Red State Ramblings

On Red State Ramblings, we try very hard to prove the dramatic difference in worldviews amongst our country’s leaders. We’ve shown how the consequences of ideas manifest themselves in the lives of very normal folk like you and I. (Check out my post here for more on conflicting worldviews: http://redstateramblings.com/conflicting-visions-thomas-sowell-saw-it-coming/.)

As a lifelong learner, I’ve tried to keep a fair view of the concerns many progressives have. I’ve really tried to understand their perspective and, on many issues, I do. But, when it comes to the left’s handling of children, especially over the last several years, I have found myself less capable of understanding and increasingly aware of my Christian duty to protect children from the outright dangerous lies the left is hand feeding Americans every single day. These lies are spread through “educational” materials that groom young children for abuse, Hollywood filth, colleges and universities, and certifications for almost any kind of job you can imagine. (Check out my post here for more on lies my old State is really good at spreading: http://redstateramblings.com/hollywood-lies-paradise-lost/.)

Only the Crazy Get to Talk in California

Dangerous lies have spread at a rapid pace in California because the consequences of speaking up are real. People want to work, so they sit through nonsensical personal pronoun training. They want to get their degree so they remain silent when their college professor verbally abuses their faith. Christians want to adopt kids so they agree to the insanity that is asked of them to foster a child in California.

In California, it’s not enough to be skilled in your work. You must agree or at least say you agree with the woke politicians running the State.

In California, it’s not enough to learn the subject matter of your college classes. You must agree or say you agree with your professors.

In California, it’s not enough to open up your home to a child who needs you. You must agree or say you agree with any idea the State decides is good for kids (even if every parent knows it isn’t).

The sad thing is, I’m not just guessing this is the case as I look at the differences between my old and new states. I know this to be true because we have experienced it firsthand.

Here are three methods California uses to certify the crazy (or anyone willing to pretend to be).

Using Higher Education to Shame Christians and Conservatives

Young and curious, I signed up for psychology classes at California State University, Sacramento back in 2003. I thought I would walk out of college with a wealth of knowledge as to why people behave the way they do. Instead, I learned that higher education wasn’t so concerned about teaching me something new. They were obsessed with deconstructing all I had been taught before.

In one of my core classes, the largest class I had, I remember our professor walking in while Fox News was playing on the classroom tv. Her tall, blonde presence commanded the attention of the room. Barely glancing at the tv as if she would catch a dangerous disease looking directly at it, she said very loudly, “We don’t want to watch that.” I wondered to myself, “Why? Isn’t CNN just as biased as Fox?” With one boldly spoken sentence she convinced a bunch of eighteen year olds that educated people do not lean right.

This same professor also made extremely denigrating comments about Christianity. At one point she told us that “anyone who believes they are speaking to Jesus Christ belongs in a mental institution.” Apparently, if I desired a career in psychology, I would need to check my belief system at the door and allow modern education to dictate how I would think about faith and politics.

Irrelevant & Disturbing Training

In 2020, my husband was told that because we live in California, he would need to complete a special training for his sales position. None of the salespeople in other states were required to complete the training, only Californians. A bit annoying to do extra work just because of the State we lived in, but he didn’t complain. We were curious to see what exactly California was so adamant he needed to know!

At its best the training was irrelevant to his work. At its worst, it was quite disturbing. Most of the video focused on sexual harassment in the workplace. The scenes crossed many lines of what we as a Christian couple would consider beneficial for us to set our minds on. But, he continued to take the training commenting now and then to me while I was in the kitchen about how terrible it was. Nothing could have prepared him for the crazy he was about to experience when suddenly, a man was pictured rocking a baby with a pink or blue blanket and “SURPRISE!” the blanket’s color changed indicating the child’s changing gender.

My husband took the time to contact the creators of the videos and explain how, as a Christian, they were very disturbing. The response he got was “Thank you for your feedback.” Somehow I don’t think they were sincere.

Reeducation training is real. The State of California genuinely believes they know better than the rest of the country and we, the simpletons, must bow the knee and accept whatever crazy they send down the pipeline next.

Squashing Parental Rights

Nothing has proven a more stark contrast between conservative and progressive ideology concerning children like going through foster certifications in California versus Tennessee. In California, I was shocked to learn that any child in my care (whether biological or fostered) twelve years old and up were to be given access to birth control and the opportunity to use it in our home. (Good thing we took the training during the pandemic so the woman teaching in the video didn’t see my jaw hit the floor!) The prerecorded videos out of Berkeley (shocking, I know) set a very strange tone for the class. It was clear we were to do whatever the State says is best for our children. It grieved our hearts terribly thinking of how many children would be left unprotected through the neutering of parental rights we were witnessing.

In Tennessee, I recently had the opportunity to take a course on sexual trauma called From Darkness to Light. (You can check out the course here: https://www.d2l.org/get-trained/.) Aptly named, the tone of the class compared to the one out of Berkeley was truly night and day. Concepts like “stewarding” children were both beautiful and refreshing to hear. Because our children are wonderful gifts, our most important treasures, we were told to put ourselves in uncomfortable situations to protect them, not the other way around. Very practical tips like speaking out to protect other children in the community when something just does’t seem right, talking to our kids about their personal bodily autonomy, and letting them share their stories in their own time were all very helpful. We were encouraged to never be afraid to make a report but to always report when there is reasonable suspicion of abuse. The tone that was set was consistent with one of my very favorite books, Them Before Us by Katy Faust and Stacy Manning. The idea was that we as adults, have an obligation to protect children, both children in and outside of our homes from grooming and sexual abuse. We were not told that the State will do the protecting so we should just shut up. We were reminded that it is our duty to protect children and were encouraged to do it with boldness for the good of kids and the world.

And it got me thinking… California and Tennessee see these things very differently. I’ll always have a lot to learn, but if anyone, whether it be the government or Mickey Mouse, tells me to shut up and give them my children, the learning stops and the fight begins. I know many of you feel the same. I guess California would call us crazy, but that must mean we’re doing something right.