Monday, December 31, 2018

Activists Need Fellow Workers, not Just Cheerleaders: Final Reflection


I had shared yesterday that we as activists need more than mere appreciation. We need people to step into the fray and do what we are doing.

Someone responded to me with some excellent advice on this concern:

"I read your plea for sincere people to help you.

“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4: 6)

"Most people and a lot of Christians don’t know how to get anything they need from their God. You do.

“Therefore, I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:24)

"Your Father in Heaven knows the zeal you have to change conditions for the good of the people. In fact, I’m guessing He gave that interest to you. Moses, King David, even Jesus were called to change things for the people and to glorify God.



"But they had to work with poor, ignorant, weak, fearful people! When you read about how they and others went about accomplishing those things, you will notice that most of their conversation about to do that was between them and God. Actually, God had given up on the Israelites and was ready to destroy and start over when Moses was smart enough to plea for mercy for them (Moses was a prototype of Jesus).'



"When you want or need something from you Father in Heaven don’t go to the people. Ask him for people that are empowered with interest, time, and energy to follow your leading. Or ask for an anointing of interest and the gift of time and energy on the people you have. Pray for them by name. And after you have asked confess over those that our Father gives u that they continue the particular behavior that you need.

"You will need less to talk to them when you talk to your Father in Heaven on their behalf.

"Israel eventually became a force with which to reckon and remained so as long as her leaders maintained a strong relationship with God." -- Kathleen Hazelton

My take? Indeed, when I have no idea what to do whose help to seek, I need to look up and pray. He is ready to answer every need. Worst case scenario, I have Psalm 91: 7

"7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee." (Psalm 91:7)

I would prefer that lots of people would not have to fall at anyone's side, but sometimes, all we can do is warn others.

Another verse comes to mind:

"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." (1 Kings 19:18)

It's time for a full appeal to heaven. 

I had written this shortly after Election 2018. It's time for us to ask for God's grace to flow in our lives. Don't ask for God to shower His grace on you. His favor has been falling on the whole world since Jesus died on the Cross, since Jesus rose again from the dead and was seated at God the Father's right hand.

It is essential--ESSENTIAL! 

Let's trust His righteousness, and watch Him make things right in our lives, in our walk on this earth!



Prager Career Woman Regrets Life Choices: A Reflection

I read this article from Dennis Prager last month (and pretty soon, last year).

This career woman at age 50 was bemoaning her life choices, and her statement fits in with Dennis Prager's long-standing view that people need to get married, and they need to get married young.

He is affirmative on the argument that young people, especially young woman, are in big trouble, looking forward to an empty life if they do not get married.

Here are Prager's thoughts, mostly the words of the "career woman", and my thoughts interspersed within.


Every Wednesday, the second hour of my national radio show is the “Male/Female Hour.” A few weeks ago, a woman named Jennifer called in. For reasons of space, I have somewhat shortened her comments. Every young woman should read them. This is precisely what she said:

Everyone woman must read this! NOW! (Really?!)

“Dennis, I want to get right to it. I’m 50 years old with four college degrees. I was raised by a feminist mother with no father in the home. My mother told me get an education to the maximum level so that you can get out in the world, make a lot of money. And that’s the path I followed. I make adequate money. I don’t make a ton of money. But I do make enough to support my own household.

The truth is that anyone who pursues wealth and career status as a set of life-defining goals, whether you are male or female, will run into a lot of hurt and heart-ache. Money many answer all things, but it does not give or substantiate life.

“I want to tell women in their 20s: Do not follow the path that I followed. You are leading yourself to a life of loneliness. All of your friends will be getting married and having children, and you’re working to compete in the world, and what you’re doing is competing with men. Men don’t like competitors. Men want a partner. It took me until my late 40s to realize this.

This issue of "loneliness" comes us a great deal, especially among women. But what defines, or rather causes loneliness?

It's a factor of feeling that you are not "Cared for". Frankly, no one person can meet that need. It takes the gift, the goodness, the grace of God to be set free from the nagging lie that you are not cared for.

“And by the time you have your own household with all your own bills, you can’t get off that track, because now you’ve got to make the money to pay your bills. It’s hard to find a partner in your late 40s to date because you also start losing self-confidence about your looks, your body. It’s not the same as it was in your 20s. You try to do what you can to make your life fulfilling. I have cats and dogs. But it’s lonely when you see your friends having children, going on vacations, planning the lives of their children, and you don’t do anything at night but come home to your cats and dogs. I don’t want other women to do what I have done.”

