A psychology professor has helped put together a new youth curriculum that looks to develop young Christians as leaders in situations where they see others, including gays, being bullied.
Warren Throckmorton is the co-creator of the Gold Rule Pledge – a program that promotes respect and concern toward GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) persons without necessarily compromising personal religious beliefs.
"A middle school student who is bullied daily doesn’t care about religious differences. He needs help,” said Throckmorton, who teaches psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, USA.
Throckmorton affirms that Christians could assist bullied youth if only they followed the golden rule – do unto others as they would do unto you.
“There’s much controversy around homosexuality. There should be no controversy around practicing the golden rule,” he emphasised.
“I’d like to see Christian kids, youth group kids become leaders against bullying.”
Gay bullying has dominated headlines recently after a series of gay youth suicides that have generated tremendous concern.
The five-page Golden Rule Pledge curriculum attempts to address these concerns by designing specific discussion material to be used within church youth groups. For example, teens must participate and pick sides in a skit entitled, “The Freshman in the Lunchroom,” in which a gay student is bullied.
After the skit, the teens then discuss questions such as “What roles should teens take in a situation where someone is getting bullied?” and “Should our helping depend on the reason someone is getting bullied?” and study the biblical accounts of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, and the Samaritan woman at the well. In both accounts, Jesus socializes with people considered social outcasts.
“Jesus transcended groupings,” Throckmorton highlighted. “He didn’t do it with philosophical rhetoric. He transcended them in a very personal way.”
Through the curriculum, Throckmorton said he hopes “to see the elimination of anti-gay name-calling.”