Dear Friends,
I am writing to you this month about a most troubling concern. It focuses on the battle being waged for this country and especially for the hearts and minds of its children. We are losing both at an alarming rate.
To understand the great peril America faces, we need to examine what Marxists and the far-Left are up to. They set out decades ago to destroy our democratic system of government by tearing down its institutions, its traditions, and the liberties on which it stands. Then Marxists intend to build a socialistic dictatorship on the ruins of that heritage. This strategy is called "The Great Reset," and it is operating at a fever pitch today.1 Here are some of its targets.
For more than 50 years, it has been obvious that the first objective of the far-Left is to destroy the family. This campaign has been remarkably successful, especially in recent years. You may have heard me say that the family serves as the ground floor—the foundation—on which everything else sits. If its enemies can undermine or weaken this basic unit of society, the entire superstructure can be brought down. Well, it is rocking and reeling today as if a mighty earthquake were rumbling below.
Other targets of the Left are directly related to family. Among them are these:
• The institution of marriage, which was redefined in 2015 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges. Marriage was shaken to the core and has not recovered. Nor, I fear, will it ever.
• Parental rights
• Biblical masculinity and femininity
• Biblical morality
• Reverence for Scripture
• Celebrations of Christmas and Easter
• The U.S Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights and its protection of religious liberty
• The destruction of Christianity itself
Every one of these targeted institutions is in jeopardy.
There is another factor that is critical to each of the others: A key to bringing down this nation is to gain control of its children. Let me spell out the game plan here. Those who would reset the culture know they must hold power over what kids are taught in the classroom. They want to control what kids believe…what constitutes right and wrong, good and evil…the choice of textbooks and the screens boys and girls watch. Indeed, if the Left can dictate what kids experience at school, they can remake America in a single generation. And tragically, that is happening now.
Don't doubt me on this. Abraham Lincoln understood how it works. He said, "The philosophy of the school room in one generation today will be the philosophy of the government in the next."2
Adolf Hitler said this in the late 1930s to those who opposed his regime: ''Your child belongs to us already. What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time, they will know nothing but this new community."3
Sadly, it is still true today, and the Marxists know it full well. Why do you think the hottest battles in the culture war are being fought over control of public schools? There is a powerful force behind the "war on children." It is why the Disney Corporation, the teachers' unions, liberal school board members, and the courts, media, and the entertainment industry are united in their determination to control government schools. If the Left is given free rein over the education system, which they have been granted, our kids are defenseless against it. The only obstacle to achieving complete mastery over the next generation is parental rights, which are being systematically destroyed.4
Guess who just weighed-in on that contentious issue? President Joe Biden made this statement on April 27, 2022 when he spoke to an assembly of teachers at the White House. Brace yourselves for this one. He said, "They're all our children. And the reason you are Teachers of the Year is because you recognize that. They're not somebody else's children. They're like yours when they're in the classroom."5
How about it parents? Are you going to hold still for this assault on your rights to raise your own children? You conceived them and brought them into the world. You nurtured and loved and cared for these precious boys and girls, and most of you taught them to love Jesus. Yet the President of the United States arrogantly told teachers that your kids belong, not to you, but to them. You, Mom and Dad, have no authority to even opt-out your children from their wicked teachings. In many schools, you don't even have the right to know what is being taught—and you may feel powerless. The question is, why are so many of you letting it happen?
Let's take a closer look at what schools are teaching.
Who would have believed a time was coming when right here in what was once called Christian America, thousands of schools have adopted a radical sex education curricula based on an LGBTQ ideology. Do you understand what is going on here? Dare I write it straight-out? It focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and "queer studies." Indeed, every perversion is on display. Furthermore, that agenda has invaded math, science, reading, writing, physical education, music, art, and social science for all 13 years of a child's schooling.6 Along with it comes life-shaping indoctrination and manipulation of every child. Meanwhile, they are falling behind academically.
What alarms me most is that this perversity typically begins with kindergarteners! That's right, it can start with five-year-old kids, fresh out of toddlerhood. Does that make anyone else angry but me? Marxists want our children because they are the easiest to warp. The foundation is established in the primary grades—and younger—but the indoctrination continues through Grade 12. How easily they are manipulated.
Let me illustrate.
An adult can make boys and girls believe anything, including how a portly man in a red suit with a white beard boards a sleigh on Christmas Eve, and flies off behind a team of eight reindeer, that we all know can't fly. Santa then wiggles down the chimney of every house around the world, carrying a single sack of toys for every child on earth, except for those who have been naughty. He sees them all, you know. And all of this, children are told, happens in one magical night. Kids don't ask questions because preschoolers don't think logically. They just believe.