"Losing self-confidence about one's looks ..." Hmm. A woman has more value than based on her looks.

Proverbs:

"Favour [charm] is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." (Proverbs 31:30)

Yes, beauty matters, but a wise man is not looking to marry a woman just because she is beautiful. Furthermore, there are more stories which I have read in which elderly men and women do get married. I met one such couple last week!



I asked, “Was it hard for you to make this call?”

She responded: “It was. I want to be anonymous because I don’t want people that I know to really know my true feelings. Because you do act like ‘My career is everything. I love working.’ But it’s a lie on the inside for me. It’s unfortunate. I didn’t realize this until it’s too late. I don’t know if it’s too late. I would like to find somebody to go on vacation with.

"It's a lie on the inside for me," this woman states. For other women, their calling may include not having children because the calling, the career of their choosing has taken them on different paths.

I submit that the problem here is the feminism which was ingrained into her, which she never questioned. It sounds to me that she was convinced that men were part of the problem in her life, and that marrying a man would have created problems for her down the line.

It's not wise to avoid marriage because of such considerations. What someone else tells you about an experience or status cannot be the final determination on the matter. It simply cannot. For women, this bad advice has an even more adverse effect, since a woman's options do not narrow considerably by a certain time in one's life. It is very rare for women to have children after 40 years of age, for example.

“You have other concerns when you get older and you live alone. Who’s going to take you to your medical appointments? If something should happen to you, there’s no other income there to help you. These are things you don’t understand when you’re in your 20s because you don’t think you’ll ever get old and have health problems.

This woman is full of cares. A husband alone cannot take care of those cares. She has it all wrong. Sadly, it sounds like this woman went from one extreme of "I don't want to get married", to "I need a man, but now I cannot get a man because X, Y, Z, etc.")

“I’m stuck now because I go to work every day. I smile like I love it, but it’s very painful to not plan a vacation with someone. It’s painful to not have a Thanksgiving dinner with someone. You sit home alone and you do nothing. I avoid my friends now that have children because I have nothing in common with them.

Now we have the deeper diagnosis. She is jealous. She is playing the comparison game. Dennis Prager has a video for that:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MPG-aLD-EY

“Somebody asked me the other day, ‘Why did you stay single and never have kids?’ There’s answers: Because I was brainwashed by my mother into this. But it’s hard and it’s shameful to tell people, ‘I don’t know. I ran out of time.’

Now here's the point. The issue is that this woman went along with someone else's idea of what life is best. She didn't make the decisions for herself. The solution is not for her to get married. The issue is not about

“There’s not a good answer for it except ‘I was programmed to get into the workforce, compete with men and make money.’ Supposedly, that would be a fulfilling life. But I was told that by a feminist mother who was divorced, who hated her husband — my father.

Wow. More issues come to the forefront. A troubled home, no father, a broken family. Such pain that causes. She would like all of that restored or replaced, most likely. Being married would not fix that hurt, however.

Marriage is supposed to enhance your life, not complete it. I learned that from a Divorce Court Judge ... in fact THE Divorce Court Judge Mablean Ephraim:



“She tried to steer me on what she thought was the right path, but feminism is a lie. That’s what I want women to know.

There. That is the real issue. The ideology of radical feminism is the biggest issue for this lady. She missed out on having children, but she should not feel as though the rest of her life is lost becaus she did not marry or have children.

“I didn’t realize this until late in life. I want to tell women: Find someone in your 20s. That’s when you’re still very cute. That’s when you’re still amiable to working out problems with someone. It’s harder in your 50s, when you’ve lived alone, to compromise with someone, to have someone in your home and every little thing about them annoys you because you’re so used to being alone. It’s hard to undo that, so don’t do what I did. Find someone in your 20s.”

She has too many globalized ideas. "I will never find someone now that I am older" seems to be the gist of her comments. How does she know that? God opens doors and closes doors. It's not like all her best options are gone just because she may not be able to bear children.

Consider Sarah:

"And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken." (Genesis 21:1)

From this blessed example, Isaiah prophesies great blessing and honor even for the most barren among us:

"1Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

2Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;" (Isaiah 54:1-2)

And why?

