The event was created two years by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and we're glad to see that the organization is taking time out of it's busy agenda to save children from being called "geek," "doodie head," and "fart face." Besides getting support from other educational advocacy groups, the program also has the backing of the Girl Scouts of America and Amnesty International, a fact that makes us wonder if soon we'll be seeing a "No Name Calling" World Tour with Sting, Bono, and Jackson Browne. The inspiration for the week is the book The Misfits, by James Howe, a book in which four kids, one of whom is gay, run for student office on a no name calling platform. The kids lose as everyone votes for Pedro, but lessons are learned and the children who read it get that warm fuzzy feeling right before going back to playing "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas". Naturally, the book is banned in several red-states.

But because this week was dreamed up by a gay rights group, religious right groups, obviously moving on from their attacks on Sponge Bob Squarepants, are criticizing the week. Critics are saying that in teaching tolerance, the program is really teaching kids that it's not okay to tease gay kids. Christianity, of course, has long preached that while violence is wrong and one should love thy neighbor, name calling is ok. In fact, while it's been awhile since we've read through the New Testament, we can definitely remember that Jesus often referred to the Romans as "knuckleheads" and called High Priest Caiaphas "you hockeypuck." Says Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America's Culture and Family Institute and we're guessing not a woman, "I hope schools will realize it's less an exercise in tolerance than a platform for liberal groups to promote their pan-sexual agenda." That, of course, must not stand.