The late, great Andrew Breitbart held firmly to the belief that “Politics is downstream from culture,” and he used that idea to build a platform to battle the left-leaning cultural bias prevalent in Hollywood and the media.

As a conservative, Andrew was also making the point that politics is a reflection of cultural beliefs, and that conservatives were losing the political battle because they were unwilling to fight the cultural battle while the Far-Left was not only fighting it, they were taking no prisoners.

For example, last week the House passed a “bipartisan” pro-LGBT bill that will modify the Civil Rights Act by adding protections for people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Eight Republicans were unwilling to fight this battle, so they voted for the bill known as the Equality Act.

On a practical level, the Equality Act will be the final nail in the coffin of the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom and will void the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, a bill introduced by then-Congressman Chuck Schumer. Ironic, because Chucky apparently no longer holds that view.

🏳️‍🌈 Americans should be very proud today! 🏳️‍🌈

The House just passed the bipartisan #EqualityAct.

Because NO American should face discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love.

Now it’s time for @SenateMajLdr McConnell to hold a vote in the Senate.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) May 17, 2019

Being forced to bake a same-sex wedding cake will be small potatoes compared to what’s in store for religious liberty under this law. According to Douglas Laycock, a pro-LGBT law professor at the University of Virginia and a proponent of federal gay-rights non-discrimination laws, the Equality Act will “crush” religious dissenters.

Trump, the Republican swamp monsters in the Senate, and so-called conservative groups have come out against the Equality Act, but they are doing so purely to stir up the base ahead of the 2020 election. They will be AWOL when it comes to answering the call to arms and will try to hide their pro-LGBT track record until after the election.

In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Trump promised to “do everything in [his] power to protect LGBTQ citizens,” a promise acted on immediately after he was sworn in. On the advice of Ivanka and Jared, Trump decided to let stand an Obama executive order purportedly issued to protect LGBT employees of government contractors.

Though not tied to a specific policy, Trump recently supported Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s appearance on stage with his “husband.” In a FOX News interview where he was asked about it, Trump responded, “I think that’s something that perhaps some people will have a problem with. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I think it’s good.”

When Ivanka and Jared convinced Daddy to leave Obama’s executive order alone, Mike “Pusillanimous” Pence defended the decision in an interview and bragged about his support of Trump’s embrace of the pro-LGBT agenda.

“I think throughout the campaign, President Trump made it clear that discrimination would have no place in our administration. I mean, he was the very first Republican nominee to mention the LGBTQ community at our Republican National Convention and was applauded for it. And I was there applauding with him”

Pence’s spineless defense isn’t much of a surprise when we remember that the “Christian conservative” caved to the Gay Mafia as governor of Indiana when he personally dismantled that state’s version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Speaking of Christian conservatives, they’ve been MIA in the culture war. Led by the Fellowship of the Pharisees, evangelicals have become allies with men and women who possess no character. Exchanging the gospel of Jesus Christ for political power and riches, these charlatans have surrendered the moral high ground, creating the culture A.W. Tozer once warned us about:

“Religion today is not transforming people; rather it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society; it is descending to society’s own level and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smilingly accepting its surrender.”

To put it another way, who cares what a “leader” like Franklin Graham says about the evils of the LGBT agenda when he hypocritically defends the immoral behavior of an evil man in the White House?

It can be argued the culture war began in the 1950s and 1960s. It began with sex without risks or obligations; which led to sex without consequences; which led to destroying heterosexual norms of marriage and relationship; which led to normalizing homosexuality; which led to redefining sex and gender; which led to normalizing transgenderism.

What’s next? Polyamorous relationships involving all “sexual orientations” and multiple spouse “marriages” of the same. Also, the normalization of pedophilia as a “sexual orientation” by groups calling themselves Minor Attracted Persons or MAPs. This group has already created its own LGBT rainbow flag.

This is not hyperbole. The words “sexual orientation” are in the Equality Act. Eventually, these additional groups will be protected under the law because, according to the creators of the legislation, “no American should face discrimination simply because of who they are and who they love.”

We aren’t losing the culture war because we’re being beaten; we’re losing it because faux conservatives aren’t even in the battle.

Originally posted on StridentConservative.com.

David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His daily radio commentary is distributed by the Salem Radio Network and is heard on stations across America.

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One of the favorite tactics for both major political parties is to paint opposing candidates as extremists. This is particularly true when it comes to presidential candidates; if you don’t recall, every Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan has been painted as a bigot by Democrats. But whether or not the people fall for the extremism play is usually based, at least to some degree, on reality.

That may not be the case in the 2020 election as both media and the expressions of the people seem to be favoring extremism as a reality rather than just a label. The President is a far-right bigot in the eyes of Democrats while every Democratic candidate (with the possible exception of Joe Biden) is a far-left socialist in the eyes of Republicans. Meanwhile, mainstream media is engaged in confirmation bias to appease their audiences. One need only look at coverage of the Mueller report to see how this is unmistakably true.

On the issue of abortion, the Democratic candidates have made no attempts to appeal to the middle. As each is either asked for or volunteers their perspective on abortion, invariably they are pushing no restrictions whatsoever. This is a far cry from the days when the Clintons thought abortions should be safe, legal, and rare. Today, abortions are to be embraced as far as Democrats are concerned, and any attempt to push for adoption or to fight for the rights of the child in the womb is considered bigoted. One by one, every Democratic candidate is adopting abortion extremism as their stated stance.