"For more are the children of the desolate than the married woman, says the Lord."

God is in the business of blessing us, restoring us even in the midst of our worst times.

Final Reflection



Dennis Prager's musing often are quite insightful and beneficial. I have learned a great deal from his Prager U videos.

When it comes to marriage and life, however, he misses the mark. 

And there was more to plumb in this Career Woman's life than originally revealed.

If a woman makes a choice to remain single based on affirmative goals and personal experience,  there is nothing wrong with that. The issue ultimately is not that she rejected getting married at 20 or older, but that she is looking at her happiness outside of herself.

Marriage does not answer every need. On their surfaces, single life or married life presents blessings and challenges. The true blessing, the real challenge comes into play for which choices people make based on their individual lives, learnings, and leanings.

Let's hope that more people, men and women, make better choices for themselves based on a plenary review of many ideas, not just following a set of dogmas coming from one's parents.

By the way, here's an article from another 50-something career woman who chose not to have children and does not regret it!

God Said So: It's Beautiful to Be Single

A number of pastors seem to have gone with the ways of the world, but in a slightly different sense.

There is nothing wrong with being married, or seeking to be married.

But it seems that many churches, many Christian communities, seem committed to pressuring everyone to get married.

This has long bothered me. I am single, and there is no burden or demand for me to get married.

I am content to be unmarried, to be single, to "not touch a woman", as Paul writes in his First Epistle to the Corinthians.

Ten years ago, I remember meeting with a prayer group every Thursday. The women in that group would spend a bit of time talking about helping me to find a wife. They even wrote my name in their Bibles with that prayer.

I didn't know what to think of that at the time, but I look back on it, and I must say it was presumptuous and arrogant.

Even my parents would intimate that there was something wrong with me because I had no heart, no need for marriage.

This conflict came to a head when one of my relatives was talking about

This train of thought brought in Dennis Prager, who wrote a stinging manifest against those who don't get married:


I would like to make some arguments on behalf of early marriage.

The first and best argument for early marriage — providing, of course, that one meets a good person and believes this person will also be a good parent and/or provider — is that it forces you to grow up.

No it doesn't. I know many people who have married, and they still have immature thoughts and habits. Getting married does not force you to do anything. In fact, there are many married men and women who do not step up to many of life's challenges. They make poor decisions with a limited vision. I know people who have had children, too, and their lack of maturity has not abated.

Prager was wrong here.

There's more. Prager adds that societal pressure induced people to get married:


Why were people throughout history ready to commit to marriage at a much younger age than people today? Only because society expected them to become adults at a younger age than today. Nothing makes you an adult as much as responsibility does. And no responsibility makes you an adult as much as marital responsibility.

Adulthood is about responsibility, yes indeed. But we can embrace responsibility without being married. In fact, Paul writes to the Corinthians that not being married allows adults to take on different responsibilities:

"32But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord" (I Corinthians 7:32)

Even then, God wants us to cast ALL our cares on Him (1 Peter 5: 6-7)

At any rate, the fact that conservative pundits shame people for being single--that is a real problem.

Pastors have done it, too. Pastor John Hagee of Cornerstone Church exhorted his audience mightly: "Get Married!" He then countered the argument "Well, Jesus didn't get married. Paul didn't get married" by stating that they new they were going to die, to be martyred.

Nonsense. That is simply not true.

Where is the Scripture for this command that we must get married? There is only Scripture warning about those who "forbid marriage":

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." (1 Timothy 4:1-3)

Yes, there are the two commands in Genesis to "be fruitful and multiply", but that is under the Old Covenant. Today, under the New Covenant, the issue is not bearing children, but preaching the Good News, that men born dead in their trespasses may be born again and never die.

There is only one pastor who has best ministered to the singles and the single life: Pastor David Jeremiah.



Here are some of the comments which he made in his sermon on this issue (Click her for the two radio broadcasts):

1. Being single is good.
2. The issue that singles have is not with being single, but with all the other church people who insist that they can (or rather should) get out of the single life.
3. Churches ignore the singles in their midst, as most events, activities, and ministries are geared toward youth, couples, seniors, etc.

In his sermon "The Lonely Single", Jeremiah relates the story of a church leader who asked the singles in her church to write about the biggest struggles they face as singles.

