Purge

As God's people, we have an enormous duty to represent Him in a responsible and compelling manner, allowing the presence of Jesus Christ in us to flow out from us. Colossians 1 states:
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Christians are called to reject darkness and embrace light.  The darkness can certainly be tempting, but, with our eyes focused on Jesus and our hearts rooted in His Word, we can reject that temptation and know what is consistent with His light.  When we face opposition because of our faith, we can turn to the Lord and find strength in Him, relying on His direction to live in the way He desires.  In His light, we can see how we are to walk. 

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We are called to shine the light into the darkness that seems to be so prevalent in our world today - and by walking in the light, we can believe that others will be drawn to it. Ephesians 5 says:
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."

The distinct trend that we see in pockets of culture to suppress or eliminate, or "cancel," the influence of Christianity has affected a Christian university in Arizona.  FoxNews.com opened up a story on the incident this way:

An Arizona school board member wearing cat ears during a meeting said she would oppose having a contract with a Christian university over the religious and Biblical beliefs they espouse, Fox News Digital found.

I don't know what's up with the "cat ears," but it is certainly clear what the ambition of this school board member is; the article continues:

The Washington Elementary School District, which serves students in the Phoenix and Glendale areas, had an ongoing contract with Arizona Christian University for five years, enabling their student teachers to be placed in its schools for field experience. The contract opened up opportunities for recruitment and hiring.

On Feb. 23, the board agreed on a motion to dissolve the partnership with the Christian university.

The cat-eared woman, Tamillia Valenzuela, spoke out in that board meeting, Fox said that she "...blasted the university over its Christian beliefs and said she was 'disheartened' to learn about the contract that had been ongoing for five years.  It goes on to say:

Valenzuela describes herself as "a bilingual, disabled, neurodivergent Queer Black Latina… who loves a good hot wing (but only with the right ranch) and things that sparkle."

The school board told Fox: "The board’s decision to discontinue its partnership with Arizona Christian University was based on the board’s commitment to create a safe place for our LGBTQ+ students, staff, and community. This includes not knowingly entering into partnerships with any organization that explicitly discriminates against protected classes covered by our nondiscrimination policies."

But, wait, so, in the name of "nondiscrimination," it seems that the school board, and the three LGBT members, are discriminating against Christian student teachers who wish to train in the school district. Valenzuela stated, regarding ACU:

"Part of their values is... [to] ‘transform the culture with truth by promoting the Biblically-informed values that are foundational to Western civilization, including the centrality of family, traditional sexual morality, and lifelong marriage between one man and one woman,'" she said.

"I want to know how bringing [teachers] from an institution that is ingrained in their values so directly brings impact to three of your board members who are a part of the LGBT community."

So, this district is essentially requiring prospective student teachers to possess a certain ideology - Christian worldview not allowed?!?

Well, ACU has cried foul and sued the school district, which serves over 25,000 students, according to Ministry Watch; it reports: "in a lawsuit filed by the university...Arizona Christian says the school district was motivated by anti-religious bias, charging that the district has violated the university’s constitutional rights as well as Arizona’s Free Exercise of Religion Act. The suit names the district’s board members as defendants as well as the district."  The article points out:

According to the lawsuit, the district has hired at least 17 Arizona Christian education students over the 11 years the program has been in operation. The suit claims the district has never made a complaint about an Arizona Christian student or alumnus.

A quote by Religion News Service by Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Jake Reed is included in the article; he said, "“What happened here is students are losing out on opportunities, and they’re frankly being punished because of their religious beliefs..."  The article also notes:

Linnea Lyding, dean of the Shelly Roden School of Education and the School of Arts, Science & Humanities at ACU, said in a press release that the university’s education students bring respect and kindness to the classroom: “We certainly hope we can continue our partnership with this district for the benefit of the elementary children in our community and for our student-teachers.”

Here is another example of a school district that has leaders who are pushing a radical social agenda that is inconsistent with Christian values.  This is the type of behavior that has resulted in school boards being visited by concerned parents who do not appreciate the agenda that is being pushed by some in authority.  

Another flashpoint at a school board meeting occurred recently in Maine.  It was reported on by Faithwire, which said: 

An 11-year-old boy from Maine confronted the people who lead his district last month, reading aloud an excerpt from the “pornographic” content on the library shelves at Windham Middle School.

On Feb. 15, Knox Zajac told the Windham Raymond School Board he checked out “Nick and Charlie” by Alice Oseman. He found the book, he recalled, on a display stand on a shelf in the library.

Knox proceeded to read from the book, which described a homosexual encounter.  His father spoke afterward.  The article reported:

“This is the smut that he is finding,” the father said of his young, impressionable son. “I don’t care whether it’s gay, straight, bisexual — whatever the terms are for all this stuff — [it] doesn’t need to be at our school. It doesn’t need to be at my 11-year-old’s library.”

Adam Zajac, who also has a high schooler, shifted to talk about the controversial book, “Gender Queer,” which, as CBN News reported, has been stripped from some school libraries due to its vulgar content.

He condemned educators and administrators who believe it is them — rather than parents — who know what is “best” for the children sitting in their classrooms.

“Listen to the parents,” he admonished district authorities. “[I] will be more than happy to focus my time and effort to the security of my child and children in this school.”

The Zajacs are certainly on the right track: purging offensive material from the 11-year-old's school. The Arizona school board is attempting to purge the wrong things: excluding prospective teachers because of their Christian beliefs.

I have to admit, some things deserved to be canceled, such as promoting porn to minors or telling them that they were born in the wrong body and need surgery to fix it.  These are way outside Biblical views and are damaging to our children's minds and bodies. But, Christianity and Christian expressions should not be on the chopping block. The Bible never instructs us to "live and let live;" rather, we are taught to take action in obedience to God, to show love to all, and to possess the best interest of our culture. 

Unfortunately, in culture today, the wrong things are being canceled - and do keep in mind that we are not called to cancel people, but we are called to present better ideas.  The Bible offers the prescription for an abundant, fulfilling life - through a discovery of the love of God through Jesus Christ.  So, when we encounter ideas that are not consistent in a Christian worldview and are destructive, I believe we have a duty to present God's truth.  We are not called to fight out of anger, but to make our case out of love and share the truth found in the Scriptures.  

But, the mischaracterization of religious practice, and specifically Christianity, is a trend that has devastating consequences. Teachers who are committed to live their lives and regard the students entrusted to them from a Christian worldview perspective should be lauded in our culture, not ostracized or cancelled.  But, this is symptomatic of the rejection of God and the warped sense of what is really beneficial - understanding that, we should dedicate ourselves to living and speaking truth.