When you hear the word "political", what springs to mind? If you're anything like me, you might be scrunching up your nose right now as if you've just stepped in a fresh pile of dog doo. I grew up in a polite midwestern home where I was taught to avoid discussing politics and religion in mixed company. This avoidance of unpleasant topics was fairly pain free in the 70's and 80's when our culture was still steeped in Judeo-Christian values. In fact, According to Pew Research, even as recently as the 1990's, about 90% of U.S. adults identified as Christians. This made controversial topics easy to avoid; we were mostly operating from the same worldview and there were few issues worth compromising a friendship over.
My how things have changed. In 2024, Barna research shows that a biblical worldview in America is at an all-time low and that biblical worldview among adults has dropped 33% since the pandemic. In discussing these stats with friends, many have asked, "How is 'biblical worldview' even defined?"
Barna defines a biblical worldview according to belief in the following:
That absolute moral truth exists
That the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches
That Satan is a real being or force
That a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works
That Jesus Christ lived a sinless life
And that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today
Considering these Christian non-negotiables and the minority of people who believe in them, it's no wonder that trying to have a civil conversation in 2024 is like navigating a field that's more landmines than dirt. Apart from the topics of weather and sports teams, where can we find common ground?
If you are still grasping onto that old peacemaking plan (like I was until just a few minutes ago), I've got some bad news for you: Those whose main goal is to "live their own truth" (thank you, Oprah!) are not interested in living at peace with Christians who desire to live under God's authority rather than their own.
And making peace does not mean remaining politely silent while deception swirls all around us. Nor does it mean caving to lies which threaten to destroy God's beloved people. When navigating the secular humanist culture of today, we must sometimes forgo making peace and instead "get political."
Don't let the "P" word trigger an anxiety attack. Although we've long been taught that discussing politics was akin to breaking riotous wind in public, getting political simply means engaging in discussions and decisions that will govern our ability to speak and act according to biblical truth. As people entrusted with the Great Commission...
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20)
we must protect our capacity to share the lifesaving truth of the gospel as well as our ability to live our lives according to the Bible's teachings.
It is an understatement to say that current political policy is hindering Christians' ability to live according to God's truth and share the good news with others.
Case in point: The Biden administration's hijacking of Title IX.
Title IX was passed in 1972 and for the last 50-plus years has barred federally funded education programs and activities from discriminating on the basis of sex. According to National Sports Center, "its enactment tasked public schools with creating equitable opportunities for women to participate in sports, investing in scholarships for men and women proportional to their participation, and treating male and female athletes equally."
The History Channel states that Title IX's protections "opened doors for girls and women in admission, academic majors, teaching positions, vocational programs and individual classes, and helped ensure equal access and treatment once they got in."
Flash forward to April 19, 2024, when The Department of Education released its new Title IX rule, which, according to attorney, Sarah Parshall Perry, "has unilaterally expanded the prohibition against discrimination based on “sex” to include a prohibition against discrimination based on: “sex stereotypes, sex-related characteristics (including intersex traits), pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”
Here are some of the ramifications of the redefinition of Title IX for any institution receiving federal funds, including K-12 schools and colleges:
Girls' bathrooms, locker rooms, housing accommodations, and sports teams must be open to boys who identify as girls.
Teachers and students will be required to use preferred pronouns.
K-12 schools will be forced to accept a child’s gender identity regardless of biological sex without providing any notice or seeking the input of the child’s parents.
Schools and colleges will be required to allow boys with gender dysphoria to join girls' athletic teams, thereby excluding girls from awards, records, and scholarship monies. (The DOE has failed to include sports participation in the new Title IX, but this is already happening and likely to be formalized after the 2024 election.)
Ironically, Title IX was enacted to ensure equality in education for girls and women. The new Title IX actually erases girls and women and ensures discrimination against them. It is inherently unfair.
You will likely hear from people on the left that we Christians are overreacting. Let me assure you that Christians have been underreacting for far too long.
Consider the following headlines:
The "New & Improved" Title IX is a lie against which Christians must stand. Here is the truth:
Men cannot be women. Boys cannot be girls (and vice versa).
No amount of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and/or surgeries can nullify the truth of sex, which is immutable and imprinted in our DNA.
Allowing males into girls' and women's restrooms, locker rooms, and other female-only spaces compromises female safety and dignity. (Science Daily, Why Males Pack a Powerful Punch
Enduring the awkward stages of puberty on the way to adulthood is difficult enough. Being forced to share one's private spaces with a male is humiliating and downright frightening for girls. Putting male and female bodies in the same previously protected spaces invites all sorts of impropriety. People who support this position must put themselves in females' shoes, recall the challenges of their own uncomfortable passage to maturity, and ask if they themselves would be willing to grow up under this policy's infringements.
No adult, professional or otherwise, should encourage a child to halt puberty nor inhibit his/her natural development.
A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with an online follower who imagined a forthcoming utopian world in which transgender children are able to access "gender-affirming care" (translation: puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries) so early that there would be no detectable difference between a child's birth sex and their gender identity when the child approached adolescence. According to her, early transitioning would allow transgender-identified boys to compete against girls in sports with no perceivable advantage.
Even if erasing a person's actual sex and its DNA expression were possible (and its not), making irreversible changes to a child's body and its natural biological processes is abuse. According to a new 15-year-long Dutch study, most children who struggle with gender dysphoria grow out of it by the time they reach the age of 25. In other words, going through puberty is the cure for most kids, not the problem.
Allowing males to self identify steals opportunities from females.
As mentioned above, according to the new Title IX rules, awards and scholarships set aside specifically for women can go to biological men. Athletic records set and held by females for the last 50 years have been broken by men allowed to compete as women. This erasing of women's accomplishments and theft of opportunity is plainly unjust but it will continue until females refuse to compete and the rest of us refuse to play along.
Requiring K-12 and college students and staff to speak in agreement with gender ideology or face the consequences is illegal.
The compelled speech doctrine sets out the principle that the government cannot force an individual or group to support certain expression. Thus, the First Amendment not only limits the government from punishing a person for his speech, it also prevents the government from punishing a person for refusing to articulate, advocate, or adhere to the government’s approved messages.
Forcing K-12 schools to accept a child's gender identity and pronouns, yet keep it secret from the child's parents is harmful.
School staff, no matter how caring or well-intentioned, cannot take the place of a child's parents nor should they. What's more, what once was thought of as a benign act for gender-distressed kids--social transitioning--is anything but. Given a plethora of new studies being published in this field, including the well-respected Cass Review, schools should pump the brakes on affirming transition and instead offer the very best do-no-harm counseling from professionals who refuse to sacrifice at-risk kids and teens on the altar of political ideology.
I hold no delusion that our 21st century culture will turn away from its current affinity for self deception. Still, Proverbs 31:8-9 is a reminder that--whether or not repentance and revival are on the horizon-- Christians must speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. And there is no one more at risk right now than our young people, who face a toxic culture where those in power indulge harmful ideology over truth, health, and wholeness.
In 2024, girls and women are in need of an army of champions who will fight for them. Will you stand with me?
Until next time.
Your Courage Cheerleader,
Sarah 📣