The most pro-life national convention in history

Physician-assisted suicide, discrimination against children with Down syndrome, adoption, born-alive infant protection and abortion together form a cluster of policy debates called “life issues.” Historically, pundits consider these as the “third rail” of politics to be avoided whenever possible.

In recent years, this widespread reluctance to talk about life issues has been giving way to a bolder advocacy. But this has been a one-sided change. Extremists on the left have taken to advocating for abortion up through the moment of birth. We have seen lawmakers strip away protections from newborn survivors of abortion. Others, like Governor Gordon, have vetoed protections approved by supermajorities in both House and Senate.

Despite the rise of such extremism, pro-life politicians are still largely silent. Perhaps it is because there is a direct correlation between income and pro-abortion attitudes. Those who make over $100,000 per year identify as pro-choice 62-percent of the time. While both middle-income and low-income demographics have strong majorities that identify as pro-life.


Since super-rich donors make up the bread and butter of both parties, there is great pressure on the pro-life side to self-censor. In any case, pro-life voters have grown accustomed to being taken for granted.

This is especially true at national conventions in an election year. In years past, both Democrat and Republican pro-lifers been denied a meaningful voice in this discussion. Last week, however, that changed in a big way.

The first hint of the seismic change came an hour and twenty minutes into the Republican Party Convention. Cancer survivor, Natalie Harp, was there to talk about the right-to-try executive order that saved her life.

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer that was unresponsive to traditional therapies, she asked for a promising new drug, only to be denied. She said, “I was told I was a burden to my family and to my country, and that by choosing to die early, I’d actually be saving the lives of others by preserving resources for them, rather than wasting them on a lost cause like myself.”

In that moment, she learned how the ideology of assisted suicide hindered her ability to access the clinical trials. This was the first time that any party convention had ever condemned physician-assisted suicide. It set the stage for much more to come.

The following night, Abby Johnson, the former director of a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic, was given the microphone. She told the convention how her transition from abortion advocate to an advocate for life came on the first day that she was asked to leave her desk and see for herself the procedure that earned her salary.

“Nothing prepared me for what I saw on the screen, an unborn baby fighting back, desperate to move away from the suction,” she recalled. “And I’ll never forget what the doctor said next, ‘Beam me up Scotty.’ The last thing I saw was a spine twirling around in the mother’s womb before succumbing to the force of the suction.”

Words such as these had never before been spoken at a convention of either party. They broke through all the abstract euphemisms meant to hide the reality of abortion. “You see, for me, abortion is real. I know what it sounds like. I know what abortion smells like. Did you know abortion even had a smell?”

Those words reverberated around the internet like a rifle shot. In less than five minutes, this abortion insider was able to paint a vivid picture that cut through the jargon. After this, her conclusion could no longer be heard as a mere platitude: “Life is a core tenet of who we are as Americans.”

She was followed immediately by Nick Sandmann. He is the teen from Covington, Kentucky who was viciously attacked for the crime of being a Catholic boy at a pro-life rally, who was wearing a MAGA hat.

He reminisced, “Looking back now, how could I have possibly imagined that the simple act of putting on that red hat would unleash hate from the left and make myself the target of network and cable news networks nationwide?” His indictment of the irresponsible media was stinging. “The full war machine of the mainstream media revved up into attack mode. They did so without researching the full video of the incident, without ever investigating Mr. Phillips’ motives, or without ever asking me for my side of the story. And do you know why? Because the truth was not important.”

Sandmann’s observations cemented the point that Abby Johnson exposed. Both the truth about pro-life marches and the details of the abortion procedure are hidden by media outlets because predetermined narratives are more important than the truth.

Later that night, New Mexico police officer, Ryan Holets, told his story. It began with an encounter with two heroine users and ended with the protection of an unborn child and the rescue of a young woman from addiction.

Crystal, caught in the act of shooting up, was obviously pregnant. Holets saw more than a perp, he saw a human in need. They talked and “she confided that she loved her unborn baby. She wanted the best for her child,” he remembered. “In that moment, I saw her the way that all of you who know and love an addict see them, as fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, cousins, and friends, as human beings full of value and dignity but robbed of their potential by this disease.”

Crystal wanted help to rescue both herself and her unborn child from the ravages of heroine. On the spot, she asked Holets to adopt her child. “God showed me exactly what I had to do,” he told us. “Without hesitation, I told her that my family would welcome her baby through adoption.”

