Hi Friend,

There’s a new term coined by kids—“furries.”  It refers to a child who identifies as an animal, and they are multiplying faster than rabbits.  There is a story in the news about a substitute teacher who was fired because one of the grade school students she was teaching wanted to talk cat language.  When the teacher called roll, the student answered, “meow.”  The teacher thought it was a joke and refused to accept it as a legitimate name whereupon the grade school student got up and marched to the office to complain.  The other students said they were required to call the student “meow” because it is disrespectful not to recognize the chosen identity of fellow students whether it is sexual or even an animal.  Kids who identify as animals are referred to as “furries” by fellow students.

There are college students who change their sexual identity almost daily.  One day they are Jane and the next they are Bill.  Professors have lost their jobs by accidentally using the wrong name.

Schoolteachers use to differentiate between conduct on the playground versus that in the classroom.  Kids played games at recess—we wrestled, we pretended to be people we weren’t—a sports star or imaginary figure.  But in the classroom, we separated fantasy from reality.  The job of adults—including educators—was to bring children to truth.

The new trend is to accommodate a child’s departure from reality.  Some students have several identities with which they identify—that is, they have multiple personalities to which a teacher must adapt at any given time.  This was once the definition of schizophrenia.  When schools encourage an identity that conflicts with reality, they inflict serious damage on innocent students.  Teachers use to understand that allowing a child to live in a make-believe world would eventually lead to mental illness.  If we lead kids to dystopia, is it any wonder that it results in a rash of shootings on high school campuses?

It started by removing God from the school system.  At first it was prayer, and then the Ten Commandments, and then Christians weren’t allowed to mention God—not even on a T-shirt.  Now, God and Christianity are disparaged.  The Apostle Paul wrote, “Just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind….”  (Romans 1:28)  Is there a better description for students who murder fellow students and children who can’t identify with their biological sex?  But the kids are innocent!  It’s the teachers and administrators that bear the guilt and many are beyond rational thought.  Like Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, they have hardened their own hearts.

The ultimate reality of human existence is found in the first chapter of the Bible.  Like any skyscraper, the world came about through intelligent design.  It was God who “created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”  (Genesis 1:27)

This is a powerful verse containing two major revelations about human existence.  First, we are male and female.  It is one of the first concepts of identity imparted to a human being.  A human can see the uniqueness of his or her body and that recognition determines a fundamental understanding of identity.  For adults to ignore this reality is national suicide.  George Gilder has said that no society in the history of the world has continued to exist when it confused sexual roles.

The second is even more basic.  We are made in the image of God—and that makes all the difference.  A human is NOT an animal.  God gave man “dominion” over the animals.  Man was made to be free—not to be put on a leash or strapped to a cart.  The idea of man’s freedom is so important to God that He destroyed Egypt to make clear that HIS people are FREE people.

One of the great gifts God gave to man was the ability to use his mind to establish a system of justice.  Imagine going to a court room to face a judge which turned out to be a cow.  Any human would rebel—even a public-school administrator.  Such a concept is as ludicrous as teaching a child that he is a “furry” cat or dog.  Or teaching children that biology does not determine their sex.  It is contrary to observable science and is an offense against mankind.  It denies reality.

On the lighter side—if there is no difference between human beings and animals, politicians and teachers could be replaced by cows or horses.  The salaries would be considerably less so the taxpayers would save a lot of money.  And since there are lots of donkeys and elephants working as administrators, the cows and horses would feel at home.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien