Op-Ed: What is YOUR Line in the Sand?

There is no doubt, your freedom is under attack. What is your line in the sand? Do you have one? Can we draw a “line in the sand” when we may not even be sure where it should be? How many rights are we willing to lose, rather than stand up for truth?

For example, because of a court case in another state, Idaho Health & Welfare created a new rule allowing Idahoans to change their birth certificate gender, basically rendering this “vital statistic” pointless. (Hmm, will we also be able to change our age in order to receive Social Security benefits sooner?) Is this where your line in the sand is?

How many of us know the importance of the electoral college in preserving small state representation in the election of our presidents? Is that a line that should be drawn?

We are all busy working, raising families and serving our neighbors. While these are all important, our schools have been infiltrated in many communities with programs such as Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE). (Could this be one reason more children are deciding at even earlier ages to change their gender?) Are you ok with this?

When is the last time you attended a school board meeting or visited with a teacher and asked how Common Core is working? Many teachers are hesitant to speak up against this disastrous boondoggle, but efforts have been made recently to void this standards initiative in Idaho.

Have you contacted your state legislators and State Board of Education to express your concerns, or will you just shrug it off and accept that one person can’t make a difference?

As we watch the”red flag laws” debate at the state and national level, will that be your line, or will you watch as more restrictions to the second amendment are passed into law? Will you seek information and get involved in organizations such as Idaho Second Amendment Alliance or Gun Owners of America?

One of the most abhorrent practices of our time is legalized abortion, the killing of over 60 million babies since 1973, and funding much of it with our tax dollars. Again, have you supported efforts by pro-life groups such as Stanton Healthcare or Madison Liberty Institute; or contacted your state legislators, U.S. Senators Crapo and Risch, and Representative Simpson to insist this heinous act of murder be stopped? Did you know a group of state representatives attempted to introduce a bill in 2019 to stop abortion in Idaho, but the committee chairman would not even give it a hearing?

We may think a particular issue doesn’t apply to us personally. But every attack on freedom is a foothold to attack yet another freedom.

Martin Niemoller said:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Edward Everett Hale said, “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” Phone calls and emails make a difference!

Our state officials are presently determining how to fund Medicaid expansion. Will you speak up when our property and other taxes spike to pay for another socialistic program?

Debates over rules, regulations, and laws are essentially the fight between good and evil, agency and control–God or Satan. Think about your line in the sand. Do you have one, or is it time for you to draw one now? Our actions or lack thereof will determine if the principles of our society continue to change as shifting sands, or if we stand with passion as Gandolf did in Lord of the Rings, and declare, “You shall not pass!”