TO EAT, THEIR OWN.

We've all heard the culture's mantras ad nauseam. "You do you," "You only live once," "Different strokes for different folks,” “Whatever floats your boat,” "Be true to yourself," "follow your heart," "Mind your own biscuits and gravy." 

These are all different ways of saying, keep your rules off of me! They also find their connection to the Latin term, Suum Cuique. This phrase, in all of its glory, relates to an old Greek principle of justice which translates literally into English as "to each his own". 

Plato, in Republic, offers the provisional definition that helps us understand this concept a little bit better. 

"Justice is when everyone minds his own business, and refrains from meddling in others' affairs".

GOD BLESS THOSE ANCIENT GREEKS
I suppose we—as Americans—owe a great deal of gratitude to the ancient Greek intellects and philosophers, for some of the things we enjoy most about Western civilization. However, that certainly doesn't mean they got everything right. In fact, they got a whole lot wrong.

And this got me thinking recently, as I was engaging in some good old fashioned rhetoric and public discourse—with a few of my fellow citizens—on a local Facebook forum.

The topic of interest was the recent discovery of some explicit books in our local public school libraries. A few concerned parents and citizens, upon finding these books available to children, took their grievances to the the proper people; namely, the School Board. They each shared excerpts from the books in question, in the open forum during the most recent meeting.

Here's one such example: 
Warning: viewer and listener discretion is advised. Some of the content is NOT suitable for anyone; especially children.

THAT'S TERRIBLE, BUT WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH GREEK GODS?
So, I was a bit of a fan boy of Greek mythology. Not because I found the religious aspects compelling, but rather because I found the marks of a sinful and fallen world all over this ancient religion and belief system. 

Take, for example, Cronus. Son of Uranus and Gaia. Although Cronus's parents had many children, Uranus grew jealous of them and exiled them to live under the earth; so they never saw the light of day. Gaia hated how her children were being treated and began to hate Uranus as well. She devised a plan to save her children. She invented steel and formed it into a weapon; a sharp sickle. She went to her children, pleading with them to help her eliminate Uranus, but only Cronus was courageous enough to help his mother.

Plotting together with his mother, Cronus was offered the sickle Gaia had made. She told Cronus to hide in her bedroom when Uranus came to visit her one night. Cronus hid, with the sickle, ready to carry out his mother's plan. As a lustful Uranus attempted to make love to Gaia, Cronus struck, slicing off his father's genitals.

Cronus threw his father's genitals into the ocean behind him, where they eventually made their way to Cyprus. The foam from the genitals would subsequently result in the birth of the goddess Aphrodite.

Pretty sick and twisted, huh? Well, the story gets even worse. You see, Cronus took his father's throne. He emancipated his siblings from captivity, but he was ruthless towards them and he refused to share his authority or power with anyone. In fact, he was so afraid of losing his authority that when his own children were born, he literally ate them to keep them from rising to power.

I'll leave it at that, because I think I've made my point.

THAT'S TERRIBLE, BUT WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH SCHOOL LIBRARY BOOKS?
Well, I'm glad you finally asked! You see all this talk about people eating their own children got me thinking about the conversation I was having on social media about explicit content in our school libraries.

As I shared the videos of concerned parents and citizens who raised the alarm about the books they found in our schools, I found it absolutely inconceivable how many parents shrugged their shoulders regarding the content that was shared. 

Justifications like: "those excerpts were taken out of context," "Are you really going to worry about a book, when your kid's brain is splattered all over it."

Or one from a teacher, who was responding to my question about whether or not she would allow her students to use the same language that was in the books in question, "What people read is not heard or spoken to others and therefore does not impact others...I do however, correct inappropriate language/talk that others may hear and may or may not appreciate. That impacts others."

Every single one of these responses was dismissive of the actual issue at hand. What teacher in their right mind would make the assertion that what goes in doesn't eventually come out? I mean, what is the purpose of teaching anything, if what students are learning isn't somehow connected to how they will choose to think or interact with the world. And to assert that what is read has no impact on others is simply ignorant; or dare I assert intentionally misleading.