Most of the letters identified that their problem wasn't with the single life, but with the perceptions people were heaping on them because of their single life. The conflicts arose because of other church people who insisted on geting them out of "singlehood."

I have been there. My father had said to me: "Don't you want to share your life with someone?"

When I had gotten a new job that I liked, he said offhand: "Now we need to get you married!"

I was shocked about that, and I asked him to explain. He then took it back. As I write this, I want to make it clear that I do not hold any ill will against my Dad. In fact, when I recall "we need to get you rmarried", he said that almost by rote, as though someone had already said that to him.

It's a habit, it's a mindset in the world, especially in churches today, that marriage is a goal which everyone should seek and achieve.

But what does the Bible say? We can start with some explicit passages in the Gospel of Matthew:

"His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. 11But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. 12For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." (Matthew 19:10-12)

I would submit that there are many of us who have received the Kingdom of Heaven (righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost Romans 14:17) and the great peace and content is enough for us.

There is no need to cut off one's private parts, either. So rest assured!

But let's look at what Paul writes to the Corinthians in full:

"1Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 3Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. 4The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. 5Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. 6But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. 7For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that." (1 Corinthians 7:1-7)

And then

"32But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: 33But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. 34There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. 35And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." (1 Corinthians 7:32-35)

What's really compelling is that Paul considers singlehood better than marriage, not vice versa!

38So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better ... But she is happier if she so abide [as a virgin, unmarried], after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God." (1 Corithians 7: 38,40)

John the Evangelist writes in Revelation:

"4These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb." (Revelation 14:4)

So, thanks to Pastor David a plenary reading of God's Word, I have received great comfort in remaining single, unmarried.

"The Lonely Single" is an interesting turn of  phrase, since Dr. Jeremiah spends more time assuring single people about their status. Loneliness is not abated with more people in one's life, or with marriage. In fact, two married lonely people will produce ... two lonely married people. In fact, being lonely is made worse when married with someone, because the supposed cure does not measure up or assist the issue.

Loneliness is based on a lie, that you are not cared for. The truth is that we are fully cared for:

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7, emphasis added)

So, God's Word establishes that singlehood is blessed. In fact, passages in the Scripture assert that singlehood is better!

Other Concerns

Yet for me, there were still problems, still upsets for me.

Going back to the account of the relative whom I was speaking with a few days ago. He was going on and on about a counsin-in-law. He had a big family, all kinds of work, different jobs and careers, etc. At first, I began to feel jealous. "He has so much for his short time on earth, and where am I in my life."

Right away, I realized that such comparison games are not worth playing. It's dangerous to do that. It is not wise nor worthwhile to do that.


I remembered reading these passages about marriage from Dennis Prager, too:

If you’re 25 and not ready to commit to another person, in most cases — even if you are a kind person, and a responsible worker or serious student — “I’m not ready to get married” means “I’m not ready to stop being preoccupied with myself,” or to put it as directly as possible, “I’m not ready to grow up.” (No job on earth makes you grow up like getting married does.)

That's a load of crap. There are many people I know who are not married and do great things for others. This is really offensive, since it is so patently untrue. People who are single and happy are not preoccupied with themselves. Why? To be preoccupied with oneself invites depression and sorrow. Marriage cannot undo self-centered all that much, really. Just as two lonely people getting married will not rid the two people of their loneliness, so too two selfish people getting married will not rid them of their selfishness. Marriage is the strongest form of affirmation, folks! Whatever you see in someone you are going to marry, expect double of that trait, whether good or bad.

By the way, Mr. Prager, marriage is not a "job". It's a status of life. So is singlehood, thank you very much.

Then there was this passage:

And then there's this video:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtvfHnZMcOY

Professor X talks about the following marriage premiums:

1. After marrying, men assume a new identity, a rite of passage into manhood, an ethic of responsibility and new meaning
2. Married men are motivated to maximize their income
3. Employers are more likely to promote married men
4. Married men benefit from the advise and encouragement of their wives

Yes, marriage produces these benefits -- or is it exclusive to marriage?

Not at all.

We assume a new identity in Christ Jesus when we believe on Him. He takes us out of our dead selves in Adam, and God the Father places us in Christ Jesus!

