000 Good News Clubs nationwide, 1,500 of which meet at public schools.
Myron Tschetter, who oversees Good News Clubs nationally, says the clubs don't have a political affiliation. But if kids ask questions on issues such as abortion and homosexuality, they're given answers from the Bible, he says. "We teach the children: 'This is what's right. This is what God says.' " The goal is that when they grow up and need to make choices on these issues, "the scriptures will guide them."
Mr. Lynn, of American United for Separation of Church and State, contends the clubs have "an agenda that combines political and religious doctrine," and says they could create "future voters and leaders" who will work for laws opposing abortion and same-gender marriages, and allowing placement of religious symbols on public property.
On a recent day, at the Good News Club that meets at Englewood Elementary, children pledged allegiance to the U.S. flag and then to the Bible.
Abner, a 10-year-old, said he enjoys the club. "I like having it in school, that's for sure. It saves the ride to church." He's trying to convince a friend to come to the club, too. "I keep hearing that kids are the future of the earth," he said.
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God, I wanted to puke reading some of that article. |
Re: Who gets the kids? 
