What is Happening to America? Can We Stop It?

Dear Friends,

I often hear people say, "I don't recognize America anymore." Millions of Americans apparently feel like strangers in our own country. Recently, U.S. Marine Carl Spurlin Dekel, a WWII veteran who celebrated his 100th birthday, shared the same view. "People don't realize what they have. The things we did and the things we fought for and the boys that died for it, it's all gone down the drain." ¹ How absolutely tragic.

Everywhere we turn, the evidence grows that our nation is adrift, our families are under siege, and our Christian faith is under attack. Here is a sampling of just how dismal our situation really is:

• The institution of marriage is being annulled right before our eyes, as the House of Representatives recently voted against biblical marriage.²
• The White House administration is encouraging children to change their biological sex and NOT inform their parents.³
• Critical Race Theory (CRT) continues to be pushed throughout our schools. It teaches our kids that America is racist to its core.⁴
• Christians are relentlessly attacked in the workplace and referred to as domestic terrorists by the liberal media.⁵
• President Joe Biden wants to bypass the filibuster to codify abortion throughout America.⁶

Every day Shirley and I cry out to the Lord for His intervention. I know you share in our anguish. The question remains as to whether or not we are willing to continue to fight the good fight and trust that our Lord will see us through. I refuse to give up, and I pray you won't either.

The crux of this moral freefall is the battle against God's design for holy matrimony. In 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) reiterated that marriage consisted of one man and one woman. The bipartisan legislation was passed overwhelmingly by both the House and the Senate. Congress was echoing the will of the American people. Thirty-one states, conservative and liberal, had already voted to reaffirm that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.⁷

Fast forward to today. Recently, all 220 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives along with 47 Republicans voted to repeal DOMA in support of codifying same-sex marriage into federal law (H.R. 8404).⁸

Even as I write this, it is uncertain as to whether or not enough Republican senators will stand against the Left's radical LGBTQ agenda to thwart the Senate's version of this perverted bill.

It isn't by accident that the Left and the evil forces behind them have set their marks on the demise of traditional marriage. They know if they can dismantle this most sacred union, everything else that stands upon its foundation will crumble as well. My good friend, Dr. Del Tackett, understands this all too well. He wrote:

The reason God made "male" and "female" was for the purpose of bringing them together into a divine unity, a "oneness" that brings our thoughts to the unity within the Triune God. And it was this unity of the male and female that would bring forth godly fruit… And it is here that we find the fundamental purpose for God creating us male and female, rather than some androgynous being. Any understanding of human sexuality outside of this context leads to serious error.⁹

As Del explains, once we compromise on God's intent of the marital union, everything else is up for grabs. And this now includes even one's biological sex. Yet, Scripture leaves no room for doubt.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Genesis 2:24

Over my lifetime of work, I have understood with greater transparency the profound certainty of this basic truth: Men and women are uniquely fashioned by the Creator in form and function to complement one another. To deny this biological fact is to embrace foolishness, or worse, evil itself. How can we not vigorously support this most sacred institution of marriage and courageously stand for the reality of two sexes—male and female made in God's image? Despite being adamantly opposed to the Left's nefarious agenda, we must remember to treat those who differ from us with compassion and civility. This doesn't mean we roll over when it comes to addressing the corruptness that is rampantly spreading across our land. Jesus never compromised truth for the sake of relating to those around Him. He never held back on addressing the sinfulness of man, especially when it related to the Pharisees and religious people of His day. And He most certainly didn't believe that truth interferes with grace. Jesus was and still is the fullness of both grace and truth. He lovingly meets people where they're at and calls them to turn from their sins and follow Him. This is our directive as well as we address the wickedness of our day.

As Christians, we are to act in accordance with His example by boldly speaking truth and exposing the lies that surround us. And that mission begins at home.

Tragically, the same evil agenda that is attempting to destroy marriage and distort human sexuality is also being unleashed upon our kids like never before. And the battleground is in the schools we send our children and grandchildren to every day.