Men (and women) can have different reasons for being motivated to earn more money. Some people like business, like working; other people are dedicated to other outcomes and pursuits, and those efforts require more money.

As far employers more likely to employ and promote married men, the issue isn't the fact that they are married. What matters is an ethic of diligence and responsibility. Those features can emerge in all kinds of people for many different reasons, not just marriage.

There is a bit of  the "post hoc, propert hoc" fallacy here. Responsible people are more likely to get married, as opposed to marriage makes people responsible. That assessment is more valid, I believe.

Here's another telling statement I had read from Prager implied that people will not vote for someone who is not married. All these so-called societal callings slip away from someone if they do not get married.

It seems to me that many of these videos are articles are geared more towards saving natural rights, law, and culture. That's important, but these arguments for marriage are not helping. Revival of the Gospel and preaching the Word would make all the difference.

Another concern

Doesn't the Bible call the married life with children a blessed status?

Sure:

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing,
And obtains favor from the Lord." (Proverbs 18:22)

And also:

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." (Psalm 127:3)

And then:

"Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

"Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD." (Psalm 128:3-4)

The problem I started to have when reading this: I automatically assumed "So, if I don't have a wife or children, that means I am not blessed?"

That is not true.

Consider Proverbs 18. The same book identifies other ways in which people obtain favor:

"Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

"For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD." (Proverbs 8: 34-35)

and also

"A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn." (Proverbs 12:2)

The issue of "Reward" has everything to do with God, not with getting married or having a spouse:

The first mention of "reward" appears in Genesis:

"After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." (Genesis 15:1)

Our reward, our blessings, our joy are not conditional on marriage.

The Bible never said that, but I just read those passages wrong.

We obtain favor, life, and all good things because of Jesus!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17)

BAM!

Final Reflection

I have shared a lot of ideas and passages from other articles in this post.

These issues have revolved around in my mind for a long time, but the small-time jealousy pushed this issue to the forefront and guided me to pray to God. I needed wisdom about this matter. I needed to get some wisdom, some insight into whatever I was feeling and also to gather some stable, spiritual data on the matter once and for all.

I meditated on those passages about who children are a heritage from the Lord. Then I remembered Isaiah 54:17: "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord ..." I then noticed, realized that mention of a blessing mentioned in connection with marriage and family is not a blessing exclusive to marriage or family.

What powerful relief we receive as we medidate on God's Word for truth!

Then I remembered Dr. David Jeremiah's sermon on singles and the single life. I found more information about it, then followed up on the passages he had quoted from Scripture.

And everything came full circle to peace once again!

It's a blessing to be single, as much as it is a blessing to be married.

Let us allow God's grace and peace to rule in our lives, in our hearts as the umpire of God's leading (Colossians 3:15).

I can rest assured that I have something--many things, in fact--which married people do not have.

And yet, everything I have is a gift from God, to begin with.

Last of all, I want to return to the key word in the title of this post: "Beautiful."

Paul writes in First Corinthians 7:

"Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman." (1 Corinthians 7:1)

The original Greek allows for "It is good for men and women not to touch each other."

At any rate, that word "good" is more than "agathos", but "kalos".

Kalos means "beautiful"!

Biblehub.com also reports the following meanings:

Usage: beautiful, as an outward sign of the inward good, noble, honorable character; good, worthy, honorable, noble, and seen to be so.
HELPS Word-studies
2570 kalós – attractively goodgood that inspires (motivates) others to embrace what is lovely (beautiful, praiseworthy); i.e. well done so as to be winsome (appealing).

Wow! Attractive, noble, inspirational.

That's not bad at all! It's Good!

It's Beautiful!!

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Activists Need Fellow Warriors, Not More Cheerleaders

Someone writes to me:

"Wow. Arthur, I’ve appreciated your work in organizing fellow SoCal conservatives against SB-54 this year, & there is reason to be concerned about some aspects of kids in the drag world ..."

Here's the thing ...

I DON'T NEED PEOPLE TO (JUST) APPRECIATE MY "WORK."

This "work" is called "the price of citizenship" or "the price of liberty." This is a calling, a mandate, if you will, for all free people who want to live in a free society. It's part of the citizenship package.

Appreciation is nice ... BUT:

I need people to work with me and the growing number of outraged American citizens and California residents who have had enough with the secular, tyrannical, regressive left.