A commonly repeated canard is that pro-lifers care only about the unborn, not the born. This story, told on the national stage, helped dispel that myth. I, personally, know of multiple families who, when asked to adopt an at-risk child, answered the call without even a moment of hesitancy.

Nor is this observation limited to healthy babies. Many joyfully adopt babies with physical and medical challenges as well. Such people see all life equally as a gift from God. They do not place people on a scale and value any one more than another.

Officer Ryan Holets

The following evening, the story of Tera Lee Myers’ child, reminded us that not all people think that way. She told us, “Before Samuel was even born, I was told his life wouldn’t be worth living. When early tests revealed he had Down syndrome, our doctor encouraged me to terminate the pregnancy.” Sadly, such blatant discrimination is not uncommon. In America, approximately two-thirds of children with Down syndrome are terminated.

The discrimination does not stop there. Her story went on to tell how school officials did not want to waste resources in teaching him properly. She fought for a better choice and won. Now Samuel speaks for himself to say, “School choice helped my dreams come true. My school taught me the way I learn best. I was able to fit in. I made many friends. I became a part of my community. My teachers helped me become the best I can be.”

Sister Deidre Byrne, a medical doctor, then spoke about “those fleeing, war-torn and impoverished countries all around the world. Those refugees all share a common experience. They have all been marginalized, viewed as insignificant, powerless and voiceless. And while we tend to think of the marginalized as living beyond our borders, the truth is the largest marginalized group in the world can be found here in the United States. They are the unborn.” This truth is as plain as the nose on your face. Still, it was stunning to hear it spoken at a major party convention.

The final night of the convention proved that these speeches did not merely slip under the radar. The presidential candidate himself said in the strongest terms that it is the moral and legal responsibility of every politician to protect every human life.

Addressing the recent rash of radical abortion policies, he condemned any party that “supports the extreme late-term abortion of defenseless babies, right up until the moment of birth.” He called out those that “talk about moral decency, but they have no problem with stopping a baby’s beating heart in the ninth month of pregnancy.” He excoriated those who “refuse to protect innocent life, and then …lecture us about morality and saving America’s soul.”

Whatever you think of this year’s presidential candidates, pro-life Americans can rejoice that the barrier of silence at national conventions has now been shattered. We can all “proudly declare that all children, born and unborn, have a God-given right to life.”

WTE: Farm to Families Food Box yields many blessings

On Saturday, August 22, 400 cars from all over Uinta County came to receive as much as 55 pounds of frozen meat and cheese per family. There to assist were 40 volunteers from evangelical churches around the community. Each simple transaction of giving and receiving took only a few minutes. But it was part of a much larger story.

In early July, Convoy of Hope, a Missouri-based non-profit affiliated with the Assemblies of God, announced that it had partnered with the USDA to bring the Farmers to Families Food Box program to Wyoming. If we could organize the local distribution, this program would supply up to two truckloads of precooked and frozen meats and cheeses.

Groundwork began immediately. We needed to find a cooling facility that could handle an entire semi-trailer load—24 pallets—of frozen meats and cheese. Pastors fanned out in the community, exploring options. Local business owner, Michael Searle, heard about the need and offered the use of Western Wyoming Beverage’s refrigerated warehouse. Once this generous donation was made, the remaining pieces soon fell into place.

What needed to happen on the ground in Evanston was only the final link in a chain that spans miles and decades from the rich black earth of the Midwest to the tables of millions of Americans.

A good place to begin the story is at a signing ceremony on January 29, 2001. There, President George W. Bush signed an executive order that created the “USDA Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives.” This initiative tasked the USDA to harness the energy and knowhow of countless church and community charities across America.

Then, on March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Corona Virus Relief Act. One of its provisions allocated three billion dollars to purchase agricultural products and distribute them to those in need. The Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives was tailor-made for the task.

On April 17, USDA secretary, Will Perdue, announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. This program was designed to help three different sectors that were hit by the shutdowns.

First, it would assist farmers. As restaurants were closed and restricted across America, the delicately balanced supply chain was disrupted. Farmers were being forced to dump tons of milk and euthanize animals by the truckload. Many were asking, “Why waste it? Why not give it away?” This program is the answer to those questions.

