Breakpoint

An unsung hero of the twentieth century was Sir Nicholas Winton. Winton secured visas to Britain for 700 mostly Jewish children in the late 1930s, saving them from being victims of the Nazi Holocaust. For decades, Winton's work went unnoticed for the simple fact that he didn't tell anyone. Decades later his secret was discovered and revealed to the world. In fact, there's an actual video clip online of the then-grown children thanking Winton. Now, a new movie to be released later this year, starring Anthony Hopkins, tells the story. Yet, all the early press releases and a number of articles fail to mention that the children who were saved were Jews, either ignoring that detail entirely or calling them "Central European." The children weren't in danger because of where they lived. They were in danger because of who they were. Whether because of antisemitism or a seeking not to offend, erasing Jews from a story about the Holocaust is itself evil. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Last week on NBC's Meet the Press, Joe Biden's deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, was asked what the president's top priority would be if reelected. His reply: "First of all: Roe. … The president has been adamant that we need to restore Roe. It is unfathomable that women today wake up in a country with less rights than their ancestors had years ago." According to Politico, President Biden's pro-choice agenda is "the strongest abortion rights platform of any general election candidate," and the president seems to sense that this is among the very few issues trending in his favor. Of a recent Texas Supreme Court case in which a woman was denied a medical exception for an abortion, the president declared: "No woman should be forced to go to court or flee her home state just to receive the health care she needs. … This should never happen in America, period." Judging by the string of pro-life legislative defeats, most recently in the otherwise red Ohio and Virginia, many Americans agree with the president. One Politico analysis concluded, "When abortion rights are on the ballot, they win with voters across the political spectrum—though they don't always boost Democratic candidates on ballots advocating for them." In an imminent presidential election that promises to be especially contentious, the received wisdom among progressive candidates is this: Vow to preserve, at all costs, the so-called "right to choose," and it's likely that voters will choose me. Of course, this reveals as much about the rest of the progressive agenda as it does about "reproductive rights." Immigration and the southern border? Ukraine and Israel? Housing prices? Inflation? LGBTQ issues? The mental health crisis? These pressing issues are political liabilities for the president right now, so all the attention is on abortion. It is more than a little ironic to see the heightened emphasis on abortion, considering how often Christians were accused of being "one-issue" voters. Post-Roe, left-wing politicians are forced to be more honest about abortion's central role in their political project. And make no mistake, abortion is central not only to a progressive political agenda, but to the vision of "freedom" and selfhood this agenda has enshrined in American law and culture. In so many ways, abortion symbolizes the worldview in which autonomy and self-expression are the highest possible values. It's the logical endpoint of the pursuit of freedom from constraints, devoid of any notion of freedom for a created purpose. In this view, connections to other human beings—including the most intimate and dependent connection of all—are only worthwhile insofar as they help citizens achieve that vision of limitless autonomy. If such connections get in the way of our freedoms, we should be free to sever them, no matter who suffers. This deadly logic has become increasingly obvious in recent years as imaging technology in neo-natal care has made the humanity of preborn babies undeniable. Quite a few pro-abortion activists have responded by swallowing the proverbial poison pill and giving up on pretending children in the womb are "clumps of cells." So what if they're human? These activists retort. Their death is an acceptable price for women to maintain absolute control over their own bodies and futures! If our vision of freedom requires people to die, so be it. Still, abortion is heavily restricted or banned in 24 states, mostly as a direct result of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, and there are a few hopeful signs that the public hasn't fully bought the logic of the extreme activists. For example, pro-abortion candidates, at least on the national level, still feel the need to pretend they find abortion distasteful. Last year, President Biden prefaced his support of abortion by saying, "I'm a practicing Catholic. I'm not big on abortion." Also, abortion is still typically defended in public, not as an absolute, on-demand right, but as a necessary accommodation in sad but rare circumstances like rape, incest, and the life of the mother. These "wedge" arguments are deeply flawed and do not change the fact that intentionally taking an innocent human life is always wrong. However, their continued use indicates that Americans aren't quite ready to stomach the unrestricted killing of little people we find inconvenient. Ultimately, the pro-life argument remains unchanged. The preborn are innocent human beings, made in God's image, and no one should be able to take their lives without cause. In fact, the most basic purpose of government is to protect its citizens' right to life, and if the government fails to do this, it is failing in the most basic way. Simply put, if killing babies in the womb is not wrong, the very concept of "rights" is a joke. The president's eagerness to make abortion his top reelection priority is deeply significant, and it would be a mistake to dismiss the statement as mere politics. This issue has taken on symbolic, moral, and spiritual weight for our nation, and it will continue to be a bitterly fought battleground. Despite setbacks and disappointments, we can agree with the president on one thing. De-prioritizing this issue is not an option. The stakes—for our society and its most vulnerable members—are simply too high. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Shane Morris. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

