Good morning,

As a political philosophy, the idea of “self-governance” begins with each of us being willing to govern ourselves. It is no wonder government is in shambles...

Here is the Texas Minute for Friday, March 18, 2022. 

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

But first… Will you make a special donation of $18.36? Your support enables us to reach more Texans, helping them be more fully informed and engaged as citizens. 

Texas Educators Using ‘Pride Week’ To Push Homosexual/Trans Agenda

• The Austin Independent School District is hosting a “Pride Week” March 21-26, in which educators will not only promote LGBTQ sexual conduct to children, but teach them “trans” ideology—the idea you can turn into whatever biological sex or creature you feel like. Jacob Asmussen has the story.
     

• Austin ISD is providing each school campus an “inspiration guide of suggested activities for PRIDE Week” as well as “Pride Swag” stickers, posters, flags, “pronoun buttons,” and more.

      
• Pronoun buttons. Congratulations, this is what your education tax dollars are paying for in Texas.
      
• “This is a moment when you [the teacher] can include the statement, ‘Some people aren’t boys or girls, they’re just people,’” reads the AISD activity plan, developed by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. The plan also suggests “homomarxism” and giving boys access to girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms as ways to make schools better.
      

• Meanwhile, studies show Austin ISD’s ability to teach math and reading to children—particularly economically disadvantaged kids—is failing.

     
• Wait… “Homomarxism”?! When your Republican lawmakers brag about how much more money they are putting in Texas public schools, this is what they are funding...

The Headline At 5:30pm 📺

• Join Brandon Waltens on The Headline at 5:30 p.m. today. He’ll talk about this downward spiral in Texas schools with Jacob Asmussen. Then, Brandon will visit with Mark Lee Dickson about the growing movement to ban abortion in cities across the state.

Texas Taxpayers Subsidizing Apple… To Oppose Texas Conservatives

• Over the course of 10 years, three Texas cities have given Apple more than $10 million in taxpayer funds. As Katy Drollinger reports, Apple is bashing the legislative priorities of Texas’ Republican voters.
      
• Why are taxpayers subsidizing the wealthiest corporation in the world to then fight against those same taxpayers?

Surge Of ‘Unaccompanied Children’ At Border

• A 37 percent increase in kids crossing the border alone left an average of 520 children in custody per day, reports Sydnie Henry. Meanwhile, thousands of the unaccompanied children released by the Biden administration into the U.S. have been lost in the bureaucratic system.

Two-Year Anniversary: Texas Shutdown

• On March 19, 2020, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order 

  closing restaurant dining rooms, bars, and schools for 29 million Texans. At the same time, he banned gatherings of more than 10 people and prevented Texans from visiting family members living in nursing homes.
     

• “We are doing this now today so that we can get back to business as usual more quickly,” said Gov. Abbott at the time.
   
• Of course, the closures and mandates would stretch on for months.

Friday Reflection: Self-Governance Starts With Governing Ourselves

No concept in human history, save perhaps that of eternal salvation, is as radically revolutionary as that of self-governance. And, like salvation itself, self-governance is a benevolent gift from the Almighty that is hated and despised by all those who see themselves as gods.

Self-governance as a concept arose in Scripture, where God wanted His people to govern themselves under His precepts and law. Samuel correctly predicted their future, “You will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

In what could be considered the first national election in recorded history, found in the book of First Samuel, the people chose to reject God and embrace a human king – knowing it would lead to misery.

Self-governance, as it turns out, means living personally with the consequences of your actions and inactions – even when you are one voice among the many deciding the affairs of state.

Because this is the uncomfortable truth: self-governance demands that we first govern ourselves. That was, of course, the lesson God was giving His people. That is, of course, the lesson we still find ourselves needing to learn generation after generation.

Self-governance as a broad, overarching concept in a republic can work only when the people literally govern themselves in their daily actions and affairs. This was the common view of our nation’s Founding Fathers.

John Adams said it best. “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

This is why government is downstream from culture, which is itself a reflection of the collective morality of the people. When one defines culture as “what is honored, shamed, and tolerated,” we quickly get a sense of why government writ large is in shambles today.

As individuals, we tolerate the disintegration of the family, while mocking fathers who seek to protect their children from vice. We honor greed, reward debt, and subsidize laziness. Social media “influencers” are depicted as the pinnacle of achievement, while those who labor in the trades are treated as invisible serfs.

All of this benefits those who seek to exalt themselves, who determine themselves fit to rule over the rest of us. When we refuse to govern ourselves, we open the door to those who would rule over us. When we refuse to control our passions, we find ourselves controlled by those who will.

Advancing self-governance as a framework for civic life requires that each of us govern ourselves. Restoring our republic begins, quite literally, in the heart of every man and woman. And we shrug off tyranny by embracing God.