On Jan. 18, a violent mob of bigots stormed the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., and disrupted the religious service. Much of the news surrounding the attack deals with the fact that pseudo-journalist Don Lemon was involved. The attack itself, a brazen assault on the indispensable right to freely practice religion and the right for which the Mayflower pilgrims set sail, has almost become incidental.
More so, the attack itself and the reaction, or lack thereof, of the congregants. From the horrific videos we’ve seen and the documentation in the DOJ charges, it is evident that the alleged perpetrators not only violated the sacred human right to worship freely and peacefully, but they also screamed in the faces of children and physically prevented parents from getting to their children in Sunday school classes in an adjoining room.
These videos infuriate me for several reasons, but first and foremost is my unabated frustration at why the parents of these terrorized children allowed the debacle to unfold the way it did. Especially the men. All due respect to them, as I understand they were thrown unexpectedly and undeservedly into a horrible situation. But if you fail to protect your kids, you’ve failed the most important part of parenting.
I say this with absolutely no illusions whatsoever that I’m some sort of tough guy. I’m not writing this to thump my chest. I’m not out looking for a fight, and in most situations, my first instinct is to try to diffuse the tension.
But if some lowlife scumbag activist got between me and my children? All bets are off, and whichever one of them made the mistake of 1) screaming in my kids’ faces or 2) getting between them and me would be wheeled out of that building looking like the hitchhiker from Creepshow. For better or worse, I would be a household name by now.
If the rioters were able to overpower me and beat me to a bloody pulp? Oh well. If I end up being the one wheeled away on a stretcher, I will go happily, knowing I did everything in my power to protect my kids. If my being beaten senseless means I prevented those animals from accessing my kids, then so be it. Again, this is not machismo. This is the bare minimum that should be expected from a father.
Yeah, I might get hurt. My kids are worth it. Aren’t yours? My church is worth it. Isn’t yours? My First Amendment rights are worth it. Aren’t yours? If you are questioning your own resolve, that’s a good thing; it means you possess a system of values that you don’t want to fall short of. Shame is the stick that works in parallel with the carrot of honor.
I understand I may sound judgmental towards those parents who, again, found themselves suddenly thrust into a lose-lose situation. It is not my intention to judge them as people. I am judging this one particular moment of inaction. Nor am I in a position to judge their reasons for inaction; I’m only assessing the result.
This parental inaction led directly to children being harassed and endangered. In front of their parents. It is in the bad times, not the good, that our true character shows itself. I hope this never happens to them, or anyone else, again. And if it does, I hope the next group of parents is more psychologically prepared to defend their children. Because the result of this attack and the lack of parental response is that the attackers will be that much more emboldened to do it again.
The government can only do so much to protect the rights of the citizenry. If half the country hates us and applauds these assaults on our liberties, the threat of arrest (and likely dismissal by an activist judiciary) will do little to deter the wackier elements of the fascistic left from carrying out future attacks.
A few videos of enraged parents, particularly fathers, fighting back in defense of their children (rather than sitting or standing there like a deer in headlights) will give leftists more pause than any threat of arrest. But for that to happen, good men must do something. When they don’t, evil flourishes.
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