Second, as the restaurant industry slowed to a halt, so did the restaurant-supply industry. Trucks and truckers that made regular deliveries to a bevy of eating establishments suddenly had no place to go. How would those families make ends meet? How would those businesses remain open to serve the restaurants after the pandemic? The trucker who delivered Evanston’s meat on August 21 still had his job in part because the USDA paid the company to deliver the food to Evanston.

Third, the program was designed to distribute food to people around the nation who were experiencing loss of income due to the virus. How many have been laid off? How many small businesses have been shuttered? How many laborers have reduced hours? While not everyone is suddenly destitute, we are all tightening belts and trimming budgets. Nearly 60 pounds of prepared meats is a significant value for any family.

The first round of purchases for the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, occurred from May 15 through June 30, 2020. With $1.2 billion, the USDA certified that 35.6 million families were served with fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products and meat products. Distributors and non-profits were vetted for their track-record of getting the job done. After the fact, invoices were matched to deliveries to make sure that the food got to the people who needed it.

Evanston’s distribution was part of the second round that began on July 1. In this run, 32.2 million boxes are expected to be delivered by August 31. Secretary Perdue said: “The program is accomplishing what we intended – supporting U.S. farmers and distributors and getting food to those who need it most. It’s a real trifecta, which is why we call it a win-win-win.”

In addition to last Saturday’s distribution, the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies also partnered with the City of Evanston and Crossroads New Life Fellowship to distribute 80-pound boxes of non-perishable food to everyone who comes.

The Farmers to Families Food Box Program is still taking orders. Contact your local churches and see about bringing it to your community. At a time of hardship, economic downturn and growing agitation, there is nothing that builds community more than joining together to complete a complex and strenuous project. It turns our eyes outward in service and upward in thanksgiving. That’s good medicine.

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, August 28, 2020.

Anatomy of a community blessing

It was a blistering hot Wednesday afternoon in the Wasatch Front when my phone chirped at me. I ignored the incoming email and concentrated on the traffic. Later, I would reflect that this was the first note of one of the largest food giveaways in the history of Uinta County.

On Saturday, August 22, 400 cars from all over the county came to Western Wyoming Beverage to receive up to three boxes—35 pounds—of frozen meat and cheese per family. There to assist were 40 volunteers from evangelical churches around the community. Each simple transaction of giving and receiving took only a few minutes. But it was part of a much larger story. That is the story that I want to tell.

The email came from Tim Floyd, the pastor of Abundant Life Assembly of God. He passed along a newsletter article from July 14 that announced an opportunity for Wyoming. If we could organize enough volunteers and find the right facilities, Convoy of Hope, a non-profit associated with the Assemblies of God, could supply a truckload of meats and cheeses to Evanston for free distribution to all.

Groundwork began immediately. Even before we began the application process, we needed to find a cooling facility that could handle an entire semi-load—24 pallets—of frozen meats and cheese. Pastors fanned out in the community, exploring options. While there are some large commercial kitchens in our community, none had the capacity for such a large shipment. Even rentals seemed unavailable.

Then local business owner, Michael Searle, heard about the need and offered the use of Western Wyoming Beverage’s refrigerated warehouse. Not only did he offer it for receiving and temporary storage, he would even make it available for the distribution itself. Without the use of their storage space, their forklift and their cooling equipment this project was stopped in its tracks. Mr. Searle and the entire crew at Western Wyoming Beverage deserve a big Wyoming Thank you!

Once the necessary facilities had been located, Floyd went forward with the application process. He proceeded in blind faith that God would provide the necessary volunteers and publicity to get 18 tons of food delivered in a single day. He was not disappointed. As the day approached, we were no longer concerned with having enough volunteers but with having too many.

What needed to happen on the ground in Evanston was only the final link in a chain that spans miles and decades from the rich black earth of the Midwest to the tables of millions of Americans.

A good place to begin the story is at a signing ceremony on January 29, 2001. There President George W. Bush signed an executive order that created the “USDA Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives.”

There are thousands upon thousands of these small community organizations and church charities that have the pulse of their communities’ needs and a heart for serving them. The “Faith-Based Initiative” sought to harness this energy and knowhow as a force multiplier for government welfare. This network, cultivated by the USDA over the past two decades, was poised for action when COVID-19 hit America.

