Next Election Will Define Culture
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, August 3, 2018 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
During his acceptance speech as the 2018 Republican candidate for governor, Brian Kemp made this profound statement: “This election is going to be for the soul of our state. It’s going to be about our values and it is going to be literally a fight for the future of the great state of Georgia.”
Recognizing what’s happening in culture is SO necessary to understand the gravity of his statement. Notice his use of the phrases, “soul of our state,” “about our values,” and “a fight for the future.” He’s exactly right. Our culture is in peril and our cultural soul does hang in the balance.
The November election will pit liberals, ultra liberals, and radicals against conservatives and Christians whose values and way of life are being squeezed from public view. Since action on current legislation was postponed for a month in California, folks in that state still have time to defeat AB 2943 that threatens the freedom of professional counselors to advertise their services for minors who are confused about their sexual identity.
The California situation is important here because the Georgia General Assembly faced the issue in a 2016 gag order in H.B. 716, which said: “A person who is licensed to provide professional counseling under Title 43, including but not limited to psychiatrists, psychologists, professional counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, or any person who performs counseling as part of the person’s professional training for any of these professions, shall not engage in sexual orientation change efforts with a person under 18 years of age .”Since Georgia’s H.B. 716 had no religious exemption, it was an attack on free speech, religious freedom, and Biblical morality. Had it passed, counselors, individuals, and families would have faced blatant discrimination. H.B. 716 promoted the counseling of minors toward or into lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyles, but (b) prohibited the counseling of minors away from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyles.
Georgia’s H.B. 716 died in committee, but California’s 2012 law may be amended to prohibit professional practitioners from advertising any service that includes sexual orientation change-effort strategies. Brian Kemp is right. The next election is about the soul of Georgia, how we live and raise our children. To protect our freedoms of speech and religion, as well as Biblical morality, plan now to vote wisely in November. Thanks for correcting my math in last week’s commentary! For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.