Why do I say this? Because the largest teachers union in Minnesota, Education Minnesota, tells us exactly what teaching and learning aim to accomplish.

All students deserve the freedom to learn an honest history of our nation, both the good and the bad, so they can learn from our mistakes and create a better future for all Minnesotans.

Education Minnesota - Defending our Student's Freedom to Learn 

What children learn—whether it's through reading, listening, watching, or doing—shapes how they see and interact with the world. It shapes their worldview and their understanding of the world. This is why Critical Pedagogy exists.

BUT DOESN'T CONTEXT MATTER?
A basic understanding of reading and proper hermeneutics suggests that context matters. So why doesn't context matter here?

That's a fair question for sure, but let me answer the question by raising a question of my own.

What context, of the excerpt from Me, Earl and the Dying Girl, would help parents make peace with why children need to entertain pornographic smut like what we heard read above?

Of course context matters, but content matters too. Trying to justify why sexually explicit content should be provided to minors is like a husband trying to convince his wife that the only reason he has subscriptions to Pornhub and OnlyFans is so he can better understand the female sex; in order that he might be a more loving, caring, compassionate, and faithful husband. In essence, it's a crock of...well you get the picture.

And then you have people using exaggerated statements about "brain splatter on controversial books" as they try to disparage parents, who are angry about the content in these books. How can a person, in good conscience, focus so much of their time or attention on something so trivial, when kids are literally being shot to death in schools across the country?

​Sensationalism is a fine way to distract. It works great as a red herring as well. Forget rhetoric or charitable debate, just say something excessive and watch as simple-minded people trip all over themselves to make sure they're not found on the wrong side of history.

But putting aside the reality that any given school is dealing with multiple pressing issues at any given time and you have to wonder why there is so much pushback on the issue of perverted and explicit books in our children's schools.

I mean we can complain about the cost of school lunches, classrooms sizes, equity and diversity and inclusion, social and emotional learning and ensuring that transgendered students feel welcomed and accepted into whatever locker room they choose. But as soon as parents start talking about sexually explicit content in the books in the school's library, all of the sudden they are criticized for not focusing all of their time and attention on the only thing that actually matters. Mass shootings at other schools.

TO HELL WITH YOUR PROCEDURES AND PROCESSES
And then there was the pushback from others, who seemed to be far more upset that the proper procedure wasn't followed than they were about the sexual content of the books that are being platformed in our schools and placed into the hands of children. ​

Interesting fact that the board and administration shared was that the forms to share concerns around materials have never been filled out or submitted. Why the jump right to the school board meeting to read excerpts from books? Why not speak with principals and then fill the form for formal reviews if that doesn’t work?

Here's the truth. When children are being groomed and their innocence is being stolen from them, I don't care at all about official processes or procedures. 

These are formalities, and there certainly is a time and a place for bureaucracy and following proper protocol. But when children's minds are being poisoned with content that isn't suitable for adults, let alone children, you can literally take your policy and shove it.

Parents have a reason to be angry. Parents have a reason to storm the school and flood the school board meetings and demand answers and accountability.

These books weren't snuck in the back door of schools by podophiles and placed on the library shelves when no one was watching. On the contrary, they were brought into the school via policies and procedures. The same kind of policies and procedures that parents are being told to follow, in order to request that the smut and lewd content be evaluated and removed. 

Nope! Fool me once, shame on you. But there's no way I'm going to let you fool me again. At this point your procedures aren't worth the paper or the website server space they reside on. We're bringing our grievances directly to the emperor and we don't care if we catch him without any clothes on.

TO EAT, THEIR OWN
And all this brings us back, full circle, to how this blog post started. What I've realized over the past week as I've been interacting with parents on these books and why they were ever brought into our public schools in the first place, is that for some parents they honestly don't care about protecting their kids innocence. They would much rather be found on the right side of progressivism, than join forces with conservative or "liberty-minded" allies, in order to ensure the content in our children's schools is actually appropriate for children.