On March 18, 2020—at the earliest moments of the COVID-19 shutdowns—President Trump signed the Families First Corona Virus Relief Act. One of the central concerns of this legislation was to use established channels of government and private partnerships to respond to the crisis as quickly as possible. The process of creating new agencies for the distribution of virus relief would slow the relief by months and years. But the network of relationships built by the USDA was made for the task.

One of the provisions of this Corona Virus Relief Act allocated three billion dollars to purchase agricultural products and distribute them to those in need. The next four weeks found the USDA and its Center for Faith-Based Initiatives working to use that allocation in the best way possible. On April 17, USDA secretary, Will Perdue, announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. This program was designed to help three different sectors that were hit by the shutdowns.

First, it would assist farmers who suddenly experienced a massive loss of markets due to the closing of restaurants across America. You may remember heart-rending stories of milk tanks being emptied on the ground and cattle, hogs and chickens euthanized by the truckload. You will also remember asking, “Why waste it? Why not give it away?” This program is the answer to those questions.

Second, as the restaurant industry slowed to a halt, so did the restaurant-supply industry. Trucks and truckers that made regular deliveries to a bevy of eating establishments suddenly had no place to go. If alternative work was not found for this sector, the disruption would cause yet another wave of layoffs in the trucking industry.

How would those families make ends meet? How would those businesses remain open to serve the restaurants after the pandemic? How would the repair shops, fuel stations, and logistic companies stay in business? So, the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program also served this sector of the economy. The trucker who delivered Evanston’s meat on August 21 kept his job, in part, through this work.

Third, the program was designed to distribute food to people around the nation who were experiencing loss of income due to the virus. How many people in Evanston have been laid off? How many small shops and eateries have gone out of business? How many laborers have been scheduled for fewer hours? While not everyone is suddenly destitute, we are all tightening belts and trimming budgets. A twenty-pound box of meat—or two or three—is nothing to sneeze at.

Dubbed the Farm to Families Food Box Program, its first round of purchases occurred from May 15 through June 30, 2020. With $1.2 billion, the USDA served 35.6 million families with fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products and meat products. Distributors and vendors were vetted for their trustworthiness in accounting for the grants they received in years past. After the fact, invoices were matched to deliveries to make sure that the food got to the people who needed it.

Uinta County got in on the second round that began on July 1 and will run until August 31, 2020. It received 1, 850 of the 32.2 million boxes expected to be delivered by September. Secretary Perdue said: “The program is accomplishing what we intended – supporting U.S. farmers and distributors and getting food to those who need it most. It’s a real trifecta, which is why we call it a win-win-win.”

In addition to last Saturday’s distribution organized by Evanston Evangelicals United, there will be a distribution of non-perishable foods next Saturday, August 29. Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies partnered with the City of Evanston will be distributing food from Crossroads Newlife Fellowship (101 Commerce Dr.) beginning at 1:00pm.

At a time of hardship, economic downturn and growing agitation, there is nothing that builds community more than joining together to complete a complex and strenuous project. It turns our eyes outward in service and upward in thanksgiving. That’s good medicine.

WTE: Stand with Hong Kong and Agnes Chow

Agnes Chow is a petite, soft-spoken 23-year-old who may soon disappear into the gulags of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She was born a British citizen living in Hong Kong, the freest city in China. Then, in 1997, Britain handed the city and its inhabitants to China under a treaty that would keep it free for at least 50 years. It has since become clear that China never intended to honor it.

By the time Chow was 15, she began speaking out against China’s reneging on her future. Last June she joined millions of Hongkongers during a summer of peaceful demonstrations against a proposed law that would expose dissenters like Chow to extradition from Hong Kong and secret communist trials. The protests succeeded. The law was withdrawn, and elections ousted almost 80-percent of the pro-Beijing communists from Hong Kong’s government.

Despite the successes of last summer’s demonstrations, Beijing unilaterally imposed a National Security Law (NSL) that went into effect on July 1, 2020. The language of the NSL is broad enough to criminalize virtually anything that the CCP doesn’t like.

Hours before the NSL went into effect, Chow disbanded Demosisto, the pro-democracy organization that she co-founded. Nevertheless, on August 10, she was arrested for “suspicion of collusion with foreign forces under the National Security Law.” By this, China made clear that the law not only squelches free speech going forward, it punishes retroactively.

