Jack Conkling, a social studies teacher at Prairie Hills Middle School in Buhler, KS, has stirred up a hornet’s nest after he posted a Facebook post stating that that homosexuality “ranks in God’s eyes the same as murder, lying, stealing or cheating.”
Conkling’s post in full:
“All this talk in the news about gay marriage recently has finally driven me to write. Gay marriage is wrong because homosexuality is wrong. The Bible clearly states it is sin. Now I do not claim it to be a sin any worse than other sins. It ranks in God’s eyes the same as murder, lying, stealing, or cheating. His standards are perfect and ALL have sinned and fallen short of His glory. Sin is sin and we all deserve hell.
Only those who accept Christ as Lord and daily with the help of the Spirit do their best to turn from sin will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There aren’t multiple ways to get to Heaven. There is one. To many this may seem close minded and antagonistic, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
Folks I am willing to admit that my depravity is just as great as anyone else’s, and without Christ I’d be destined for hell, if not for the undeserved grace of God. I’m not condemning gay marriage because I hate gay people. I am doing it because those who embrace it will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And I desire that for no one.”
It seems Conkling doesn’t regret his words, just that the wrong people read them (damn those Facebook privacy settings!)
“I wrote what I wrote for my Facebook friends who understand my heart and my intent,” he told the Hutchinson News. . “I understand that there were some folks who didn’t understand my heart, and while that’s sad, it is what it is.”
The school district has no policy expressly covering personal messages posted by teachers on Facebook, Prairie Hills principal Craig Williams said he’s “looking into it.”
Ironically, Conkling is also a coach for the women’s basketball team at nearby Buhler High School. Nope, no homosexuals there.
Cam
Another closet queen screaming loudly to drown out the “gay”.
Mikel D McGrew
“Sin?” Mr. Conkling should read the words attributed to Jesus about sin and the like. I cannot recall Jesus condemning anyone. Shouldn’t those who claim to be Christian – followers of Christ – work to follow his example. Of course, it is much more fun to quote Leviicus and Paul than to actually try to follow Christ’s teaching. Also, did anyone elses gaydar go off when they saw his photo? We all know that the most virulent of homophobes are trying to cover up their own proclivities. The man is also an ass for posting anyting of Facebook that he did not want the entire world to read.
Richard Ford
Mr. Conkling is offended to the point of outrage, but I don’t think God is as easily offended as Mr. Conkling is. Mostly because I don’t think God exists.
Do you think God would be offended by that?
Bipolar Bear
There’s a name for people who are unable to tell the difference between conventional and moral transgressions.
We call them psychopaths: http://bipolarbear.co.nz/2011/08/23/psychocash/
Mal
I think you meant to say hornet’s “NEST” not next
w.e.
It’s amazing how only certain “chosen” people in places like Kansas and Mississippi are privy to the innerworkings of God’s mind.
Scott Rose
Facebook is a non-confidential venue; certain things said on it could be violations of an educator’s ethics, as well as of the law. Public school teachers are accountable for remaining religion-neutral in their public utterances — and they particularly must take care — if they are to remain within the law — not to express negative judgment against those not of their same religious beliefs. That is because all public school students have a right to an educational environment in which they are not treated with negative prejudice because of their religion, or lack of religion. A non-fundamentalist Christian student would not be able to feel safe in Conkling’s classroom, given his public religious rant. His rant also raises concerns about his judgment and perhaps even his sanity, because he labels same sex marriage to be equally sinful as cheating and murder. That is to say, he appears to think that cheating on a test would be just as bad as one student murdering another. Is this somebody who should be entrusted with the care and education of children?
Milo
What Conkling posted on his Facebook page weren’t his own words. Those are exactly the words that Catholics learn in RCIA- Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. When I was going through RCIA and we got to the part about sin, that sounded identical to what Conkling stated. I was like no way and I was out of that church of good. What Cockling stated is rooted in church doctrine. The bible does not catagorize homosexuality as sin, just look at the ten commandments, hello!
Kev C
He’s a basketball coach for teenage girls. It’s not like he’s a pedophile or anything. If he lived in a muslim country, he’d be jailed for doing a woman’s job. Muslims being more moral than Christians.
Ogre Magi
Even before I clicked on this post I knew the guy was a Christian. Members of that cult are so predictable.
