Subject: SPECIAL ALERT:  Gay Michigan teacher under attack again
Date: Friday, March 01, 1996 5:10PM

FEEDBACK:
   * From  brad_bergman@studio.disney.com (Brad Bergman):  Just when it
looked like things were going to settle down in Byron Center, Michigan
(where conservative public School Board members recently tried to fire
gay music teacher Gerry Crane), the following letter was distributed on
car windshields at local churches this past Sunday:

[Note: I'm leaving this unedited, but I've been informed that
Byron, Michigan is by Flint, Michigan and Byron Center is by
Grand Rapids.  This may change the details, although the
essentials of the story remain the same.]


     -----begin attached letter-----
Dear Pastor,
    I am sure by now that you are aware of the situation in Byron Center
High School concerning Mr. Crane, the Sodomite Music teacher, and the School
Board's decision to let him stay on as a teacher.  This decision by the
board was a very bad one because although they say that they don't approve
of his lifestyle, they send a message to everyone that they do, or they just
don't care.  They open the door for more Sodomites to become teachers and to
come out of the closet and be open about their moral perverseness.  Now, I
understand that there definitely would have been a legal battle if they
fired him.  This Sodomite, and his lawyer would have gone to court and
probably would have won on the grounds that his "civil" rights would have
been violated, but that is no excuse for the board too wrong, and not even
attempt to see his removal.
    Sir, God's word condemns homosexuality.  There is no ifs, ands, or buts
about it.  In Gen. 13:10-13, the Lord tells Abraham of the great sin in
Sodom and Gemorrah (sic).  In Chapter 19, we see that the cities are full of
sexual perverts, so many of them in fact they come to Lot's house and surround
the place and demand that Lot send the two Angels out so they could have sex
with them.  God rained fire and brimstone upon those two cities and on
everything around those two cities.  Most authorities regard the ruin of
these cities, if there are any left, to be submerged under the waters of the
Dead Sea.  If you read in Gen. 13:10-13, the whole area was a well of watered
plain comparable to the Garden of Eden.  That area to today does not even come
close to fitting that description.  God's judgment on those cities was
complete, and an excellent example of that God thinks of sin, and those who
commit it.  Leviticus 18:22-29, 20:13, states very plainly that Homosexuality
is a sin and is punished by death. Remember now, this is God's Law, the very
same God you claim to serve, love, and obey.  The God that is the same
yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  God hasn't changed his attitude towards
this sin, nor has he changed his mind about how to deal with it, but
"christians" sure have.
    According to an article in the Grand Rapids Press, Saturday, Dec. 30,
1995 by Charles Honey, Classis Grand Rapids East of the Christian Reformed
Church in October approved guidelines for ministry to gays.  Well, if this
ministry is not public execution according to the Laws of God, (the same one
you supposedly serve), then it is a sin!  How far have we, as a Nation,
fallen?   Oh yes, Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death, and that does
mean all sin, but this verse speaks of the eternal consequence of sin.  But
according to the Law as found in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
different sins had different punishments according to their severity.  It's
all there, sit down and read those books of the Bible sometime.  The Law is
there to show us what sin is.  Rom. 7:7-9.  In Galatians 3:24, it says that
the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.  Psalms 19:7-11 says the
Law is perfect, more to be desired than gold, sweeter than honey.  In Psalm
12:1-6, we are told to delight in the Law of the Lord.  The Law is not
contrary to the will of God, the mind of God, the New Test. and our
Christianity.  Romans 7:12 says that the Law is holy.  Deut. 11:16, 17,
shows us that God will bless us if we obey and we will be cursed if we