Chow’s arrest puts on notice everyone who has ever participated in a protest, supported democracy through social media, or even visited pro-democracy pages online. On July 6, Facebook, Google and Twitter publicly announced a temporary suspension in answering China’s demands for information on dissidents.

America’s tech giants are not saying how many users they betrayed to the CCP before the suspension. Nor are they willing to tell the CCP to pound sand permanently. Their access to the vast communist market may require the blood of a few customers. The National Basketball Association has already thrown the Hong Kong protesters under their tour bus. They recently enacted new rules that allow players to display social justice messages on game jerseys. But kowtowing to pressure from Beijing, they have banned the use of #StandWithHK. Google, Facebook and Twitter may yet choose the same course.

For the Hong Kong protesters, the threat of arrest is more ominous in light of China’s booming organ-harvest business. An independent tribunal has been collecting evidence that the Chinese government makes over a billion dollars per year by killing political prisoners and transplanting their organs into people from all over the world.

The Chinese government itself corroborated this accusation in 2012 when state media loudly announced that it would phase out the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners. But, they have not. Instead, it has been credibly reported that the execution is sometimes omitted, and the prisoner taken straight to the operating room. Such barbarism practiced on hardened criminals would be unconscionable. That it could be done to political prisoners like Agnes Chow is too horrible for words.

I do not want to write even this much. But it is our human duty to know the true plight of the Chinese people. They have been oppressed by an atheistic, Marxist regime for decades. Now with the oppressive NSL, an additional 7.4 million Hongkongers have been claimed by these butchers.

What can you do? Knowing is the first thing. As more people become informed, it will affect the decisions we make from Washington to Silicon Valley.

In Washington, Treasury and State departments have already begun placing sanctions on the communist government. These sanctions will not only pressure the CCP, they will also cost money on Wall Street. International financiers do not want sanctions. As with the NBA, Nike and others, they would rather keep the profits coming than stand for the people of Hong Kong.

By understanding what’s at stake and vocally supporting sanctions against China, you can help our government stand firm and do the right thing. You can also add pressure to the tech giants who hold the lives of millions in their hands. Do not let the spotlight move away from their actions. Hold them accountable for the trust you have given them.

Not only should large corporations rethink doing business with China, their criminality should give every American pause. Consider what you buy and whom you support. Financial pressure from the world can be a lifesaver for millions.

International ignorance of China’s crimes allows it to have favored nation status when it should be treated like the pariah it is. China may never treat its people justly. But a healthy fear of losing international approval can go a long way towards helping people like Agnes Chow escape the most unspeakable crimes.

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, August 21, 2020.

Stand with Hong Kong and Agnes Chow

Agnes Chow is a petite, soft-spoken 23-year-old who may soon disappear into the gulags of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Like everyone born in Hong Kong prior to 1997, she was a British citizen living in the freest city in China. That all changed when she was still a baby. Britain handed over control of Hong Kong to China after signing a treaty that Hong Kong would remain free for at least 50 years.

China lied. When Chow was only 15 years old, she could see the CCP was reneging. She began to speak out. By the time she was 20, China formally announced that it would no longer honor the 1984 treaty.

Last June they used Carrie Lam, their puppet mayor of Hong Kong, in a bid to rewrite the law so they could arrest people like Chow and extradite them to secret trials. She joined millions of Hongkongers for a summer of peaceful demonstrations that eventually caused Lam to withdraw the proposed law.

Then, in the November elections, 71-percent of registered voters showed up to the polls where the pro-democracy movement won in a landslide. Almost 80-percent of the pro-Beijing communists were ousted from Hong Kong’s government.

Unable to impose their tyranny through the ballot box, Beijing simply imposed it by decree. In late May the CCP announced that they would be imposing a new “National Security Law,” (NSL) with no input from the elected leaders of Hong Kong. They didn’t even allow the mayor to see the law until after it was imposed on July 1.

Among other things, the NSL effectively makes it a treasonous offense to speak against the CCP or to be a member of any organization that opposes it in any way. The language is broad enough to criminalize virtually anything that the CCP doesn’t like. Anticipating this threat, Chow disbanded Demosisto, the organization that she co-founded, in the weeks before the NSL was imposed.

