The past several months were a whirlwind. With the school year ending, yard work season beginning, and summer planning in full swing, it seems like everything is in overdrive.
I finally had a chance to reflect over the past few months of the state legislative session and other events, and I kept coming back to the same thought: Why are we so weak?
Whether LGBTQ books in the libraries, social emotional learning classes with the counselor, transgender resources plastered along school halls, or fellow students identifying as cats and dogs, our children are facing many indoctrination schemes on a daily basis. I hear about these stories regularly given my role with Moms for Liberty, but these aren’t a secret.
Thus, I make a point to share these issues with the public, and at times specifically geo-tag stories to the exact school district. School administrators and parents need to know what is happening, yet very little action ever takes place. So I began asking why. Are schools unaware or too weak to engage on the topic?
It's a similar story with public libraries. The utter filth offered in libraries is repulsive. The lack of regard for protecting children is unconscionable, yet where are the masses showing up to fight?
We’ve been speaking to local mayors and city councilmen/women for months to no avail. When we suggest they “pressure the library to improve their policies,” they simply shrug and say they have no leverage. When we suggest they withhold local funding, they imply they do not have the authority to do so.
If sitting members of city councils do not realize they are approving the city’s annual budget, which funds the library, they are not competent enough to serve the community. So are they incompetent or are they weak?
I had high hopes for the legislative session, thinking our “supermajority” would be successful in pushing conservative bills that would fix the issues in our public schools and libraries. We had bills prohibiting discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation in K-12 public schools, bills prohibiting state agencies from purchasing materials containing sexual concepts, bills banning children from drag shows, bills defining a woman, and bills seeking to clean up sex ed in our schools. None passed.
In a state as “ruby red” as Alabama, why couldn’t these get pushed through? Was it because of time constraints … or weakness in taking a bold stance?
Then there are the churches, the place and the people that should speak truth louder than anyone, yet there is silence. Last summer when the library attempted to cancel my event with Brave Books and Kirk Cameron, the church stayed silent – MY church stayed silent. When I approached almost 10 different churches earlier this year to participate in a church tour series with Kirk Cameron, they again remained silent. As our children are indoctrinated in public schools – silence. As children are exposed to pornographic material in libraries – silence. There is no question on the silence of the church. The church is weak!
I have developed a new appreciation for Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the battles he fought in 1930s Nazi Germany. Those battles were much more significant than anything we face at this time, but the challenge remains the same. I am reminded daily, of his famous quote: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
The weakness I see throughout our communities terrifies me. If the battles we are facing today aren’t enough to help people find their strength and overcome their weaknesses, where does that leave our children? What kind of society does that leave for them?
To the few who are speaking out publicly, thank you.
To the many who are not, I implore you to find strength in your voice and use it. Our society needs your voices, and our children deserve them now more than ever. Your actions will have huge generational impact if you simply show your children how to stand and fight for your God-given rights and liberties.
Emily Jones is a native of North Alabama who now resides in Madison County. She started the first Moms for Liberty chapter in the state, seeking to fight for the preservation of parental rights and the protection of our children, including her own son, a student in the Madison City School District.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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