I don't need a cheerleader. I need a fellow fighter.

I don't need a groupie. I need you to join our group.

I don't need a pew-warmer. I need a purposeful warrior.

I don't a layabout. I need a loyal laborer.

I don't need a fan or a follower. I want a fellow who will team up, join the group, and fight with me.

I think I speak well for many of the activists whom I have been honored to work with and learn from.

Final note: the highest compliments I have ever received were from individuals like Roger Hilmer, who said "I am out here recording and reporting on what my city council does because you were doing it"



Another high compliment, from Gregory Susca: "I just couldn't sit by anymore and watch Arthur put his life on the line." By the way, just before the liberal commissioner in Downey sentenced me with excessive penalties for sitting in a city council meeting, Susca again told me: "I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for you."

In turn, I wouldn't be doing what I am doing without the examples set by Robin Hvidston, Janet West, Chanell Temple, Joseph Turner and others stepping up and speaking out.



Cheerleading is nice, but not needed--and not enough. We who are activists are already doing so because we are proud of what we do to fight for our rights and our country.

So, I would appreciate it if those of you who appreciate what I am doing -- start doing what I am doing, too! Then more people can appreciate their liberties and fight for them, too!

Here's one way to start: Sign up for MassResistance:

http://www.massresistance.us/new_email_contact.shtml

Another way: sign up for We the People Rising:

https://wethepeoplerising.wordpress.com/about/



Michigan MassResistance Makes the Difference to Expose Drag Queen Story Hour in Liberal Detroit Suburb

Michigan MassResistance causes media firestorm, flood of LGBT activists, over opposition to “Drag Queen Story Hour” in Detroit suburb

Town forced to move City Commission meeting to gymnasium. Pro-family city official resigns early because of uproar.

MassResistance parents make huge statement in a liberal suburb!

December 30, 2018
ALT TEXTWe really got their attention - even though they got the "California" part wrong!
A pro-family revolt in Michigan has begun. Michigan MassResistance parents confronted the “Drag Queen Story Hour” targeting young children in Huntington Woods, an affluent, fairly liberal suburb of Detroit.
Our efforts were soon reported across Michigan by the Detroit-based media. As a result, hundreds of LGBT supporters converged on the Dec. 18, 2018 Huntington Woods City Commission to demand the event continue and intimidate parents opposed to it. Nevertheless, MassResistance parents came in and testified, unintimidated, and made their point loud and clear. The next day, the statewide media storm continued – reporting MassResistance’s opposition!

Local parents – even a City Commissioner – upset at targeting of children

As we have previously described, so-called Drag Queen Story Hours (DQSH), held mostly in local public libraries, target small children as young as 3 or 4 years old. They feature homosexual men dressed in women’s clothes and garish make-up reading LGBT-related books to children. Their self-proclaimed goal is to program children’s minds – to “give kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models” and to encourage young children to “defy rigid gender restrictions.” They do this through the actual storytime events, and provocative posters in the library.
The Huntington Woods public library has been sponsoring Drag Queen Story Hour sessions for over a year. The program has offended many local parents, but they’ve felt powerless to do anything about it.
It even bothered one of the City Commissioners. On Nov. 17, 2017, when the library began the events, she wrote a passionate email to the librarian asking that they discontinue them. Even though Commissioner Allison Iversen admitted to being pro-LGBT, as a mother she felt that targeting young children was crossing the line. In her email, she shared what many parents felt: “Young children should not be exposed to topics their little undeveloped brains are not yet ready to process.”
Commissioner Allison Iverson, a mother, was the only public official with the common sense and courage to do what was right.
Commissioner Iversen also objected to the outrageous advertising for it in the children’s section of the library:
For those of us with children of reading age...we can opt to not attend the event, but we can’t 'opt out' of our children reading the flyers lining the bookshelves. I’d rather not be forced to explain what an “unabashedly queer Drag Queen” is to my younger two children.
Nevertheless, the library officials basically ignored her and continued their regular “Drag Queen Story Hour” events with the accompanying posters and advertising.
Outrage among parents continued to build up, and by early December 2018, the newly formed Michigan MassResistance chapter decided that they would help local parents take this on. National Organization Director Arthur Schaper talked about it in a striking interview with the national Catholic group Church Militantwhich is based in Detroit.
When the library advertised the Dec. 13 Drag Queen Story Hour as being a “Pre-School Program,” we decided it was time to move forward.
ALT TEXTThe ad for the Dec. 13 Drag Queen Story Hour event. They are very open about "queering" the minds of children.