Nevertheless, on August 10, she was arrested for “suspicion of collusion with foreign forces under the National Security Law.” This move ominously signals that China will not content itself to enforce the draconian law against future infractions. It will also use the NSL retroactively to punish anyone who has ever spoken up for freedom.

While Agnes Chow is among the first to be arrested, the threat looms over everyone who has ever participated in a protest, supported democracy through social media, or even showed too much interest in the pro-democracy movement through the internet.

Google has a history of secret collaboration with China in manipulating their search engine. While their vice president of public policy told a Senate hearing that they terminated one such project, there is no transparency to verify their claim or to rule out the existence of other projects.

On July 6, Facebook, Google and Twitter publicly announced a temporary suspension in answering China’s demands for information on dissidents. They are not saying how many lives they have already endangered by betraying people before the suspension. Nor are they willing to tell the CCP to pound sand permanently.

America’s tech giants stand to profit billions of dollars in the Chinese market. If the cost of doing business in China includes the blood of dissidents, it’s a price they have been paying before the recent suspension. Perhaps they will resume after the spotlight has moved on.

The special problem for the Hongkongers is that dissidents on the mainland have long exercised extreme caution in their use of technology in order to avoid prison and death. By contrast, the people of Hong Kong had no need to fear betrayal by our tech giants because they were protected by an international treaty and democratically passed laws.

Now that these protections have been suddenly wiped away, the only thing standing between millions of Hongkongers and the bloodthirsty CCP is a profit-driven decision made by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey.

The threat of arrest is compounded when one takes into account China’s booming organ harvesting business. An independent tribunal has been collecting evidence that the Chinese government makes over a billion dollars per year by killing political prisoners and transplanting their organs into people from all over the world.

Oddly, the Chinese government itself helped to corroborate the evidence of this evil when state media reported in 2012 that it would phase out the program of taking organs from executed prisoners. Since then, evidence has emerged not only that it has not ended the program, but that sometimes they don’t bother with the execution before harvesting the organs.

Such barbarism would be pure evil if it were practiced on hardened criminals. That it could be done to political prisoners like Agnes Chow leaves one speechless.

I do not want to write these words. Since I first became aware of China’s evil organ transplants, I have not wanted to burden even close members of my family. But it is precisely this self-imposed silence that allows it to continue. As terrible as this news is to hear, not hearing it is more terrible still.

It is our duty to know the true plight of the Chinese people. They have been oppressed by an atheistic, Marxist regime for decades. Now that the British government signed a treaty with a regime that never intended to keep it, an additional seven million people have been delivered to these butchers.

What can you do? Knowing is the first thing. The more people who know, the more hope that Agnes has. As more people become informed, it will affect the decisions we make from Washington to Silicon Valley.

As a result of China’s recently imposed NSL, the US government has already begun placing sanctions on the communist government. These sanctions will not only pressure the CCP, they will also cost money on Wall Street. International financiers do not want sanctions. They would rather keep the profits coming than stand for the people of Hong Kong.

By understanding what’s at stake and vocally supporting sanctions against China, you can help our government stand firm and do the right thing. You can also add pressure to the tech giants who hold the lives of millions in their hands. Do not let the spotlight move away from their actions. Hold them accountable for the trust you have given them.

It is not just the tech giants who have blood on their hands. Sports interests from Nike to the NBA are also complicit in China’s criminality. The NBA recently capitulated to the woke mob and allowed players to put social justice messages on their jerseys. Nevertheless, they submitted to the Chinese communists and forbade the players from having any messages in support of Hong Kong. Call them out.

Not only should large corporations rethink doing business with China, their criminality should give every American pause. Consider what you buy and whom you support. Financial pressure from the world can be a lifesaver for millions.

International ignorance of China’s crimes allows it to have favored nation status when it should be treated like the pariah it is. China may never treat its people justly. But a healthy fear of losing international approval can go a long way towards helping people like Agnes Chow.

WTE: What I learned at youth camp

At the end of the pavement above Sinks Canyon, a collection of rustic buildings marks Fremont County Youth Camp. Last week ten dozen Lutheran youth and their counselors from across Wyoming and the Nebraska panhandle gathered there. I was privileged to be one of them.

Camp is a world of rocks and water and fire—solid things, real things that ground lives in the good earth and its Creator. These elements present unlimited possibilities while simultaneously imposing strict boundaries. Consider the million ways to enjoy a mountain lake while always respecting the very real dangers of the frigid water.

