Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story aptly stated that “republics are created by the virtue, public spirit and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people in order to betray them.” Though that warning is over 200 years old, it feels completely relevant to the crisis we face in this era.
Our educational system has made it a policy to banish wisdom and truth in the name of false justice, pseudo-equity and a delusional crusade against biology. Not a decade ago, transgenderism was an odd subculture that existed on the fringe of society, yet unbeknownst to us, all its adherents and acolytes were gaining traction in the halls of higher education and in the minds of the bureaucrats those institutions were pumping out. It is now in the middle of a cultural blitzkrieg that has taken parents and communities completely by surprise.
The propaganda machine has been working full time, coercing children and teenagers in the vulnerability of puberty and adolescence to identify with this “chic” zeitgeist. Over 1 out of 20 people under age 30 in America now identify as transgender or a gender outside of their God-given one, according to Pew Research.
Those who disagree with the new orthodoxy are punished and maligned. A young college student gets a zero on her term paper, a term paper her teacher said was very good, by the way, but the zero was because she wrote the word “woman” on it. This is just one of the litany of abuses that those who deny the “new normal” suffer. The sterilization of children, forced political groupthink, and punishment of dissenters sounds more like Mao’s China than the America of old.
Additionally, forced racial, sexual and gender quotas are being buttressed across the country even as the Supreme Court has ruled against affirmative action. The left places diversity above merit because having a rainbow coalition of obedient soldiers is more useful than an intellectually vigorous community to manage. Teachers are rewarded for being activists and embracing the causes of the day, not the truths of eternity. The result is morally confused teachers teaching their false wisdom. Our children are being taught hate and division while kids’ reading and math scores plummet. California, Nevada and Connecticut are moving to implement something called “equitable grading.” This downplays the importance of homework and eschews assignment deadlines. The holdouts in education who claim this disincentivizes students and leads to a lack of accountability are roundly ignored as relics of a bygone time.
Federal agencies, such as the Department of Justice, target and prosecute parents when they try to fight for their children. Lifetime bureaucrats, liberal politicians and corporate journalists applaud this behavior because their end goal is placing the primacy of the state above parents and families.
An organization called SIECUS (the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States) establishes the national sex education standards for the U.S. educational system, and right on their website, they explain the curriculum for public schools to teach. Kindergarteners are taught to question their gender and learn about adult sexual practices. From second through fifth grade, children are defining gender identity and stereotypes, discussing sexual feelings and learning about hormone blockers. By eighth grade, children are taught to define sexual acts and how to access an abortion. Schools are also partnering with something called Amaze videos that talk about sexual orientation, identity and masturbation. Parents don’t realize they are funding this. In Connecticut, third, fourth and fifth graders are being shown a video about Simon, who waves the pride flag and expresses how he doesn’t feel like a boy or girl, and that is OK! They are being sent home with puberty kits and boys with pantiliners and maxi pads. Many parents have objected and are starting to pull their children out of these schools. Meanwhile, third graders in China are learning calculus.
Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, representing Connecticut’s Fifth District, has tweeted out #protecttranskids. What does this mean? Not only will parents be punished for not going along with what the child and school tell them, but now the child feels empowered to go against his or her parents. As a pre-teen or teen, they know they don’t have to listen to mom or dad, and now they have the government on their side. The government will protect me from my mean and bigoted parents. It is getting to a point where if parents do not affirm what their 10-year-old child believes, then the parent could be under the federal government’s scrutiny.
To help counter this jihad against justice, I suggest all patriots should support organizations such as MAMAS, Mothers Allied to Make America Strong. Until we can abolish the Department of Education, MAMAS helps direct parents in Connecticut to educational alternatives besides public schools.
I taught in public school, I homeschooled my children and I taught Sunday School. I know how beautiful and innocent children are. We are obligated to protect them from a culture that drags children to the altar of sterilization, mutilation and indoctrination. If we do not fight on this hill, on what other hill will we fight?
Michelle Botelho is a Christian Conservative who studied law and politics before serving in various public sector capacities, working with special needs children, and becoming a mother. She believes in the values, principles, and freedoms which shaped this great nation and intends to safeguard them for generations of American prosperity. She is also in leadership roles at CT Taxpayers Coalition and MAMAS ( Moms Allied for Making America Strong).