Taking tough action!

Our Michigan chapter bombarded the Huntington Woods City Commission, City Manager, and the library to cancel this program. They sent out emails, made phone calls, and even passed out flyers informing the public about this program. At one point, Michigan MassResistance activists contacted the city manager, who had initiated this program. She said she was determined to protect this program and no plans to change it, but also indicated that if residents in the city opposed the program, the city would reconsider it. So we pushed even harder!
When Commissioner Iversen got our emails, she emailed us back:
Thank you for your comments, I have been trying to get this stopped since it started. Please do get more people involved. I am one voice and we need many people to call this out for what it is....unfortunately I will be leaving my commission  position this month....I will be addressing at the next Commission meeting [December 18] in my final  comments.
Allison Iversen
She also spoke with some of the MassResistance people about dealing with the outside left-wing groups pressuring the town to keep it, and points she could make at the Dec. 18 Commission meeting. We had announced that parents would protest at the January 26 Drag Queen Story Hour event. We decided to have Michigan MassResistance parents also come and testify at the December 18 Commission meeting to support Iversen, and continue to let the other officials know that there is definitely outrage about this.

The media firestorm erupts

The barrage of calls and emails to the Huntington Woods City Commission caught the attention of the Detroit media.
On Dec. 16, two days before the Dec. 18 Commission meeting, the Detroit Free Press, Michigan’s largest newspaper, started it off with an article, Critics want Huntington Woods Library to end Drag Queen Story Time.
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Not surprisingly, most of the article portrayed the Drag Queen event as a “pioneering library children’s hour” that is a near-universally popular event. Only Commissioner Iversen and MassResistance seem to oppose it, the article said, and that MassResistance would be protesting on Jan. 26, 2019.
Interestingly, the article also described how a “gay” library employee was notifying the LGBT community:
[Part-time library clerk Jon] Pickell, who said he is gay, worries about backlash to the program which has developed a loyal following from Huntington Woods and surrounding communities. He alerted others to a round of emails and flyers floated by groups opposing the drag queen story hours.
The next day, Dec. 17, more mainstream media outlets jumped on the bandwagon. Their reports continued the theme of describing the Drag Queen event as a healthy, popular event. They got a pro-LGBT City Commissioner to praise it and to condemn the “haters” and “hate groups” who would oppose it. When they interviewed Commissioner Iversen, she stood her ground. And Arthur Schaper of MassResistance didn’t back down when interviewed, either.
Here’s some of what people saw:
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LGBT activists plan to converge on the Dec. 18 meeting

When dealing with local governments, one of the most common intimidation tactics of the LGBT movement is to pack a meeting room with rabid activists. We’ve seen it dozens of times. They’ll bring in people from across the state, and even from other states.
They’ll bring in “experts” to testify. And there’s a core of hardcore activists and generally weird people who interrupt pro-family people testifying, whenever possible. It’s almost always done with collusion with one or more of the local public officials.
This is what they had planned for the Dec. 18 Huntington Woods City Commission meeting: Tto intimidate Commissioner Iversen, who had said she’d speak against the Drag Queen events, and to make sure the rest of the Commissioners got the message.
The City Commission obviously had been informed of this beforehand. They moved the meeting to a local high school gymnasium where there was much more space for the activists.
But MassResistance realized that it’s critical for pro-family people to stand up to those sleazy tactics.