The digital world lies to us. It pretends to offer the gifts of the real world without its dangers. No matter how realistic the pixilated world of video games may seem, the falsities of the virtual world are exposed by skinned knees, goose bumps and gravestones.

By bringing us and our children back to these elemental realities, our minds are cleared of the cobwebs of modernity. With each switchback up the mountain, our cell phones lose signal bars. Until that point, we had not realized that these invisible tethers to the outside world were as hard as the iron bars of a prison cell.

Camp opens the door to a new world, free and grounded. In this microcosm of several acres, campers have the opportunity to remember what life is about. Strangers are thrown together in time and space and, over the course of days, find sweet society.

Under the watchful and loving eye of parents and counselors, boys and girls cultivate manhood and womanhood. They come to understand that family is both a safe haven in which to grow and also a beautiful goal toward which to strive. It is the basic building block of society preserved for them to enjoy.

The dynamics of love and family, parents and children, are as solid and real as the rocks, water and fire. They offer limitless possibilities within unyielding boundaries. Parents are obligated to invite the next generation into the possibilities while pointing out the boundaries. Both make happiness a reality.

Affections stirred at camp occasionally mature into marriages and children of the next generation. Most often, the bonds of friendship are simply a step along the path to maturity. Persons are to be respected—body and soul—not objectified and used. The beauty of this growing awareness exposes the ugly perverseness that prevails in the counterfeit culture at the bottom of the mountain.

The more clearly the goodness of human society comes into view, the more obvious it is that wickedness is no arbitrary and subjective judgment. The true desires of the human heart for wholesome society are directly threatened by every perversity.

For this reason, building a society safe and good for families requires not only lifting up the good, but keeping out the evil. For a blissful week, parents and counselors were aided in this task by escaping beyond the reach of technology. Corrosive images and messages meant to rob children of their vision of the good were temporarily held at bay.

After lights-out, parents and counselors could rest more easily, knowing that the day’s work was not being undone by Hollywood productions meant to sexualize children for profit. The positive effects of this media blackout were obvious. How can we not give thought to protecting vulnerable children from these same threats at the bottom of the mountain?

Creating a safe environment for the next generation requires both offense and defense—both open spaces and fences. Through the week, these truths became ever clearer.

Today it is clearer than ever that we must speak, and speak effectively. We must continue to teach our own children well and resist the pervasive perversions of the day. We must encourage our neighbors to raise their children as future spouses for our own children. We are in this together. The happiness of our children and our neighbors’ children meld into one.

We must also plainly call out the open wickedness of those who would abuse and pervert our children for personal gain. They work their evil in school boards, council chambers and state houses across the land. Under the guise of freedom, they aim to enslave. With the promise of happiness, they work misery.

The society of summer camp should not be an idyllic oasis visited once a year. Coming down the mountain should not be a capitulation to the swamp of evil. It is, rather, an advance of goodness into evil, a reclamation of territory for the joy and well-being of future generations. We owe it to the young men and women who long for family but need our help. It is our solemn duty to children yet unborn.

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, August 14, 2020.

 

What I learned at youth camp

The Fremont County Youth Camp is a collection of rustic buildings at the end of the pavement above Sinks Canyon. Its oldest building was erected in 1948. Other cabins were added, one-by-one, through the loving sweat of unsung heroes. This beloved site has served generations of campers in the years since.

The camp’s most recent guests were ten dozen Lutheran youth and their counselors from across Wyoming and the Nebraska panhandle. I was privileged to be one of them.

As with countless camp experiences around our fair state, this annual gathering has a history that reaches back decades. The most senior kitchen volunteer wistfully remembers when one of the balding, middle-aged teachers first attended as an awkward and uncertain preteen.

It is marvelous to observe how faithful men and women, recently embroiled in a world war, spent both capital and care on people yet unborn. Still more encouraging is to look upon the wholesome fruits of their labor in the hopeful faces of boys and girls today.

Camp is a world of rocks and water and fire—solid things, real things that ground lives in the good earth and its Creator. These elements present unlimited possibilities while simultaneously imposing strict boundaries. Consider the million ways to enjoy a mountain lake while always respecting the very real dangers of the frigid water.

