I despise bullying in all forms, and we saw the worst of it recently with the death of George Floyd. Unfortunately, we are also witnessing a coordinated effort to bully people into submission to a political philosophy. It’s nothing new and history is full of it. It came through many methods over the centuries; military might, political power, educational indoctrination, and religious institutions. The bottom line is when people are forced to apologize for things they didn’t do or for having opinions that are simply unwelcomed, you have evidence that freedom of speech has been replaced with a demand for adherence or silence. Does our country have flaws? Of course, we do. Is there room for improvement? Yes, there is. Is there a need for justice to be equally applied? Absolutely. However, a diversity of ideas is now unwelcomed in political circles, university campuses, and social media platforms that all claim that very thing as a high virtue. Even in spiritual circles there is a strong undercurrent demanding leaders to prove their validity by agreement with a certain narrative. An objective look at scripture reveals a different approach, one that looks at all people without labels, loves them as humans, righteously defends the weak and pursues civil discourse.

Sadly, this current situation will not be going away anytime soon (regardless of what changes result) because bullies are rarely satisfied. In the meantime, may we have the courage to personally adhere to the truth of scripture, support policies that are Biblical, resist that ones that are not, and avoid the ever-shifting winds of the culture.