disobey, also in Deut. 11:16, 17, tells us of the penalty of turning our
backs on God.  In 1 John 3:4, sin is defined as transgressions of the law.
So you see that the law is still for us today along with its penalties and
punishments.
    Incidentally, The Bible was the source of laws for 150 years before the
Constitution or Bill of Rights was (sic) written.  The Pilgrims, Puritans,
and Reformers considered the Bible to be a standard of conduct for American
citizens.  And, its Laws, statutes, and judgments were legal Laws governing
this nation.  The only part of the law that was done away with at the cross
was there Ceremonial laws, see Col. 2:14 and Eph. 2:15.  Now, if you have
taken the time to read this letter, sir, and have looked up the scripture
verses that are referred to, (and there are many more).  I am sure that you
know the Bible much better than I do, seeing as how you are a Pastor of a
church and I am just a Garbage man, I am sure that none of these references
came as a suprise (sic) to you.  So the way I see it, if the word of God
demands the execution of these people, is it too much to demand that this
man gets fired from his job as a teacher at Byron Center High School?  I
think not!
    My question to you sir, in light of God's Word, is, what are YOU going
to do about it?  Maybe you have done something.  Maybe your church sent a
petition to the School Board with the signatures of all your church members
on it demanding that this "man" be fired.  This is an excellent thing to do,
but let's face the facts, it didn't work.  What we need to do is get back to
the Word of God and this is why I have written to you.
    You sir, as the pastor of your church, need to preach the Bible, as it
stands, unaltered by "political correctness", or the shifting morals of
mankind.  2 Tim. 4:2 says "Preach the word, be instant in season, out of
season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine".
There needs to be repentance from sin.  It is time for people to get off the
fence either choose God, or choose the World.  You cannot have it both ways
and get away with it.  James 4:4 says that friendship with the world is to
be the enemy of God.  Rev. 3:14-17 also describes these people as neither
hot nor cold, but lukewarm, and for that reason God says "I will spue (sic)
you out of my mouth".  In other words, "you make me sick".  You need to send
these people packing their bags out of your church.  To be honest with you,
if you preached God's Word, as it is supposed to be preached, all these
people would leave your congregation anyway.  Maybe you would lose your job,
that is a possibility, but then I have to ask you, is it better to please
God, or man?  certainly there have been millions of Christians that have
suffered a far worse fate than getting fired from their job as pastor of a
church.  Refer to 2 Cor. 11:23-28, Acts 4,7,12 also Foxes book of martyrs,
Martyrs Mirror, and others.
  Byron Center and surrounding communities need pastors to stand up and take
charge in fighting against the enemies of God like Mr. Crane, and the School
Board that allowed him to retain his job.  You do that by preaching the Word
of God, and not by handling it deceitfully.  Judging by the articles and
letters I have read in the paper, people are not getting the Bible preached
correctly to them.  They talk too much about God's love, and nothing about
his justice, and holiness.  They say that God "loves the sinner, but hates
the sin".  God's word doesn't say that.  God punishes the sinner.  He sends
the sinner to hell, not the sin.  The two are inseparable.  Sir, don't be
like the preacher in Charles Honey's article in which he said" If we start
drawing lines, I wouldn't have a very large membership".  We obviously know
where this pastor is coming from, he wants a large membership and unity at
the expense of Biblical teachings.  So, how about it?  I know that I have
just begun this fight, and I will do all that I can to see that Mr. Crane
loses his job.  What about you sir?  Will you stand up and be counted in the
Lord's Army?
  Love in Christ
  Randy Schmitt
  P.S.  2 Chron. 7:14
 ----- end of attached letter-----