The digital world lies to us. It pretends to offer the gifts of the real world without its dangers. It draws us into a fantasy that has no reality. No matter how realistic the pixilated world of video games may seem, the falsities of the virtual world are exposed by skinned knees, goose bumps and gravestones.

By bringing us and our children back to these elemental realities, our minds are cleared of the cobwebs of modernity. With each switchback up the mountain, our cell phones lose signal bars. Until that point, we had not realized that these invisible tethers to the outside world were as hard as the iron bars of a prison cell.

Camp opens the door to a new world, free and grounded. It is not an alien world. It is the real world. In this microcosm of several acres, campers have the opportunity to remember what life is about. Strangers are thrown together in time and space and, over the course of days, find sweet society.

In the opening paragraph of Thomas Paine’s classic, “Common Sense,” he elegantly calls his readers to understand the truth of society: “Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.”

Government is a necessary force to restrain wickedness. But its restraints are only legitimate when they are in the service of a free and wholesome society. Camp rules are outlined during the opening assembly not to stifle the human spirit, but to free it. They are the parameters in which children learn their relationship to their Creator. In this, they discover one another.

Under the watchful and loving eye of parents and counselors, boys and girls cultivate manhood and womanhood. They come to understand that family is both a safe haven in which to grow and also a beautiful goal toward which to strive. It is the basic building block of society preserved for them to enjoy.

The dynamics of love and family, parents and children, are as solid and real as the rocks, water and fire. They offer limitless possibilities within unyielding boundaries. Parents are obligated to invite the next generation into the possibilities while pointing out the boundaries. Both make happiness a reality.

Affections stirred at camp occasionally mature into marriages and children of the next generation. Most often, the bonds of friendship are simply a step along the path to maturity. Persons are to be respected—body and soul—not objectified and used. The beauty of this growing awareness exposes the ugly perverseness that prevails in the counterfeit culture at the bottom of the mountain.

Thomas Paine wrote that governments are produced by our wickedness. This does not mean that government is wicked. It means that people are. And it means that this wickedness must be restrained because it threatens good and wholesome society. It is a barrier to obtaining the noblest desires of the human heart.

The more clearly the goodness of human society comes into view, the more obvious it is that wickedness is no arbitrary and subjective judgment. The true desires of the human heart for wholesome society are directly threatened by every perversity.

For this reason, building a society safe and good for families requires not only lifting up the good, but keeping out the evil. For a blissful week, parents and counselors were aided in this task by escaping beyond the reach of technology. Corrosive images and messages meant to rob children of their vision of the good were temporarily held at bay.

After lights-out, parents and counselors could rest more easily, knowing that the day’s work was not being undone by Hollywood productions meant to sexualize children for profit. The positive effects of this media blackout were obvious. How can we not give thought to protecting vulnerable children from these same threats at the bottom of the mountain?

Creating a safe environment for the next generation requires both offense and defense—both open spaces and fences. Through the week, these truths became ever clearer.

As we retraced the switchbacks down the mountain, technology’s chains reached out to reclaim its escaped prisoners. The signal bars that grew on our cell phones threatened to bar the windows and doors that had recently been burst open. Various electronic sounds demanded attention.

Although the news was urgent and fresh, what most amazed me was how little had changed. After a million breathless words since we had left the conversation, everyone still seemed to be saying the same thing. It was heartening to know that the world did not collapse in our absence. That’s a lesson that should be long remembered.

Even while we were learning that frantic participation in the cacophony is not as important as it once seemed, this should not make us quietists. On the contrary, today it is more clear than ever that we must speak, and speak effectively.

We must continue to teach our own children well and resist the pervasive perversions of the day. We must encourage our neighbors to raise their children as future spouses for our own children. We are in this together. The happiness of our children and our neighbors’ children meld into one.

We must also plainly call out the open wickedness of those who would abuse and pervert our children for personal gain. They work their evil in school boards, counsel chambers and state houses across the land. Under the guise of freedom, they aim to enslave. With the promise of happiness, they work misery.

The society of summer camp should not be an idyllic oasis visited once a year. Coming down the mountain should not be a surrender to the swamp of evil. It is, rather, an advance of goodness into evil, a reclamation of territory for the joy and well-being of future generations.

As undaunted men and women built a cabin on the mountain in 1948, we have the task of building a society in our day. We owe it to the young man and woman who long for family but need our help. It is our solemn duty to children yet unborn.