By Susan Ciancio
The state of our nation’s school systems is abysmal. Nearly every day we read reports of kids hurting other kids, kids attacking teachers, rampant disrespect, and more.
A December 2022 New York Post article addressed “violent and disrespectful classroom behavior,” saying it “has led to a staggering 50 teachers and bus drivers to quit a Florida school district in the last two years.” It then quotes a teacher who said, “On an everyday basis I am deflecting being attacked, scratched, headbutted, pushed, hit. . . . I’ve had my hair pulled, and pulled down to the ground. I’ve had my throat gone for on multiple occasions. It’s on an everyday basis right now.”
These kids have no respect because they lack values. And they lack values because an increasing amount of adults are either denigrating Christian values or simply not teaching their children anything of importance. Many kids aren’t taught respect, civility, or morals in the home. Instead, they get their education on social media where the latest ridiculous TikTok challenges encourage them to find acceptance among peers by eating Tide pods, choking themselves, driving recklessly, or even eating non-food items from a pregnancy test kit.
So is it any wonder that children who are so susceptible to these challenges are also susceptible to the pervasive woke ideology we see all around us?
Kids want to be accepted. They don’t want to stand out in a crowd, be different, or be singled out because of a belief, so they “go along to get along.” The problem with this is that it’s not only dangerous to their physical bodies but it’s dangerous to their souls.
Sadly, it’s not just the influence of other kids that we have to worry about. It’s teachers and the school systems as well. A prime example of this comes from Arizona, where a “school board member wearing cat ears during a meeting said she would oppose having a contract with a Christian university over the religious and biblical beliefs they espouse.”
The motion up for debate was whether or not the school district would continue with its contract to allow student teachers from Arizona Christian University. The board decided against continuing the contract.
According to the school board, the “decision to discontinue [the] partnership with Arizona Christian University was based on the board’s commitment to create a safe place for our LGBTQ+ students, staff, and community. This includes not knowingly entering into partnerships with any organization that explicitly discriminates against protected classes covered by our nondiscrimination policies.”
I hope you see the irony in the fact that the board is discriminating against Christian students because it assumes their beliefs might somehow make certain people feel “unsafe.” Yet they never turn it around and wonder how their woke ideology is affecting individual kids and society as a whole.
The cat-eared speaker lamented, “My concern [is] when I go to Arizona Christian University’s website, [they are] ‘committed to Jesus Christ, accomplishing his will and advancements on earth as in Heaven.’”
She speaks from the perspective that anything Christian is bad. And I suppose to her it is because God’s laws don’t fit into what she desires for her life, so she has either kicked Him out or never allowed Him in. This is truly a tragedy.
If she knew or understood Christ, she would know that He didn’t teach discrimination. He didn’t teach hatred. He didn’t teach violence. He ate with sinners to instruct them in ways they could change their lives so that they could attain eternal life with Him. He did this lovingly but firmly. And that is what He charged us all to do when He told His apostles: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
It is out of love that we teach others about Christ. It is out of compassion that we strive to help others follow His laws. And it is out of sheer common sense and respect for the human body that we teach that people are more than sexual beings and that our sexuality does not define us. Sexuality is indeed a part of us, but we are so much more.
Our primary goal on earth is to know, love, and serve God so we can spend eternity with Him. Along the way, we must live as He lived and teach as He taught. To do so takes moral courage.
Just as we must exercise and work out to build up our physical bodies, our spiritual well-being requires us to constantly work at building up our moral courage. It takes strength and perseverance to acknowledge God in public and to speak out against the bullies who not only want to drive Christ’s values and morals out of the classroom and any public venue but who want to replace any mention of values with distorted ideas and the worship of hedonism. Woke ideology has become today’s religion. And unlike the saving grace of God’s love, this ideology destroys.
So if we are to have any success at all in stopping the chaos and making significant changes in our world, each of us must resolve to be strong, to stand up for God’s truths, and to teach these truths to our children. Now is not the time to “go along to get along.” Now is the time to proudly stand up for the one who withstood beatings and hung on a cross for us. Anything less is spittle on His face and a rejection of the gift of His life.