Scott Rose
FYI to Queerty editors: Here is the letter Superintendent Moxley sent to teacher Jerry Buell:
Superintendent:
Susan Moxley, Ed.D
Dear Mr. Buell,
The investigation into the complaint the district received from a former student on August 16,2011
has been concluded and this letter outlines important directives regarding your continued employment
as a teacher in the district. There is a concern that the comments posted on Facebook could be
construed as a violation of the “Code of Ethics and the Principles of Professional Conduct for the
Education Profession in Florida” issued by the Florida Department of Education’s Office of
Professional The investigation concluded there was insufficient evidence of impairment of
effectiveness in the school system to support a recommendation of discipline.
You should be aware that communicating with students on Facebook or other social media venues is
not considered to be confidential communication. Remarks and actions that take place outside of the
work place are subject to the Code of Ethics and the obligations to students that you have agreed to as
the holder of a professional educator’s certificate in Florida. A copy of the “Lake County Schools
Guidelines for Employee Use of Social Media Networks” is enclosed for your reference. Future
Facebook communications with students or that become public which impair your effectiveness in the
school system may lead to serious disciplinary issues.
e in Florida. A copy of the “Lake County Schools
Guidelines for Employee Use of Social Media Networks” is enclosed for your reference. Future
Facebook communications with students or that become public which impair your effectiveness in the
school system may lead to serious disciplinary issues.
During the investigation, a copy of your United States History/Honors course syllabus was reviewed
and a section of this document raises serious concerns. The statement in the miscellaneous section of
the syllabus, which fortunately was not distributed to students, contains language which clearly
crosses the line of the separation of church and state that public school employees must follow.
Specifically, ” I am a man of God and I !rY to be like Jesus every day. I teach God’ s truth, I make very
few compromises. I f you believe you may have a problem with that, get your schedule changed,
’cause I a in’ t changing!” is inappropriate and a violation of the separation of powers.
The investigation also found that your teacher webpage on the Mount Dora High School website
contained personal religious beliefs that do not belong on official school or district communications.
In accordance with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, you are to maintain neutrality
and to avoid the expression of such personal religious beliefs or proselytizing in your official duties as
a teacher in the district. The Establishment Clause provides that teachers and school administrators,
when acting in official capacities, are representatives of the state and are prohibited from soliciting or
encouraging religious activity, and from participating in such activity with students
With the conclusion of the investigation, your reassignment will end as of August 24, 2011 and you
will return to your classroom assignment at Mount Dora High School effective August 25, 2011. You
are expected to respect all students and insure that all of your official communications and teaching
practices are in compliance with the Code of Ethics for the Education Profession in Florida, School
Board Policy and state and federal law. Future breaches and failure to maintain the separation of
church and state may lead to more serious disciplinary issues.
I f the r e is anything that the district can provide to assist you in understanding your responsibilities as a
teacher related to the Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct or the separation of
church and state as contained within the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, please let me
know.
EmmaMTF
Misspellings in title and in the article. C’mon guys, spellcheck is free and pervasive!
Jeff
If God existed, she would be laughing at this dickwad
Larry
at least the moron did not say bestiality…good thing there is no hell because this dude would be on the fast track if there was
Ronbo
And the award for “douchbag of the moment” goes to….
B
Even funnier, there is no blanket prohibition against lying in the Bible. There is a prohibition against “bearing false witness against they neighbor.” I.e., you not supposed to say that Cranich, who just painted his house a color you don’t like, has been sleeping with the parson’s wife. The prohibition does not cover lies such as, “my cell phone’s battery ran down so I didn’t get your message until it was too late.”
The idea that “sin is sin” is rather silly – he’s equating shoplifting a cheap fountain pen with murder, with each deserving the same punishment – an eternity in “Hell”. Even the Catholics don’t believe that – they send minor miscreants to a half-way house called “purgatory” where people suffer for a time for their sins before being let into heaven. Naturally there was a scam (they apparently stopped the practice after people caught on) – the relatives left behind could help expedite the deceased by paying an “indulgence”, and the priest would pretend to pull some celestial strings as the church’s coffers overflowed with money.
LaTeesha
While working on my PhD, I was a lab instructor for a chemistry course designed for education majors. One of our goals each quarter was to ensure the education majors didn’t set their own hair on fire. His stupidity reminds why our concerns were valid.
codyj
another dim wit ks thumper..love his words “ONLY THOSE WHO ACCEPT the Lord,” everyone else,in his mind, goes to hell…hmmm wonder if he ever went beyond a 3 mile raduis of his home..suspect single and queen -frustrated here..
HarrySahks
He’s got it ALMOST right. I would say reckless pursuit of anonymous sex that ends up killing thousands is much worse.