America is number one, again! Apparently, nearly one in four American kids grows up in a single-parent home, which is the highest rate in the world today. The U.K. is nearly keeping up at 21%, right behind our 23%. There are, at times, reasons a parent is absent, but as a nationwide reality it's unsustainable. These numbers are not the way for America to be exceptional. How is it that the U.S. and the U.K., two nations with such a long and intense history of Christian influence, have such a terrible record in this area? Both nations also have a long history of valuing and advancing freedom in a way that has blessed the world. However, when freedom devolves into a self-centered demand for absolute liberty, a freedom from any restraint and consequences, the blessings of true freedom are squandered, and the fruit left to our children is rotten, indeed. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Go to identityproject.tv. Breakpoint listeners can receive a special discount by using the code BREAKPOINT at checkout. _____ "In 2023, the Biden administration doubled down on its commitment to radical gender ideology. Federal agencies proposed a slew of regulations pushing the Biden administration's extreme pro-LGBT agenda in education, employment, and health care at the expense of children's interests and women's rights." That agenda, Rachel Morrison suggests in an article at The Federalist, will be back in 2024. She then identifies five priorities that we can expect to see from the Biden administration this year. For example, plans are already in the works within the Department of Education to impose gender ideology on school sports. Women and girls will be forced to compete with and against men and boys who identify as female. This will inevitably lead to a reduction in opportunities for females, in competing for championships and vying for college scholarships. It also leaves females vulnerable to injury and to violations of their privacy. Also, according to Morrison, we can expect the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to expand a policy that effectively erases women from one of the most distinctively womanly things imaginable, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. In addition to avoid using the term woman to describe those who get pregnant, the EEOC "went so far as to use the plural pronouns 'they' and 'their' multiple times to refer to a singular employee who was pregnant, had a cesarean section, or experienced childbirth." This is an example of the power of language in smuggling through ideas. Also, Morrison expects that the Department of Health and Human Services will "impose incorrect pronouns, bathroom access, and so-called 'gender transitions' via disability discrimination law." "Under Section 504, 'gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments' are excluded from the definition of a qualifying disability. Yet, according to HHS, Section 504 prohibits discrimination based on gender dysphoria—which is a gender-identity disorder." Two other initiatives will hit closer to home for more people. First, the federal government is continuing its attempts to ban "non-affirming" potential parents from adoption and fostering, even calling such parents "abusive." Second, the EEOC, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the State Department have joined forces to enforce compliance on using preferred pronoun and opening bathrooms to people of the opposite sex. These rules carry weight for businesses and schools eager to stay on the good side of federal power. The drive to push these ideas is only popular with a small segment of the population, drawing support from some and opposition from others. The arguments behind such views cannot proceed on their own merits, so government enforcement is the only way forward. Though this goes under the guise of gender equality and "following the science," it takes the form of erasing (and debasing) women, denying women—especially school-aged girls—opportunities, and compromising the safety and privacy of females of all ages. This, for the sake of an ideology as new and fickle as teen fashions. Christians, of all people, must have the moral clarity to navigate strong-arm techniques. Today, the Colson Center is pleased to announce the launch of the Identity Project, the most comprehensive library of on-demand videos and resources addressing issues of identity, humanness, and sexuality available, all from a Judeo-Christian worldview. In collaboration with pastors, psychologists, sociologists, doctors, parents, and experts from organizations such as Alliance Defending Freedom and The Heritage Foundation, the Identity Project features teaching videos of various lengths that can be used in virtually every context: home, church, school, and with friends. In addition to countering the cultural lies about sex and identity, there are videos to resource parents, teachers, and leaders to help students embrace their identity as male and female, navigate challenges such as exposure to pornography, accept God's design for the body and for sexual morality, and deal with friends who think and live differently. Go to identityproject.tv. Breakpoint listeners can receive a special discount by using the code BREAKPOINT at checkout. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

