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(Digital Editor's Note: This article was published first in the September 2023 print edition of The Stand. The guest writer is Debbie Wuthnow, AFA Action VP.)
How would you answer the above question? How does your answer inform your stance on the nation’s most pressing debates? How does it impact your choices at the ballot box?
Dr. Jim Garlow addresses this issue in his superb book Well Versed: Biblical Answers to Today’s Tough Issues. When the school Jim’s son attended prohibited him from sitting in on the 9-year-old’s counseling session, he asked the counselor, “To whom does the child belong, the parents or the state (i.e., government and government schools)?”
“The parents,” responded the school counselor.
“Wrong,” Garlow said. “Children do not belong to parents or the state. Children belong to God. He made them. But He has entrusted them to parents. … So as the one to whom God has given this child, I insist on remaining in the room if you, a complete stranger to me and my child, are going to have input into my child’s thinking.”
Defining four truths
Jim’s answer calls us to look to the ultimate authority concerning parents, children, and the state. All rights, including parental rights, come from God, regardless of whether parents believe in Him. In the Bible, four truths are clear on the issue:
In true cases of abuse or neglect, God has given the state authority to defend the child and “punish those who do evil” (1 Peter 2:14). However, it must not misuse that authority to punish good parents; that is evil itself.
Defending these truths
Unfortunately, these four principles are not always acknowledged. In fact, in today’s culture, we see a disturbing trend of disregarding parental rights. A few recent examples include:
▶ A 2021 gubernatorial candidate in Virginia stated, “… I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach kids.”
▶ Eight of the twenty largest school districts in America do not require parental consent before teachers can use a child’s preferred name and pronouns in class, thus aiding a child’s gender transition without notifying parents.
▶ Minnesota’s legislature recently passed a law giving the state temporary emergency jurisdiction over a child who travels to the state seeking gender “transition” procedures.
In light of such practices, the nation desperately needs voters who understand biblical principles, defend them with vigor, and vote for candidates who uphold them.
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