Do what is right, let the consequences follow

I wrote in my Journal in March 2020 that I no longer recognized the country and community in which I was raised. We had given up basic freedoms and civil liberties that I truly believed we all understood were important. We seemed ignorant of what would happen as a result. I sincerely, almost desperately, hoped that things would get better, but at each point when I thought things couldn’t get worse, they did. This Utah Legislative Session has been no different.

This past week, the Utah senate killed Kera’s Birkeland's bill that followed science and simply stated that those who were born girls should compete against girls and those who were born boys (with their genetic advantage) should compete against boys. As the parent of a daughter who was a collegiate athlete, it’s only common sense to me. As a father of boys and a mentor to others over the years, I’ve seen the pros and cons of athletics, and recognize that it's not just transgender individuals that struggle when they are cut from teams, fall short of goals, or suffer injuries, but I recognize that its part of life and we do no good by protecting children from all disappointment. Sports are just sports, and there are other ways to build self-esteem, but fundamental fairness is always important.

The House killed a bill that would simply have required that a child be 16 until gender reassignment surgery or puberty blockers could be used since the science isn’t close to being settled on the long-term consequences. Makes sense to me as decisions are permanent and in other areas of law we don’t allow minors to make permanent or long-term decisions. It’s sad when the Libertarian of the U.S. Senate is the only one with the courage to speak up about the long-term damage to children.

The Utah Senate leadership holds up bills that criticizes China for the genocide of the Uyghurs and forbidding Confucius groups on university campuses which have been shown to a hotbed for spies until the financial impact can fully be determined by the World Trade Center. And yet, the senate moves along bills to remove English as the official language and fund a festival that airs questionable movies. We forget the words of Reagan when he said that “the only thing the Soviets understand is brute force.” This doesn’t mean that most Soviets were evil (I married one) but simply recognizes that dictatorial regimes do not go away on their own or by showing weakness and financially rewarding them. Dictatorial regimes are bullies who see kindness as a sign of weakness. We starved the Soviet Union of hard currency that helped to bankrupt them . . . a lesson that we did not learn with the Chinese Communists when we gave them most favored nation status. It is folly to think that kindness, cultural exchanges, and weakness will help the communists “see the errors of their way” or that they will voluntarily give up their power if we just turn our cheek, acquiesce, and naively wait for reforms we hope will occur. Besides, who is actually changing whom?

In other words, we sacrifice our children because we're afraid of teacher unions; we sacrifice the Uyghurs because want missionaries in China and worship the almighty dollar; we sacrifice small businesses because we’re afraid of freedom and believe the government better understands risks than individuals, businesses, and parents yet we won’t risk international trade for principles of freedom or morality. We sacrifice our daughters because of wokeness and fears of boycotts.

Excuse my language but where the Hell do I live?

I truly don’t recognize Utah any longer. This was once the home of the Freedom Festival where we recognized those that paid a high price for freedom. We once honored students who stood up against tanks in Tiananmen Square; now we ignore students who want freedom in Hong Kong. We once recognized Victor Belinko who flew a MIG to Japan while his countrymen tried to shoot him down. We used to recognize young men that windsurfed from Cuba to Florida or refused to sing songs praising Lenin. We once recognized families that made a homemade hot air balloon and flew from East to West Germany. We listened to the mother who wrote, “Not without my Daughter” and yet now we are mired in who is actually a daughter.

Political correctness has become cowardness. Not only is this foolish, but selfish because we no longer do the difficult things that are necessary for our children to have a future and the freedoms which we now squander. If we can’t criticize genocide for fear of economic consequences and can’t mention our religious beliefs without fear of economic boycotts then we are no longer free. We’ve traded global interconnectedness for freedom. Whatever happened to “never again” that we would never allow genocide - yet now it's “never again . . . unless it causes economic pain, hurts the bottom line, loses some visas, or we receive some criticism? When did we become such cowards?

Somewhere I remember hearing the words of a song . . . do what is right and let the consequences follow . . . but that seems like a lifetime ago.

At what point can we officially admit that our salt has lost its savor?