"Unapologetic antisemitism—whether the incidents are few or numerous—is a college phenomenon because of what we teach, and how our teachings are exploited by malign actors." That's a line you'd expect to hear from some right-wing activist or conservative think tank. Instead, it came from Harry Lewis, Harvard grad, Harvard professor, and former Harvard dean. In his article "Reaping What We Have Taught," Lewis took his own school to task: When complex social and political histories are oversimplified in our teachings as Manichaean struggles—between oppressed people and their oppressors, the powerless and the powerful, the just and the wicked—a veneer of academic respectability is applied to the ugly old stereotype of Jews as evil but deviously successful people. It's not easy in today's academic environment to point out the emperor has no clothes. Ideas have consequences, but so does courage. Let's hope others in ivory towers are willing to call out the dangerous ideas that control these institutions. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Chuck Colson often described the importance of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 2009, Chuck, along with fellow authors Dr. Timothy George and Dr. Robert George, cited Dr. King in the Manhattan Declaration, a statement of conscience regarding life, marriage, and religious liberty in the United States. In 1955, after only a year of pastoring a church in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. King was selected to lead an organization that boycotted public transportation. This was in response to the arrest of Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat for a white passenger on a bus. With a remarkable speaking ability and his advocacy of peaceful protest, Dr. King became a primary voice of the Civil Rights Movement. Chuck Colson noted three significant aspects of Dr. King's work. First, Dr. King was deeply influenced by his Christian faith. Though a series of personal failures are now known to be, sadly, serial, the principles from which he spoke and wrote were undeniably Christian. Reflecting on Dr. King's time in Birmingham, fighting against segregation and for equal job opportunities for African Americans, Chuck noted the following: During his Birmingham civil rights campaign, Dr. King required every participant to sign a pledge committing to do ten things. The first was to "meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus." Others included the expectation that all participants would "walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love" and "pray daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free." To truly understand Martin Luther King, students must learn about his Christian faith. It was at the heart of what he did. Recently, sports commentator Chris Broussard and human rights expert Dr. Matt Daniels have produced a video series emphasizing the biblical principles that inspired Dr. King's life and work. Dr. Daniels is concerned that the Christian underpinnings of Dr. King's legacy are being lost. You can find this series "Share the Dream" at churchsource.org. In another commentary, Chuck Colson noted how Dr. King understood divine law as the source of human law. King's greatest demonstration of this was in his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," something Chuck Colson often referred to as "the most important legal document of the twentieth century." Here's Chuck: King defended the transcendent source of the law's authority. In doing so he took a conservative Christian view of law. In fact, he was perhaps the most eloquent advocate of this viewpoint in his time, as, interestingly, Justice Clarence Thomas may be today. Writing from a jail cell, King declared that the code of justice is not man's law: It is God's law. Imagine a politician making such a comment today. Based on this belief, that God is the ultimate source of law, Dr. King insisted that any unjust law is, in fact, not a law at all. This was the basis of his view of civil disobedience, something that Christians not only could engage in, but must engage in. Here, again, is Chuck Colson describing King's view: "One might well ask," he wrote, "how can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer "is found in the fact that there are two kinds of laws: just laws … and unjust laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws," King said, "but conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." How does one determine whether the law is just or unjust? A just law, King wrote, "squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law … is out of harmony with the moral law." Then King quoted Saint Augustine: "An unjust law is no law at all." He quoted Thomas Aquinas: "An unjust law is a human law not rooted in eternal or natural law." If it is true, as Chuck and his co-authors asserted in the Manhattan Declaration that "unjust laws degrade human beings," then Dr. King's teachings continue to have relevance for us today, not only on issues of race but on all kinds of areas in which our ideas are misaligned from our Creator. Take a moment today to read Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Trans rights are becoming the latest state-by-state issue dividing America. The Vatican releases a very pointed condemnation of surrogacy. And the Biden White House declares abortion is the number one issue in the upcoming presidential campaign. Recommendations Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot Being Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn A Quiet Mind to Suffer With by John Andrew Bryant Segment 1: States vs. the Feds on Trans Policy How Democrats Set the Stage in 2023 for an LGBT Onslaught In 2024 Ohio House Overrides Governor Missouri's Ban on "Gender-Affirming Health Care" for minors can take effect next week, judge rules Segment 2: The Pope Condemns Surrogacy Francis Urges Ban on Surrogacy, calling it "Despicable" Segment 3: Biden Campaign Says Abortion #1 Issue Biden's Top Priority for a second term: abortion rights For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

