As a Christian, I’m increasingly finding myself in difficult positions. It’s not because my faith has changed or that Christianity has dramatically shifted during my lifetime. Rather, it feels as if I was casually standing in a nation that looked and felt familiar, but while I was distracted by the landscape, the people, values, and boundaries around me changed. The mountains are still the same beautiful mountains they’ve always been, but when I try to have a dialogue with the people around me, it feels as if they are all speaking a different language.
I’ve noticed this disconnect in various ways. For example, I’ve seen people wearing masks while walking alone on health walks. I’ve seen educators placing tampon dispensers in boys’ bathrooms, Supreme Court nominees refusing to define what a woman is, and people who believe milk should cost less than three dollars a gallon while simultaneously demanding that every grocery store employee be paid at least $21 an hour. Then, when I ask the pink-haired lady next to me if she’s noticed that something seems off, she chastises me for assuming her pronoun (apparently, that’s disrespectful)!
A basic Christian value is that men should protect women and children. The funny thing is that, not so long ago—before I was distracted by the beautiful mountains—it seemed that everyone agreed with this idea and assumed it was an American value. Now, I look around and find that this belief is somehow being dismissed as extreme. I’m concerned because it has been brought to my attention that we have large quantities of sexually explicit materials in our school and public libraries, which are not only accessible to children but even written to attract a young audience. This should not be happening.
I believe that an educated public benefits all of society. However, I see no reason why such an education should come at the expense of a child’s sexual innocence. I also question the motives of anyone who argues that it should. Having heard of such issues but never imagining it could happen locally, I understand why others might recoil at the mere thought, much less the reality, of what’s occurring in our community. Yet, here it is—it has happened, and it must be undone. Individuals who support organizations that expose children to sexually explicit materials should be removed from positions of influence, and those organizations should be forced to change or be dismantled.
All of this seems like what any man, acting on his values to protect children, would say and do. In my heart, I imagine there are others out there—fellow countrymen—who occasionally look around and feel the same. I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. I hope you, too, will stand up and speak out. Vote with your ballots and vote with your voice. Once things are set right, we can all go back to admiring the view.
