It’s one of the ultimate nightmares. You find yourself living under a totalitarian regime that is militantly opposed to your personal beliefs and convictions. But you refuse to yield or cave in. To compromise is to lose your very soul. So the government fights back. “Go ahead and be a hero,” the authorities say. “But it will cost you dearly. We are taking away your children.”
As a reader, your first thought might be, “Thank God we live in America.”
Well, think again.
What I described has now taken place right here in the USA, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Of course, things like this have happened under communism for years, where the state removes children from Christian homes and puts them in government schools to be indoctrinated and brainwashed.
And a 2009 report on a homeschooling website stated that, “The plight of German homeschoolers may have gotten worse. Despite rules regarding the freedom of movement in the European Union, German government officials appear to have taken an unprecedented step of persuading French authorities to take four children from a family who fled Germany to France in order to escape persecution aimed at homeschoolers.”
The headline itself was chilling: “German Homeschooled Children Seized by French Social Workers.”
A few years ago, a distraught mother living in a “progressive” country outside the U.S. told me her own horror story.
Her 16-year-old daughter had begun to identify as transgender, quite out of the blue, and without the parents’ knowledge, the school informed her that if her parents were not supportive, the daughter could be removed from their home and raised in an affirming environment.
This mom and dad were shocked beyond words when they learned this from school authorities. Who on earth gave them that right?
But what about here in America, where homeschooling is widely practiced, where there is not a totalitarian communist regime and where there is less infringement on our private lives? When is the government actually taking away anyone’s children, other than because of cases involving the real endangerment of the child?
Back in 2022, the Washington Examiner shared the heartbreaking story of Abby Martinez, “who tried to fight back when a Los Angeles school, county social workers, and an LGBT group sought to transition her confused 15-year-old daughter.
“But once Yaeli Martinez was moved into foster care and later injected with testosterone, the heartbroken mother could only watch helplessly as the girl spiraled into depression that ended when she stepped in front of an oncoming train.
“‘They killed my daughter,’ a tearful Martinez told the Examiner. “‘They had to pick pieces of her off of the track.'”
You might say, “But there were other factors involved in that story, and the government was looking out for the child’s best interest.”
The grieving mother would beg to differ, with every fiber of her being. And again, who empowered the state to make these kinds of decisions?
That’s why there’s such grave concern over a growing number of states—11 as of June 2023—declaring themselves sanctuary states for trans-identified minors.
“Come here and get the medical care that you need, the care that all those states that are withholding from you,” they proclaim. “We’ll help you here, even without your parents’ consent.”
And what happens to a trans-identified minor child who makes his or her way to one of these sanctuary states seeking trans-related care, against their parents’ wishes? Does the sanctuary state now have legal authority over that child? Do the parents have a way to get their child back?
These are some of the very real, contemporary legal debates.
But rather than speculate, we can ask a couple in Montana what happened to their daughter.
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As reported in the New York Post:
The parents told Reduxx that their issues with the state agency started when officials received a call in August 2023 that Jennifer, whose name was changed for publication at their request, expressed suicidal thoughts at school.
A CFS caseworker came to speak with the teen and inspect the house where Jennifer claimed she drank toilet bowl cleaner and took painkillers in an attempt to take her own life, the outlet reported.
The teen reportedly showed no related symptoms, and a test at the hospital showed she didn’t consume any toxins.
But her hospital stay stretched to multiple days, in which staff there noted that Jennifer identified as male and wanted to be called Leo. The parents said they quickly but unsuccessfully objected.
“We were very clear to the emergency room staff as well as [CFS] that this goes against our values, morals and our religious beliefs,” Krista Kolstad recalled to Reduxx, accusing the hospital of consistently undermining her and her husband’s authority.
And what happened next?
Jennifer was eventually moved to a specialized residential care facility in Wyoming despite her parents’ concerns. Kolstad told Reduxx she and Todd were worried about Jennifer being cared for in the state, where minors can receive gender-affirming care without parental consent.
“They showed up at our home to serve us with papers to take Jennifer out of our care,” Kolstad alleged. “They told me the reason was that we were ‘unable or refusing to provide medical care.’ That’s just not true.”
Jennifer returned in September to a Montana youth facility, where she remains. Earlier this month, a court put the teen in the custody of CFS, Reduxx reported.
Need I say more, other than that we’ve been warning you that these days would come?
Do you believe me now?
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Dr. Michael Brown (www.thelineoffire.org/) is the host of the nationally syndicated The Line of Fire radio show. He is the author of over 40 books, including “Can You be Gay and Christian?”; “Our Hands are Stained with Blood”; and “Seizing the Moment: How to Fuel the Fires of Revival.” You can connect with him on Facebook, X or YouTube.
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