Not only is this sad, but it's also alarming. These kids are the next generation of Americans and instead of being raised on classic literature which pulled at the conscience and reinforced a form of morality based on natural law (and dare I say rooted in God's law) they are now being presented with literal pornographic material. And parents are fighting for their kids ability to consume it.

In a recent post on his blog, Douglas Wilson said the following:

​"When the shamelessness is far gone, the most abominable things can be done, and the echo chamber of approval from others engaged in the same wickedness reinforces the evil".

The point that Wilson went on to make was that when the angles came to Sodom, Lot had the wherewithal to invite them into his home for shelter. When the townsfolk rose up to welcome Lot's guests into town, they did so by offering to sodomize them in the town square. Lot, being a man of questionable moral integrity (as opposed to no moral integrity at all) came out to address the angry mob.
​

Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down.

Genesis 19:8-9

UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNASHAMED IN THE FACE OF SHAMELESSNESS
The anger of the Sodomites (and yes that's where the term comes from) burned towards Lot, because he had the audacity to judge them. Didn't he know Christ's words, "judge not lest you be judged?" Some Christian he was! 

And the same holds true today. There are those who will hear the content read from the books found in the school library, or the words of books that have already been removed—like "This Book is Gay"—and instead of the words making them angry...their anger turns towards the people who rightly see those words as evil and deplorable and wicked.

How dare you judge these books? How dare you judge the author or the parents who have no issues with their children reading them. How dare you? Who made you the arbitrator of what is moral or gave you the authority to decide what is appropriate for children?

And all the while they ignore the reality that if they ever caught a stranger having a conversation—with their child—about the things found in these books, they would not only be angry, but would also do everything in their power to ensure that those perverts were held accountable.

And yet, because the stranger comes in the form of an author of a book—which exists in their child's school—somehow this makes all the difference in the world to them; even though the situation plays out the very same way. Instead of protecting their children from the smut, they protect the smut at the expense of their children.

In essence, they eat their own. Maybe not in the same way as Cronus, who was fearful of losing his throne, but rather in a way that is afraid of the wrath of progressive culture.

For some strange reason, parents would rather be found on the right side of a shameless culture than partner with those who they see as their political enemies. And all of this is done, whether consciously or subconsciously, to keep power. Wherever the power of culture is, the force that drives the direction of what is currently considered normal, people are afraid to be found on the wrong side of history.

So, if the culture demands that we have books like "This Book is Gay" in our middle school libraries—with its step-by-step instructions on how to give blowjobs, handjobs, and use sex apps—then some parents would rather side with perversion than side with sanity; and their 12-14 year old children are sacrificed on the alter of cultural-altruism.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE BRAVE
In closing, I'd like to end with a little bit of encouragement, for those parents who are unwilling to surrender their children to the gods of culture, in order to remain in good standing with the the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 

Victory is already guaranteed! Persecution, because of your convictions and faithfulness to God, a sign that you are glorifying God with your life.

As Doug Wilson went on to say in his blog post:

"The things we have to say are things that no one should ever be ashamed to speak. We should speak them in the pulpit, around the dinner table, on social media, and when we are called to speak before [ school boards, principals, and superintendents ]." 

As the culture grows more and more godless, the hope of our Children and the future of the world rests in the willingness of Christians to stand up for truth in the power and boldness of the Holy Spirit. 

You may be persecuted for your stance and it may cost you, greatly. But the prize is Jesus and the stakes—for everyone—are eternal. If we need a reminder of what it looks like for a culture to turn it's back on God, and for his hand of mercy to be removed from them. All we have to do is look to Romans 1:24-27.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Then, when we wipe the tears from our eyes. We put on the full armor of Christ and soldier on. There is a perishing world out there., and we must do our part to ensure they are hearing the truth.