After securing his team's place in the NFL playoffs, Texans' rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud was asked by a reporter to respond to the moment. In a brief statement that has now made rounds on social media, he expressed gratitude for the city of Houston, honor for his fellow players, and, most of all, praise to Christ for saving him and choosing him to be in this role. More than a typical generic thanks to God for a win, Stroud spoke with grace and humility, noting the Scriptures written on his wristbands after being asked. For all the stories of scandals and salary fights, there's still a strong remnant of faith in this corner of our too-often Christless society. For more stories like this, from a lifelong sports fan and strong believer, check out the new book In the Big Inning by John Strege, where he shares stories of people whose faith influenced their performance and their relationship with coaches, teammates, and fans. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Seven years ago this month, National Geographic published an issue that they now refer to as "historic." With a cover featuring a young boy with long pink hair and pink leggings, they announced a "Gender Revolution." The newsstand edition featured a different cover, a child and a collection of hip young people with identifying labels, such as "transgender female," "androgynous," and "bi-gender." Our perceptions of those who are transgender, these covers suggested, should not be simply men with a fetish. Rather, embracing new understandings of gender was about the kids. In addition to the articles explaining the emerging "scientific consensus" around these things, and why "gender" is "fluid" and should be thought of as distinct from one's biology, one article focused on the challenge of "toxic masculinity." Five others promised that rethinking gender would elevate women. The journalists accurately predicted that a revolution was occurring, even though some who read the issue (me included) thought their announcement premature. However, seven years later, it's clear that the gender revolution has done everything but elevate women. As child psychiatrist Miriam Grossman, author of Lost in Trans Nation, explains, the number of teen girls "with recent-onset discomfort with their sex is up 4,000 percent [emphasis added]." Especially vulnerable are girls with comorbidities, like autism, an association that even one of the National Geographic articles acknowledged. People who are autistic are three to six times more likely to not identify with their birth sex. Child psychiatrist Dr. Steven Grcevich, the founder and president of a ministry for families with hidden disabilities, called this "[t]he scandal that nobody is talking about … the vulnerability of kids with pre-existing medical conditions and autism and other developmental disabilities to this gender ideology." According to Dr. Grossman, this social contagion has been especially driven by social media, which has become a virtual "assembly line" for challenging girls to question their sense of self. Medical professionals jumped in, resulting in a trail of mutilated bodies, sterilization, bone-density loss, and other irreversible damage done. Women have been hurt in other ways too. According to the Telegraph, a male student recently attacked female students in a gender-neutral bathroom. In sports such as in jiujitsu and volleyball, girls have been overpowered and injured, not to mention the other issues of fairness of competition, scholarship opportunities, and privacy concerns. Seven years ago, the first article in the "historic" National Geographic issue promised that "science is helping us understand gender." In what became a frequently used "bait and switch" tactic, the article focused on the incredibly rare conditions called "intersex" or "disorders of sex development." Not mentioned in the article is something that Abigail Favale clarified in her book, that "[i]n 99.98% of these cases, sex is readily recognizable as unambiguously male or female." Instead, the author lumps physical disorders of sex development with the mental conditions of gender confusion, via a mishmash of edgy psychology and personal narratives, with one neuroscientist stirred in for good measure. The takeaway is clear: All that matters is what an individual feels on the inside. And yet, there are clear signs that this revolution is slowing. Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Norway have all drawn back from providing so-called "gender-affirming care" to young people because the science is not settled. Though the Biden Administration seems committed to advancing the revolution by force, in states such as Missouri and Ohio, lawmakers are taking definitive steps to protect children. The credit for slowing down what seemed to be an unstoppable train headed off the cliff goes to a coalition of unlikely allies: from the so-called "TERFs" (or "trans-exclusionary radical feminists") like Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, to brave young people like Chloe Cole who have "de-transitioned," filed lawsuits, and testified before state legislatures, to Matt Walsh. Twenty-two states have now stopped or limited so-called "gender-affirming care" for minors. National Geographic may have thought that the "gender revolution" was inevitable, but it's time for an update on the cultural state-of-play. Next Tuesday, January 16, at 7 p.m. ET, the next free online Breakpoint Forum will provide "The Real Facts About Gender Ideology." Featured presenters are child psychiatrists, Dr. Miriam Grossman and Dr. Steven Grcevich. Sign up to join in live and ask questions, or to receive a link to access the recording. Go to breakpoint.org/forum. This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Heather Peterson. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave a review on your favorite podcast app. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Anxious or depressed? Now you can download a digital therapist to your phone. According to The Wall Street Journal, "Chatbots that hold therapist-like conversations and wellness apps that deliver depression and other diagnoses or identify people at risk of self-harm are snowballing across employers' healthcare benefits." On one hand, given the erroneous beliefs of many human therapists, how bad could it be? It's kind of like driving in Colorado since the legalization of pot. Maybe self-driving Teslas are a safer bet. On the other hand, if in Canada, will the therapist AI bot on my phone help me or ask if I'd rather die? The underlying challenge of all AI is that it is programmed by fallible, biased humans. Whether it's the errors that creep into an automatic car or the assumptions driving the therapy bot, our human frailties will always be a part of even our best technologies. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org