Now that the elections are done and January brings good tidings to a majority of voters, I’d like to build upon an idea that I have written on previously concerning the value of protecting children.
To sum up my previous sentiment, I once mistakenly believed that the notion that men should instinctively stand up and protect women and particularly children was a commonly held American value. It seemed self-evident to me, and I assumed that the vast majority of Americans felt the same, as if the idea somehow seeped into us the same way that enjoying baseball did. But over the last decade or so, as pedophilic fishing propaganda has become not only normalized in our public schools and libraries, as millions of tax dollars have been spent on installing tampon dispensers for our boy’s bathrooms, and as young women are being forced to entertain young men in their sports and locker rooms, I have come to a change of mind. Apparently, the only reason Americans ever entertained the idea of men protecting children and women was the influence of Christianity and as its influence has diminished so has our nation’s ability to produce good men.
In a recent city council meeting we once again see evidence of this in our ongoing discussion about homelessness. For the last 5 years we have watched our parks, once filled with families and laughing children, now empty of kids and replaced with adult drug addicts and alcoholics. Many of our so-called leaders have demonstrated a commitment to protect and provide for them at the expense of our children despite the outrage of the community. We all recall the little league baseball game last spring that had to be delayed as the EMTs recovered the dead body of an overdosed individual. And that, even after parents and coaches arrived early at every practice and game to scour the fields for used drug needles. Our children paid a terrible price to play baseball and simply be children last year.
5 years is a long segment of a child’s life with a lot of changes. Parents in Grants Pass used to tell their kids to just go play in the parks, go fishing, or “here’s a couple of bucks, go swimming at the Cave Man pool.” Now once again, in order to accommodate the wants of a group of people who “don’t want to go” to places provided for them, some city leaders want the taxpayer to provide something else at the expense of funds intended to keep the pool operational for the children. Are you beginning to see a pattern developing here? Where is a good group of Christian men when you need them?
I have seen in our churches numerous men’s group meetings gathered over this last year and I get the impression that they are, for some reason, looking around for something to do. I’d like to suggest that we at least step up and get involved in our community in a way that puts an end to solving problems at the cost of our children. First, learn to be persuasive in conversation and then, get comfortable with having them. Lots of them! Make your voice heard among our city, county and state officials, and run for office yourselves.
We lose our right to lament the loss of innocence in our children if we won’t stand and fight to protect them. If Christian men won’t do it, who will? It certainly doesn’t seem to be an American value any longer if it ever was.
