Wednesday night I shared with you that it was a time to mourn, and to pray. The deep division in our country, the violence at the Capitol, and the political news we share with you today are deeply troubling for every believer.
If you haven’t heard already, here’s the bad news: In the Georgia Senate runoff election, it appears both Democratic candidates have won. Both support a radical agenda that counters the family values we hold dear. This puts the U.S. Senate at a 50-50 split with incoming Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaker.
Early Thursday morning, Congress also certified the electoral college votes, making Joe Biden the official president-elect. President Trump has promised a smooth transition of power.
As a result, D.C. will be fully controlled by a Democrat party which has promised a radical abortion and LGBT-centered agenda  – complete with threats of power-grabbing tactics such as court-packing and ending the filibuster. A majority of Americans (found on both sides of the aisle) oppose key components of this radical agenda.
The threats to our values are very real, and we share in the somberness of the day.
Yet, as I shared Wednesday night, it is also time for the family of believers to build and to take action in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. We have a special opportunity to shine the way forward for our fellow citizens who are desperately searching for hope in the darkness.
I previously outlined five principles of biblical citizenship that you can trust Family Policy Alliance® to operate by. Today, I would like to share with you four ways to move forward together—and what you can trust Family Policy Alliance to advance, by God’s grace, in 2021 and beyond.
-
- Everyone should agree on election reform to prevent fraud.
If the 2020 election has brought our country to a breaking point, there is reason to hope that the American people will demand meaningful election reform to prevent voter fraud and corruption in the future. Our system of government depends upon the integrity of our elections, and every elected official—no matter at what level of government and no matter in what party—should care about this. A recent Quinnipiac poll revealed that around one-third of voters believe Joe Biden’s presidential victory is illegitimate. If one-third of all voters don’t trust the integrity of elections (rightly or wrongly) that’s a huge problem for elected leaders because such beliefs will result in voters refusing to turn out to vote at all. Family Policy Alliance supports efforts to ensure the integrity of the electoral system moving forward.
-
- It’s Groundhog Day—the sequel. And sequels are always worse.
In the 90’s classic film, Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray, the lead character has to relive the same day over and over. Joe Biden feels like another Groundhog Day.
We’ve been here before in 2008 when President Obama took office promising a radical agenda to the American people—and Joe Biden was there too. And remember, in the 2010 midterm election, the American people delivered a swift repudiation to the Obama/Biden agenda by handing 63 House seats to the GOP. By President Obama’s second term, both the House and the Senate were controlled by the GOP.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are hoping to recreate the glory days of the Obama era, complete with a radical agenda and many of the same people. The Obama years were an era replete with liberal policy overreaches, the proliferation of identity politics and an abject abandonment of Christian values. However, when conservatives and believers unite together, we know how to push back against this type of overreach. We did before, and we will again.
But, remember that Joe Biden is the sequel, and sequels are always worse. He was there with President Obama in 2008, but now he has his own glory to seek from the well-funded abortion and LGBT activists who put him in office. Plus, President Obama picked Joe Biden as his Vice President. But Joe Biden didn’t pick another Joe Biden—he chose Kamala Harris, arguably the most liberal U.S. Senator. That’s just one of many indications that this time around, the Biden agenda is likely to be even more extreme than during the Obama era.
We cannot check out for the next four years, waiting for a new shot at the presidency. Instead, we must be on guard, ready to serve as a check on the new administration, and ready to defend the values we hold dear. And, perhaps, find ways to advance some family values that both sides can agree on—we’re working on that right now! We pray you will not grow weary, but will join with us—because it will take all of us.
-
- We are strategizing for 2022 now.
We learned important lessons during the Obama era, and one big takeaway is that we need to plan and strategize for the 2022 election now—and we are. Just as the Obama Administration overreached on radical policies, we know the Biden Administration and their allies will do the same. So just as the American people rejected the Obama Administration’s agenda in the 2010 midterm election by “kicking out” many of President Obama’s allies in Congress, we need to do the same with Joe Biden’s congressional allies in 2022.
The good news is that as believers, we never place our hope and trust in political leaders. So, we do not despair when our preferred leaders lose or gloat when they win. Rather, we continue to advance godly values regardless of the political makeup.
So even while the incoming Administration appears poised to trample the values we hold dear, we continue to fight for them in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ and work to replace those leaders with men and women who more closely reflect our values at the next possible opportunity. This is how our system of government works, and God has called us to steward it well.
-
- There’s plenty of reason to have hope for families in the states!
Regardless of what’s going on in Washington, D.C., Family Policy Alliance has always been primarily focused on advancing your values in the states. Though D.C. suffers from chronic gridlock and dysfunction, many states have been able to advance critical legislation that cherishes the lives of babies in the womb and their mothers, helps religious freedom flourish, and supports thriving families.
In fact, the states often serve as an important check on Washington, D.C., and sometimes even lead the way for change to happen at the federal level on important issues. Indeed, just this past year, Idaho led the nation in becoming the first to protect the fairness and integrity of girls’ sports. States have been leading the way for decades in rolling back Roe v. Wade with hundreds of pro-life policies. And, while our most sacred right of religious freedom has suffered or thrived at the federal level depending on who sits in the White House, states have passed multiple pieces of legislation to protect faith-based adoption agencies or other nonprofits, the religious freedom of students in public schools, and ensuring people of faith get a fair day in court.
So take heart! Even if D.C. remains a somber place the next four years (though we certainly have hope of finding ways to make a difference!), join us in being about the Father’s business of shining His light in your state!
Onward—for His glory, may we demonstrate citizenship
worthy of the Gospel of Christ,
Craig DeRoche
President and CEO