The Dec. 18 City Commission meeting – a close-up view of LGBT activism

Ironically, the subject of “Drag Queen Story Hour” was nowhere on the agenda of the Dec. 18 Huntington Woods City Commission meeting. But a casual observer would have thought it was the main item that night!
Commissioner Allison Iversen wisely decided to skip the meeting entirely. Why put up with that kind of planned abuse? (It was her last meeting, anyway – since she is moving to another town.) But MassResistance parents were there to carry the ball.
It was pretty much what we would expect. About 200 hostile LGBT activists from across eastern Michigan filled the room. Several had signs supporting the transgender agenda. (See the entire video here.)
When the “public comments” section of the meeting started, they were all ready. Dozens of them delivered very emotional, inane rants. But it was well planned: they brought in three county district attorneys who mouthed the Drag Queen party line (one with anti-Catholic overtones); a psychologist who said that “gender dysphoria” is not a mental illness, parents who praised their “transgender” children, pro-LGBT parents and teens who talked about how wonderful these programs are for families, various weird activists, and of course, a parade of men dressed as women who testified about how normal they are.
The obvious common thread, though was the visible hatred they had for those who disagreed with them. Their name-calling was incessant; pro-family parents are bigots, transphobic, or haters, and they smeared MassResistance as a “hate group.” In their testimony, some expressed an emotional anger that they weren’t able to scream at Commissioner Iversen personally. That is very common; they cannot win a rational argument, especially on a bizarre topic like this, so they must de-humanize their opposition.
ALT TEXTWhen one of our people tried to testify, this is what he faced from the "tolerant" LGBT crowd.
These are the people who want to teach your young children about life. They are the real haters, and they are truly frightening people.
Maybe the most nauseating part was that at the beginning and again at the end of the testimony the Mayor and City Commissioners took turns praising “drag queens” and the Drag Queen children’s event – and attacking the critics of the program.
ALT TEXTThe remaining City Commissioners and Mayor (center, in black) were a cowardly disgrace.
What’s more shocking, however, is that these liberal parents are more interested in virtue-signaling to their neighbors rather than protecting their own children. They become desperate to defend a lie in the name of tolerance, diversity, and inclusion. In doing so, they demonstrated how intolerant and un-diverse they actually are.

Michigan MassResistance parents stand up to them!

The LGBT hooligans did their best to intimidate and silence any opposing viewpoints. But our side really made a statement – without fear – which seemed to both anger and intimidate both the LGBT audience and their allies on the Commission.
Here is a sample of the comments from two MassResistance parents and two other local pro-family people:
"Vulnerable children are easily becoming victimized by the ideologies of adults. My concern is that this function is an enshrinement of gender dysphoria, which is a duly defined mental illness unfortunately suffered by individuals who have this disorder. It’s an illness that requires compassion."
"When it’s in a public institution, and it’s taxpayers money, I have a problem with that. I think children have enough exposure to bullsh-t nowadays with this trangenderism and everything else. I don’t think our children should be exposed to this type of learning, OK? Not on my dime! [This brought screams from the LGBT crowd.]"
"People with my point of view are being totally ignored. Our city manager went on television to say that the only people who are opposed to this are a hate group from out of state. Everyone knows that letters have been received from months ago objecting to the program. Mrs. Iversen didn’t come up with this idea herself—members of the community have brought it to her."
"You notice what they [the LGBT activists] have to do. They have to talk you down. They have the hate. I don’t have hate."

And the second media storm afterwards!

The fact that pro-family people were facing down the powerful LGBT movement got the media going again! Nobody ever sees that anymore, apparently, and Michigan MassResistance came in to change that.
Here’s a sample of the reaction from the liberal media:
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MassResistance made another big difference!

Change often happens in steps. It is one thing to be fighting something that is a matter of rational disagreement, such as when is the best time to introduce algebra in math class. But in these kinds of irrational, completely unhinged situations it often starts by overturning the apple cart.
In a very meaningful sense, Michigan MassResistance had a great victory! Simply standing up and telling the truth fearlessly – and making demands on the basis of that truth – is a vitally important start. Liberals aren’t used to that at all.
The LGBT Movement often relies on big numbers to scare and intimidate opponents so that they will not to show up or say anything. That did not work this time. Homosexuals and their abusive allies are not interested in changing minds. They are only interested in shaming and silencing dissenters. Those tactics were on display at the December 18, 2018 Huntington Woods City Commission meeting, and they failed.
At the outset of the City Commission meeting, the Mayor announced that they had alerted public safety personnel to “protect” the library from ongoing protests on January 26, 2019, when the Huntington Woods library will be hosting the next Drag Queen program. The sheer terror of these elected officials is pretty astounding, when all that Michigan MassResistance parents are doing is protect children from this perverse indoctrination.
As we announced earlier, the Michigan MassResistance team is prepared to protest and continue placing pressure on the Huntington Woods city commission, staff, and library to cancel this program. We will eventually be successful.
We will keep you informed about our Michigan team’s progress!
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