By Jim Minnery, President of Alaska Family Council
In my church right now, we’re studying the Book of Habakkuk, an Old Testament minor prophet who many think lived the same time as the more well-known prophet Jeremiah. Both preached about how God’s plans are often beyond human comprehension, and yet He remains faithful and sovereign over all history.
A few things have stood out as our pastor lays the groundwork for a deep dive into this man of influence from generations ago.
Clearly, there have always been really nasty leaders in this world and yet God never leaves His throne and even uses those people to give us insight and food to contemplate where our help ultimately comes from. And, as followers of Yahweh, we are called to keep our covenant, walk with His light at our feet and impact the world for His glory in part by helping those in our sphere of influence become aware of and in line with God’s plan for human flourishing.
When Nicolás Maduro was captured and brought to Manhattan, a stunningly sophisticated endeavor regardless of where you stand on this foreign policy, the world became much better aware of the under-radar war Maduro, with help from China, Russia and Iran, was waging against the United States. Who needs aircraft carriers, fighter jets and infantry when you can flood a country with drugs, cartel and gang members, insane asylum patients and your most dangerous prison inmates?
As I’ve contemplated the grainy, black & white explosions that have vaporized drug smuggling speed yachts bringing narcotics to our shores and now a handcuffed former dictator arm in arm with DEA agents in the Big Apple, I have connected a dot.
School boards and superintendents, like Jharrett Bryant with the Anchorage School District, are acting a lot like Nicolás Maduro when they undermine our First Amendment right to raise our kids in alignment with our deeply held convictions.
Our homes and places of worship, right here in frosty Anchorage, as well as the rest of Alaska and our county, have been being invaded and undermined by our public schools. The acronyms of DEI, CRT and LGBTQ, although not embraced by every school administrator or teacher, have become joined at the hip with the National Education Association (NEA).
Children in taxpayer-funded classrooms are being told that you can choose your gender among a growing list of dozens and that parents and faith leaders who have guided those kids on issues related to sexuality are wrong. A wedge is being forged and it must stop.
As Christ followers, we tell our children to respect authority, starting with their own parents. That is indeed the first commandment with a promise of long life and well-being. Despite the reality that many individuals in positions of authority fall short (myself included), God is honored when jurisdiction is recognized and when parents, public office holders, police officers, military members and yes, teachers, are acknowledged as having a level of authority in society.
But when those in authority abuse that power, Biblical justice is required to restore shalom.
Many teachers, principals, counselors and school board members are abusing their positions of authority by actively undermining the inherent right of families and faith leaders to direct the upbringing of their children. Instruction, from people we tell our children to honor, that implicitly endorses specific ideologies regarding gender or sexuality is not a neutral educational matter. It is a subject of core spiritual significance.
Despite a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court (Mahmoud v Taylor) clarifying that parents must be informed of and given explicit opportunities to opt their kids out of any instruction involving LGBTQ matters as well as a memo from the former Alaska Attorney General stating the same, it is indisputable that public schools in Alaska are still teaching kids a view of sexuality that undermines parental rights and traditional views on sexuality by faith leaders.
As a school district in Massachusetts just found out, the courts are siding with parents. In that important ruling, the Court stated accurately that “Under well-established constitutional principles, defendants (the public school) cannot force plaintiff (the parents) to choose between foregoing the valuable benefit of having his child attend public kindergarten and exposing his child to materials that would burden his free exercise of religion.”
When the legal actions begin, we can echo what Secretary Rubio noted regarding the Maduro capture about our own resolve. “If you didn’t know…now you know.” Let’s be covenant keepers and look out for the welfare of our city. And, the welfare of our children.
Local elections are coming time to elect a slate of conservative Assembly and School Board Members. Time to take our city back from the liberals who have destroyed it. Save Anchorage and vote this time. Conservatives are the majority we must show up and vote! Vote them out and change the city. Values matter this year like no other year.
Thank you for writing about this and putting it out to the public.
Sounds like Anchorage parents need to step up and parent.
If your school is still pushing gender dysphoria, DEI etc. that is your sign to pull your kids out of that public school system. It’s Satan at work in our schools pushed by his protectors, the perverts. Period. Fight it at every turn!
Authority should be respected because it’s been granted, but individual people in authority eventually have to earn and keep that respect. It’s not freely given and can be withdrawn due to the actions of the individual and is always open to circumspection. We are not sheep. We were designed to be warriors. Behave as one and stand up and speak out against any abuse of authority
Is leadership being a friend of Jeff Epstein, cheating on your first two wife’s, saying you hate your enemies, threatening takeovers of Allies land like Greenland? I could go on and on, you have zero in fact less then zero leg to stand on as a supporter of our current administration. But I won’t judge your poor moral decisions, but I know
Someone who is the final Jury that will, good luck
You must be confusing a pastor with an executive.
RINO, Behold your list of Trump’s dirty laundry! Trouble for you and the other knuckleheads, is that its fairly clear that Trump wasn’t part of Epstein’s island escapades, unlike William Clinton. But keep hammering on with your fantasy!
Concerning Greenland; the Greenlanders hate the Danes. Trump is absolutely correct about the islands location as it relates to security and more recently some E.U. leaders have said that if Trump annexes Greenland, they (Europeans) will give the U.S. the boot and close all of our European military bases! Talk about a win WIN!!! Trump is Fantastic! I’m loving this man more and more every day!
Funny how all you guys do is defend murder, kidnapping, pedo rings, genocide, etc, etc… oh, and the convicted felon and rapist you elected. Do you even remember what the point of your joining this cult actually was? Then you guys claim to be the “good guys”. Lol. Man, you’ve been taken for a ride. Whatever, you can’t understand anything I’m talking about anyways.
Puk. I naively still hold out hope that someday those, like you, who celebrate the cruelty and corruption and dishonesty of the Felon will decide enough of the destruction has occurred and you’ll leave the cult before the kool-aid is served.
Perhaps you did not see any of the news reports following the release of the latest Epstein files. Even the most lefty talking head reminded all the viewers that appearing in the pics is not evidence of wrongdoing. But, you do you.
.
Cheating on wives? Right… Like the leaders you support would never, never, ever do anything like that. Got it.
.
Hating your enemies? Perhaps you were not old enough to be politically aware during any previous Presidential campaign, but there was plenty of that happening.
.
And, no, I am not making a whataboutism argument. Those are losing positions. What I am doing is calling you out as the hypocrite you actually are. Do not get too comfortable on your high horse there, RINO. It is a very shaky ride.
You could make a whole career of defending Trump’s numerous character flaws and crimes… from his connection to pedophilia, being a convicted rapist and felon, kidnapping, genocide, abuse and murder of US citizens like Renee Goode, casting others as “illegal” because you’re “not racist at all”… the list goes on. I’d say you have job insurance. You there, mouthing the words a politician taught you to say, thinking you are clever, declaring yourself superior, lol. Then you can explain to us all how you are a moral man and love Jesus! You’re like a all in one comedy routine.
Remove the log from your own eye
Bird. What an awful comparison. You should be ashamed of you snotty piety. You do so much harm in this world by promoting biblical impossibilities as if factual and provable, mistaking diversity for satan’s hand. I’m finally learning that the core issue that matters most to conservatives, is gender dysphoria. If one of your political enemies considers the possibility that a female may be living in a male’s body, s/he is banished to all the conservative grievances, like LBGT, DEI, advanced education, atheism, Islam, universal health care, help for the homeless, and the possibility of anthropogenic climate change. All these horrible things because of a psychological confusion.