Reports are flooding in from all over the country, exposing a concerted campaign to push the LGBTQ agenda on our trusting, innocent children. In an Evanston-Skokie school district outside Chicago, four-year-old children were taught that if they "feel like a girl and a boy or like neither a boy nor a girl," they are transgender.¹⁰

Parents are reporting that kindergarteners are being taught to make and display their first "rainbow" flags, and first-graders are told they can choose their own pronouns.¹¹ A California teacher was removed from the classroom after evidence showed she encouraged her students to pledge allegiance to a homosexual pride banner instead of the U.S. flag, which was no longer in the classroom.¹²

Sadly, we don't have allies in the White House when it comes to protecting our youngest.

President Joe Biden and his radical social engineers are attempting to use Title IX to further expand their perverted LGBTQ agenda. JDFI's Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Gary Bauer, explains:

President Biden ordered federal agencies to expand LGBTQ rights. His Department of Education then announced that Title IX, which was passed to protect women, will now be enforced to protect "gender identity" as well.

Under this radical new approach, boys who claim to be girls must be allowed to use girls' bathrooms and locker rooms, as well as compete in girls' sports. A law designed to protect real girls and women will now be used to protect fake girls and women. Moreover, children who insist they are transgender can demand to be addressed by pronouns that do not match their biological sex.

The Department of Education just published new regulations attempting to put radical gender ideology into girls' educational and sports programs. Thankfully, on July 15th, a federal district judge temporarily blocked the new regulations in a number of states.

We now have until September 12th to let the Department of Education know we don't want Title IX to be distorted with radical gender ideology.¹³

I pray that every Christian will contact the U. S. Department of Education to let them know to keep their hands off of Title IX. We don't want it to be corrupted by the extreme LGBTQ agenda!

Moms and dads, you are charged to raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Sadly, your job has become a much tougher assignment in recent years. From hyper-sexualized school curriculums laced with LBGTQ rhetoric to the false teachings of CRT, your kids need you more than ever to point them to the truth. I cannot stress this enough; your local public school systems do not remotely share your Christian values. And if you're not engaging the hearts and minds of your children, they will be more than happy to do it for you.

Shirley and I, along with the JDFI staff, are praying for you.

In my past writings, I have drawn comparisons of America's current crisis to the days of President Abraham Lincoln and our country's great Civil War. Lincoln was a profoundly dedicated man—to God, his country, and the people he served. He was known as "the theologian of American anguish." To say that we are in a modern-day era of American anguish is not an overstatement, and we would do well to heed President Lincoln's words today. On February 27, 1860, he made the following statement in his Cooper Union Address:

Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.¹⁴

What does this mean for us? We, too, have an ethical and spiritual obligation to do what is right. Personally, I have felt and witnessed first-hand God's calling for my life—to be an advocate for our children and uplift the biblical model of the family. In simplest terms, my love for the Lord compels my love for the family. This is, in fact, the essence of our mission at JDFI. And, I am convinced after some forty-five years in ministry that this most certainly includes involvement in our nation's public square, where often cultural norms are formed and policy-making decisions are made daily.

The most important thing we can do is to pray fervently as families and as communities. Prayer is the catalyst that ignites spiritual revivals. We can be resolved in our prayers and efforts, knowing that our Lord is at work. He will see us through this.

We also must be willing to let our voices be heard and our votes be counted. In a matter of months, our country will undergo one of the most critical mid-term elections in our lifetime. I hope and pray that our pastors and local church congregations engage in these critical issues and get involved where they can. This could be our last chance to vote our values in a manner that can make a significant difference.

Thank you for allowing me to share what is on my heart. While these are daunting times, our Lord is still on His throne and He is the Almighty God! Knowing this, we will be a people who never give up when it comes to standing for what is right.

Remain strong and courageous!

In His Mighty Hands,

This letter may be reproduced without change and in its entirety for non-commercial and non-political purposes without prior permission from the
Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. Copyright, 2022 JDFI. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Printed in the U.S.