Dennis
Here is his Facebook page. The wimp scrubbed it clean.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=17024007
Cam
@HarrySahks: said…
“I hate to break it to you but the majority of adult ATHEISTS abhor homosexuals and their behavior as well. You fags like to think that the objection to your error is based on a page in a book. It isn’t, not at all.”
___________________
I wish bigots and liars would just admit that they themselves are bigots. Don’t try to pretend that the rest of the world shares your bigotry.
Rockery
fire him, who knows what he is teaching in school
Blah, bla..huh?
Gayface. Works with underage girls, and is from all accounts: “quite a natural”, after all, the girls love his bitchy yet essentially harmless passive agressive one liners. WHO COULD EVER TELL?
Blah, bla..huh?
@HarrySahks: Are you talking about your college days, or your daughters? Please feel free to date yourself, I mean you’ve been doing it all along these days, right?
chuckles
Its always the creepy, stalker looking ex-knobjockeys. I wouldn’t want him in the same room as my kids far less teaching them.
R.A.
Just flagged gay-bashing Harry who doesn’t belong here.
Haightmale
This is so maddening, the man should be fired for writing those remarks.
Firstly he is absolutely wrong. Nowhere in scripture does it says that being gay is a sin. NOWHERE. There isn’t one word about marriage equality in the Bible either. A Baptist pastor recently said that people are accepting the “lies of the devil” by accepting and supporting LGBT people. http://www.jiveinthe415.com/2012/05/baptist-blasphemy-pastor-bryant-wright.html
We have to start calling out politicians and religious leaders who lie abut what the Bible says. Here is a short video that explains: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Br9FkbfRk&feature=youtu.be
It is not acceptable for a teacher, a politician, or a religious leader to wrap themselves in the bible to justify their hate. Especially when the Bible does not support the hatred of anyone.
Rick Haynes
@Richard Ford: I find it odd that these people speak marriage as if only Christians can marry. Marriage, and yes even gay marriage is actually older than Christianity.
Paul
From Conkling’s Facebook post…”Sin is sin and we all deserve hell.”
Yeah, that about covers his state of mind and credibility as a sane human being.
Gabriel
I’m Buddhist. So if I want to get married in the U.S, what right does this teacher have to preach to me?
IzzyLuna
Hey, maybe he attends the Westboro Baptist Church. I’m not sure it’s not far from him. He’s from Kansas, right? Yup.
Jorval
Maybe he should worry about his own sins and stop worrying about what other consenting adults do.
Andy
Does his boyfriend know his stance on homosexuality?
Belize
@HarrySahks:
“I hate to break it to you but the majority of adult ATHEISTS abhor homosexuals and their behavior as well.”
LOL. It must suck that even the scientific process is against imbeciles like you so you have to resort to inventing facts. Face it. You are NOTHING MORE than another desperate caveman trying to elevate his laughably childish argument to the level of “intellectual discourse” by citing figures that don’t exist. Am I to assume that you’ve met ALL these atheists or are they just the special people that crowd that pea-sized brain of yours? Or better yet, am I to assume that you are confusing atheists for the anti-Christ–that sorry group of people who have lost their place as the number one enemy of the equally ridiculous Catholic Church since the LGBT began to show you the most effective way of how to fight the tyranny of a deranged “religious” organization?
Give it up, kid. Your words are as inconsequential as your thought process. You. Are. Nothing. 🙂
“You fags like to think that the objection to your error is based on a page in a book. It isn’t, not at all.”
Of course not. The Bible may have been published despite its insanity because of old age and a lot of insecure people. But why would we think that publishing houses would spend time and money publishing a level of modern day stupidity that is far worse than that of Sarah Palin? Wouldn’t that be a waste of money since Anne Coulter is still capable of unleashing her moronic tirade on air?
“He’s got it ALMOST right. I would say reckless pursuit of anonymous sex that ends up killing thousands is much worse.”
Not if those thousands of deaths include the likes of you–people with mindsets that kill millions like your good ol’ friend Adolf. 🙂
LOL. It must really suck knowing that gay people are so much smarter than you. 🙂 And I’m not even trying. 🙂 LOL
Belize
@Gabriel: Stupidity, bigotry, self-righteousness and pretty much all of those things that compensate for his lack of a properly working brain. 🙂 The way I see it, these people are simply insecure because the LGBT are usually smarter than they are. No matter what they say or do, they’re still idiots and THAT pisses them off. LOL.
todd
“I’m sorry. I was never given notice when I was born I was required to stick to the writings of the bible. In an effort to prevent any confusion in the future, should I be born again, I will most certainly double check my mother’s inner womb for said required reading. Any further requirements at that time can be faxed directly to me in the womb at 1-800-WTF-LMAO. Thank you.” No really…I mean it’s funny we are a still required to live life how others see it and not how we make it our own. It’s tantamount to the “Borg” on Star Trek.
