For five years, Robin Clark served on the board of Redeemer Lutheran School in Kokomo, Indiana. At first, that seems like a positive, as the majority of Lutherans are affirming and welcoming to all people. But if you go to Redeemer Lutheran School's website to learn more about its beliefs and values, you’ll see it is specifically part of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. If you go to the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s website to learn more, you will eventually discover that one of this sect’s stated positions is that the government should keep kids away from gay people. Specifically, they say:
“We should stress that the judgment made here is moral and theological, not legal. The question whether homosexual acts between consenting adults should be legally prohibited is one about which Christian citizens may disagree. Not all matters of morality are fit subjects for legislation. Although law does play an educative role and must, therefore, shape moral convictions, questions of morality are especially fit subjects for legal codification when they impinge on the common good. Whether homosexual acts privately engaged in damage the common good in such a way that public concern and control are needed is difficult to judge. Even if one felt that such relationships were not a fit subject for legislation, however, the law would still have a legitimate interest in protecting children from homosexual influence in the years when their sexual identity is formed.”
Or, in plainer language, they believe Christians can disagree on whether homosexual sex should be illegal, but the law should definitely keep kids away from gay people.
Regarding Dina Ferchmin, she publicly advocated against protecting LGBTQ individuals from discrimination. She’s pictured here protesting Carmel’s anti-discrimination ordinance in the Indy Star’s coverage.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate living in a city that’s had an anti-discrimination ordinance encompassing LGBTQ citizens since 2015. While Carmel leans reliably Republican, it also leans reliably moderate, with a majority of citizens having no interest in embracing culture wars rhetoric to attack their neighbors.
That said, there are groups that clearly make it known they still hold aggressively anti-gay sentiments. Carmel Excellence’s overlap with some of these groups, such as Unify Carmel, Purple for Parents and Moms for Liberty Hamilton County, would be reason enough to be concerned about their potential attitudes towards LGBTQ students and families in our community. The specific pasts of their candidates elevate those concerns significantly.
Specific to the stance of the school where Robin Clark previously served on the board, let’s first acknowledge a sometimes unspoken truth: many people attend a church despite fully disagreeing with that church’s position on one or more specific issues. The same is certainly true of people sending their kids to religious schools. But it would be very strange to serve in a leadership position in a church or school despite such a conflict of beliefs.
Had Robin Clark already disavowed her previous school’s stance on gay people, I could have found it at least plausible that she spent five years serving on the board while finding some of its views grossly outdated. I would find it much harder to take such a claim seriously were it to be made in response to her previous role having a negative effect on her campaign.
The same can be said for Dina Ferchmin. Any claim that her views have changed since she opposed Carmel’s anti-discrimination ordinance would have been much more believable were it made prior to it having a negative effect on her campaign.
It’s worth noting that 31% of people still disapprove of gay marriage, though I’d wager that number is already under 20% in Carmel. That percentage will continue to shrink as our population ages. To illustrate a comparable shift, a mere 20 years ago, an almost identical percentage of people disapproved of interracial marriage. They too cited their interpretation of religious texts in support of their beliefs and claimed that they’d be victims of discrimination if they themselves weren’t allowed to discriminate against others.
Across American history, similar transitions have occurred whenever we’ve recognized that we were failing to properly recognize the rights of a group and have taken action to correct that previous deficiency. Pick an issue related to race or gender, from ending segregation to voting rights to equal employment opportunity to access to the legal system to property ownership and so on. Every time America moves to more fully recognize people’s inherent rights, to treat some class of people better, there is resistance.
Different aspects of culture, including the full host of religions within it, move forward at varied paces. We shouldn’t indulge those who still wish to discriminate by allowing them to do so. But we also should recognize that their right to believe something contrary to our community’s shared values is just as important an aspect of our country as our centuries-long fight to live up to our stated principles. And when we’re in such a period of transition, it takes a while for old biases to fade.
My point is, there is no need to attack individuals like Robin Clark or Dina Ferchmin for what I trust are their sincerely held religious beliefs. But we are past the point of allowing such beliefs to be used as justification for treating others poorly.
If not Carmel Excellence, then who?
If you're proud to live in one of the top school districts in the state...
If you appreciate and support our teachers...
If your kids have benefited or are benefiting from a world-class CCS education...
If you want our schools to stay welcoming to all students and their families...
I hope you'll join me in opposing Carmel Excellence and voting for Jon Shapiro and Kris Wheeler.
Disclaimer:
As mentioned on the homepage, this site contains both facts and my opinions on those facts. I believe the difference is quite obvious, but if you question which category any particular statement falls into, please reach out via the Contact page and I will be glad to clarify.
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