But President Trump did something yesterday that makes sense from a political perspective. I may disagree with his stance, but it’s a winning strategy for his reelection campaign. He said he is pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. This stance was once considered to be an extreme position for the right, but with the Alabama abortion bill removing exceptions for rape and incest, the President has the luxury of being closer to the middle than any of his opponents (again, with the possible exception of Biden – we’ll find out soon enough).

Thankfully, the President of the United States has very little they can do when it comes to abortion other than pick pro-life judges and act as the leader of their party. Executive orders on abortion would be certainly struck down regardless of what they say, so it comes down to ideological purity. With Democrats taking on abortion-on-demand as their stated radical stance, it’s hard to argue that the President is the extremist when even he doesn’t directly support the Alabama bill. He didn’t call it out, but by stating his personal position he established that he’s not as far to the right as the Democrats are to the left.

Today, the Democrats must embrace their primary voters, many of whom are the radical progressives “shouting their abortions” and pushing for a socialistic Dystopian future for America. Meanwhile, the President has the luxury of being more pragmatic with his approach since he’s already in general election mode. He doesn’t need to appeal to his base very much because they either stand behind him out of adoration or they fear the Democrats too much to consider going against him. Even most #NeverTrumpers are having a hard time reconciling their hatred for the President with the current batch of hardline hyper-leftists vying for the Democratic nomination.

We can argue the nuances of being pro-life and having exceptions, but as long as the Democrats are all onboard for on-demand abortions, the President’s less extreme stance on abortion will help him next November.

It is very compelling for many people, particularly in America, to see the collapsing freedoms and growing persecutions across the world and want to do something to protect ourselves. This makes many choose to store certain items for times that are coming (or potentially upon us already) when chaos rules. My family disagrees with this viewpoint.

Before the attacks start coming in, there are two important things to consider. First, we have a good amount of food and survival gear as well as plenty of protection within our house. It’s not a coincidence that my children’s favorite pastime is weekends at the shooting range. Second, we have nothing against those who choose to live the “prepper” lifestyle. It’s a natural reaction from certain points of view.

There was a time not too long ago when we were what some would call “amateur preppers”. We bought long-term food stores. We maintained an independent water supply. We have family members who have enough guns and ammunition to hole up in solitude indefinitely without fear.

The reason we shifted our views away from deep preparations can be broken down into three categories.

1. Tribulation is an opportunity

The prophets were persecuted. The apostles were persecuted. Reading the Bible cover to cover reveals that very few people who lived by the Word of God were able to avoid the trials of this life.

This isn’t a call for people to go looking for trouble. We aren’t suggesting that everyone needs to go give away Bibles in China or preach the Word in Iran in hopes of getting arrested and persecuted. Some are clearly called to do such things, not for the sake of the persecution they’ll receive but to make disciples of the nations. Bold actions like these aren’t for everyone.

What we are saying is that the Bible makes it very clear that those who overcome their fears and face the tribulations, trials, and persecutions that are becoming increasingly robust around the world are blessed for their diligence and faith.

Matthew 5:10 (KJV)

¹⁰ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Romans 5:3-5 (KJV)

³ And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

⁴ And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

⁵ And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

James 1:2-3 (KJV)

² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Our first goal is to accept the gift of salvation. Our second goal is to spread the Gospel to those we can touch. Once those two things are ongoing, we should continue to keep our security and health, but not at the detriment of either of the first two goals. In fact, Yeshua spoke of the importance of keeping the faith now for the grace to come instead of trying to focus on saving our bodies in this life.

Luke 9:23-25 (KJV)

²³ And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

²⁴ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

²⁵ For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

Total faith means knowing that whatever God has in store for you, whether it’s what we consider to be positive or negative, we must see beyond the effects on this life and believe that how we handle everything can be a merit at the time of judgment.

2. The Principalities and Powers are watching

Some people get fearful chills when they read Revelation. Others get similarly scared at Daniel or Isaiah. For me, it’s Ephesians that worries me the most.

Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

A look at the news on any given day will reveal two disturbing trends: the various governments and other entities of the world are tightening around us while the people are becoming more confused and looking towards sinful solutions.

The concept of having guns pried from our cold, dead hands is seeming to be more and more likely of a scenario.

Between technological advancements, emboldened governments, and desperate leads in and out of governments, it’s very unlikely that anyone can be truly safe. The only choices may end up being to die defending the farm or to face persecution. It’s definitely possible to do both, to be a prepper while still maintaining the right connection to faith, but it’s part of human nature to rely on our own works when we focus on solutions like those.

As I’ve discussed before, Christians shouldn’t prepare at an extreme level for an economic collapse. Again, we’re not suggesting that people should abandon their gold or silver. It simply can’t be a priority as it takes away from the proper focus of this life – unending love and faith in Yeshua as our Lord and Savior.

At no point would we ever recommend sitting back and watching our liberties fade into history. There are times to fight. There are times to hide. There are times to adjust. Of course, the one universal is that there is time for prayer, repentance, and service to our Lord.

3. Faith through the Armor of God is sufficient

As I’ve made abundantly clear on my other site, I do not believe in the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture. Those who are alive when the end times come will face tribulation whether they have guns or not.

There is a false security that is created when the works of our hands are used to solve problems as big as the tribulation from the Bible. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t act, but the real action comes from preparing our souls and putting on the whole Armor of God.

Those who prepare for catastrophe are distracted. We all are to some degree with everything that is in front of us in this world. One of our goals should be to remove or properly handle these distractions.

Being a prepper doesn’t make anyone any less of a Christian. It just makes being a good Christian harder. Of course, that could be said about pretty much everything in this world that’s not centered squarely on the Bible’s teachings.