   A note is attached on the bottom of the letter saying, "**This letter was
sent to your Pastor.  Unfortunately, we received no answer."
   As if this note was not cause for concern, further developments have
unfolded.  Earlier this week every parent with a child enrolled in the Byron
Center school district received a hand-addressed package in the mail
(without any return address, incidentally).  Inside the packet was a copy of
the anti-gay video "Gay Rights, Special Rights?  Inside the Homosexual
Agenda," a 100+ page book titled "Setting the Record Straight" (which uses
shock techniques and clinical descriptions of gay sex in an effort to get
their anti-gay point across), and another letter calling for the community's
support in getting Gerry fired from his position at Byron Center High
School.
   The letter is signed by more than 25 community members/leaders.
Interestingly enough, none of the School Board members are on the list,
though I would assume that someone inside the school system has to be
assisting their efforts if the packages went only to people with kids in the
school system.
   The weight that this new development has had upon Gerry and Randy has
been tremendous.  When I spoke with Randy last night he was quite distressed.
 Gerry has had parent-teacher conferences this week and that,  in and of
itself, has been stressful.  In addition (as if it could get worse), Gerry
is in the middle of a tiring appeal process, which is now before the Michigan
Board of Education, for how he was treated back in December.  The Michigan
Board of Education is behind Gerry, but the Byron Center School Board is not
cooperating and dragging their heels.  While the School Board can't fire
him, they're making it very uncomfortable and very difficult for Gerry to
perform his daily job efficiently.  And the thinly veiled references to
violence toward homosexuals is a new concern that they have not had to deal
with in the past.
   Due to the sensitive nature of Gerry's position, he cannot directly speak
out against the School Board or against his treatment at the hands of the
community members (such as Mr. Schmitt) who take action against him.  Such
action by Gerry would be all they need to fire him.  Lambda Legal Defense
and Education Fund (New York), which is helping in Gerry's case, and the
Washington D.C. Human Rights Campaign, however, have decided to move forward
on Gerry's behalf.
   Until now the groups have wanted to keep as much of this out of the media
in an effort to try and keep local attitudes toward Gerry civil.  (And news
of the latest assault will be delayed in order for them to devise a formal,
united front.)  But the direct attack against Gerry, including references to
how the Bible supports executing gays, has prompted them to go on the
offensive.  As Randy said, they're "taking this global."
   I asked Randy what he wanted from the on-line community.  His response:
an all-out letter writing campaign directed toward the Byron Center High
School's Board of Education.
   You may write to the Byron Center School Board at:
Byron Center High School
Board of Education
2475 8th St. SW
Byron Center, MI  49315
   The school's main office phone number is (616) 878-1584.  Call and ask to
talk to one of the Principals' offices.  They won't take a list of names but
they will listen to your complaints.  You can also call the Administration
offices at (616) 878-1541 and talk to the Superintendent.  Call and engage
them in a discussion.  Tie up their phone lines and tell them that what
they're doing to Gerry is wrong.
   If you do write to the school, it is very important that you send a copy
of your letter to Gerry himself.  His lawyers are trying to document all the
4,000+ letters that have already been sent to the School Board, but they
believe that the board has destroyed most of the letters in support of
Gerry.

   If you send a copy to Gerry, they can be sure to have an accurate count
of the supportive correspondence.
   Send the copy of your letter, clearly indicating somewhere in the letter
that it was also sent to the Board of Education, directly to Gerry and Randy
at:
Gerry Crane and Randy Block
634 Ethel SE
Grand Rapids, MI  49506.
   Randy stressed the importance of keeping the letters as polite and
intelligent as possible.  These people really believe that what they're
doing is right.  While they're working with a mis-conception of what the
homosexual community is about, we need to work at breaking the stereotypes.
Briefly highlight your own high school experience as a gay or lesbian student
(closeted or otherwise).  Let them know that what they're doing is hurting,
not helping, their students as well as their community.  Let them know that
we're real people with real feelings who don't deserve the type of treatment
they're directing at Gerry.
   Your help is needed NOW.  I normally channel letters for Gerry and Randy,
but the urgency of this latest situation prompted Randy to allow me to give
out his address.  The delay in passing things on could be enough to tip the
scales if this blows up within the next week.
   Pass this letter on to friends.  Copy it to anyone and everyone you can
think of.  Post it on message boards in the on-line gay community forums.
 Get the word out.
   Silence = Death
   Brad Bergman