Alasdair
This sinner is going to hell for breaking Leviticus 19:27: “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.”
God does not rank sins, he strives for perfection, so this hypocritical follower of Satan is just as bad as any murderer or thief.
He’s also quite obviously gay, but the haircut is just as bad, by his standards.
Alan Thomas
I agree that this is just a poor guy who can’t deal with his sexuality. I’ve never met a person who was secure in their own “skin’ who cared one iota what someone else was doing in bed.
This is the kind of guy who picks up male tricks, has sex with them, goes home, cries in the shower; hoping to wash away his sin, and then writes nasty things about other people on FB. You have to feel really sorry for this guy.
scott ny'er
@Ogre Magi: Predictable or crazy? Well, at least the zealots are.
shle896
Self-hatred sucks. I’m sure he spends most of his day behind his desk in the classroom fantasizing about having sex with teenage boys. He may as well just tattoo FAG on his forehead, it’s so obvious.
Montreal Guy
When are these Jesus preachers going to learn, that Jesus, God, whoever, DID NOT write the bible. Totally ok to have your belief, but stand up and take ownership for what YOU believe instead of saying, ‘THE BIBLE SAYS THIS AND THAT’…I do believe he is a closet case and is in inner turmoil about his own sexuality…
john
okay first off your a History teacher? Then you should know that the constitution is what governs the US not a the Bible, or the Torah or the Koran. THE CONSTITUTION, THE BILL OF RIGHTS. If you want to live by your religion join the Amish or move to the middle east. But please stop blurring your hateful faith with the laws that govern the state
Danny
If this “teacher” is so deadset quoting the bible, then the bible also says disobedient children should be put to death. I wouldn’t want this fanatic teaching my kids or anywhere else near my kids.
The bible also says in Matthew 5:27 that if you look lustfully at a woman you have committed adultery, which is punishable by death in the bible, so every heterosexual male can be killed according to the bible. That is just the sociopathic nature of the bible and how it was created to control others during biblical times.
Steven Glenn McGrew
To openly express such hateful views on Facebook reveals his true nature. To think that he has accesses to youthful minds is frightening. When will these bible thumpers understand the context of the bible? I doubt they wish to put to death those who wear red, farmers who plant different crops in the same field, or those who eat bacon and shrimp. Yet, that one section of Leviticus keeps being sited as relevant today instead of the context of four thousand years ago for a struggling group of nomads in the hot sandy sun.
Make It Great
Many people think just like this jerk. I’m sure he is getting a lot of support from his bigot friends in the community.
Patsy Stoned
Make It Great is right…most of the comments at the link posted say he was just stating his “opinion” and most go on to bash the Kansas Equality rep. No shock there. It IS Kansas, after all.
Yet another bible thumper cherry picking out hate verses that suit him. Gay people are constantly being accused of “shoving it down someone’s throat” — seriously, I think it is obvious just who is really doing the shoving.
RayJacksonMS
If you expand his interests you’ll see one of them is John Wayne Gacy. That pretty much says it all.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jack-Conkling/17024007
Codswallop
You know what? If you’re so goddamn religious that you can’t deal with a diverse population, then don’t get a job in a PUBLIC SCHOOL! Stick to religious school where your Jesus-freak bullshit is the norm and stay the hell away from normal kids. You have no business being a public school teacher.
!what the F**K!!!!
@HarrySahks: Absolutely nothing wrong with anonymous sex if you practise safe sex -USE A CONDOM! Stop peddling fear!!!
CarnacTheMagnificent
What a great example of why religion is toxic. This batshit guy grew up with his mind being filled with Christian poison – and now he can’t help himself.
The Bible is filled with so much crap …e.g., if a woman comes to marriage & she is not a virgin, she *must* be stoned to death …how to beat your slave …that parents have the right to *kill* their recalcitrant sons …the list goes on.
No doubt someone will chime in & say: “But wait! I’m a Chritian, and I’m gay & I’m not like that.” Well …you’re an idiot to be gay & to believe any of the preposterous Christian fairy tales, the hateful ramblings all through the Bible, and all the other superstitions & voodoo that come along with & make up organized religion. Enough already!
Oh, ok
Why isn’t Queerty calling him douche of the week and asking for him to be fired?