Of course, public school teachers are not talking to them about Santa Claus. They are introducing their wide-eyed, innocent kindergarteners and primary kids to the shocking facts about human sexuality. Does that make sense? Most of these babies don't even know the alphabet yet or how to cross the street safely. They have no need to know what mommies and daddies do at night.
It gets worse. These children arrive at school having been related to since birth as either a boy or a girl. Their identities are deeply rooted in their gender…as, for example, "my little princess" or "our little man." But when they get to school, Ms. Jones breaks the news that what they've been told by mothers and fathers isn't true. They are neither a boy nor a girl. They might not even be either. They can choose the gender they prefer. It has nothing to do with male or female sex organs.
If, after a few years of indoctrination and coaching, they still don't like what they thought they were, kids are told there are surgeons who can transform them into whatever they would rather be. Alternatively, there are medicines (hormones) that can change their bodies by injections, or by something called "puberty blockers." Parents may not be informed of this intervention, or less, asked for permission to conduct these life-altering procedures.7
The most outrageous work is being targeted at changing teen minds about gender. Seeds of doubt are sown that can produce profound confusion during the adolescent years. Sigmund Freud wrote that there is a natural period during puberty when most boys and girls experience confusion about their sexuality. How easy it is for adults to magnify and solidify those feelings in some kids.
The latest trends in some schools involve what The Epoch Times reported in an article titled, "More Secret Gender Transition Closets Discovered in Public Schools." It states that numerous public schools around the country are creating "Transition Closets," which contain clothing for the opposite sex. Students can choose to go there to change clothes from what they wore to school that day to clothing that reflects their perceived gender. They can then reverse the process before going home. The idea is to conceal from parents what they have worn during the day.
To quote the article, "The goal of the transition closets is for our students to wear the clothes that their parents approve of, come to school, and swap out into clothes that fit who they really are," said Martin Edwards, a teacher at Oakland Unified School District.8 He is also the founder of "Queer Teacher Fellowship."
Before closing, I want to acknowledge that there are children and adults who struggle with a form of mental illness called sexual dysphoria. Affected individuals are unable to accept the gender with which they were born. Extensive psychiatric care is needed in some of those cases which is beyond the training of school personnel.
With that, let me close by offering six suggestions for parents with sons and daughters who are attending schools where a radical sexualized and perverted curricula is being taught.
1. I would get my children out of a godless educational setting quickly, before more spiritual and emotional damage could be done. Further, I would think long and hard before sending my graduates to a godless university.
2. I would either homeschool my children, or find a quality Christian school that would begin every school day with prayer and Scripture reading. If neither option were available, I would move to give my kids a new start somewhere else. That is exactly what my father did when I was 16 years old and was experiencing ungodly influences. He sold our house and moved 700 miles away, which allowed my father to spend the last two of my high school years with my mother and me. He pulled me back from the brink and we bonded as a family during that time.
3. I would search for a Bible-believing church, where the pastor preaches the Word, and is like the "sons of Issachar" (1 Chronicles 12:32). "They understood the times and knew what to do." I would also hope that this church has strong children's programs and youth groups, which could help us raise our children. I know there are no perfect churches because there are no perfect people, but some are more helpful to families than others.
4. I would try not to let myself become overworked, distracted, exhausted, and uninvolved during the formative years of childhood. Without your care, concern, and involvement in your children's lives, the culture could take your kids to hell. I have witnessed that tragedy countless times. Even with proper parental supervision, many of our kids can become susceptible to the world's enticements. Take the time to know them intimately.
5. I would support organizations that are helping to fight the culture war, and I would be an activist myself. We are losing everything of value in this warped society.
6. I would pray every day for our children and/or grandchildren during the critical years. This is what matters most—apart from leading them to know their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Our Lord never told us that parenting would be easy. However, He did promise us that He would always be with us. And that is the hope to which we anchor ourselves and our families every day of our lives.
Your comments would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
P.S. I am delighted to share that several gracious friends of the ministry have contributed toward a matching grant of $300,000 for the month of June. We know how inflation has hit everyone’s pockets this year, and only want you to consider a gift to the ministry if you are in the position to do so. While we have budgetary needs to be met, we are trusting that God will supply. Thank you!
This letter may be reproduced without change and in its entirety for non-commercial and non-political purposes without prior permission from Family Talk. Copyright, 2022 Family Talk. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Printed in the U.S. Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk is not affiliated with Focus on the Family.