Drafting Women Denies Biology: Guest Column

Recently, the Senate’s Committee on Armed Services advanced the National Defense Authorization Act for 2025. The proposal would “amend the Military Selective Service Act to require the registration of women for Selective Service.” If the bill became law, every daughter, upon turning 18, would be required to sign up for the military draft, just as men currently must do.  

This effort illustrates the confusion behind the contemporary call for equity instead of equality. Equality is about dignity. Men and women are equal in standing, dignity, and value, despite the significant differences between them. This understanding of men and women is, in fact, grounded in Scripture. As described in the first chapter of Genesis, God made his image bearers male and female. Both are made after His likeness. Each are, before God, equal.  

Equity, on the other hand, grounds dignity in sameness. It demands that men and women are seen as identical. Difference, in this view, implies inequality.  

The picture of humanity described in Holy Scripture is one in which men and women share sameness as well as difference. They are, in this sense, complementary to one another. In order to fulfill their God-given purpose to fill and subdue the earth, men and women partner. Both are required. In fact, in sameness and difference, we are like the God whose image we bear. As revealed in Scripture, God is Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit share the sameness of the Godhead, with difference in persons. When we presume women to be the same as men, we undermine what our natures reveal about God.  

Because confusion about male and female is, in fact, a confusion about reality, it requires adjustments. For example, a 2017 Marine Corps study found that three out four women failed to meet combat standards in boot camp. Of course, there have always been women able to excel in the physical service of the military, but this is far from the norm. So, standards were changed.  

In 2021, Congress delayed the implementation of the Army’s new Combat Fitness Test over the fear that 54% of women had failed to pass the requirements. In 2022, a new Combat Fitness Test was implemented with different requirements for men and women, both of which were significantly less demanding than previous ones. Women must now run two miles in under 23 minutes; men in under 22 minutes. Both must complete 10 pushups, yes 10.  

The men and women who give themselves to serve and defend our country should be honored, and there are growing areas of military service not dependent on physical strength and prowess. However, in those many areas that are dependent, giving an assault rifle and a pair of boots to men or women unable to meet the physical demands is not wise or kind.  

Even more, a part of God’s design for men is as protector. In the Old Testament, whenever women led in wartime, the men of Israel had failed. God still used, for example in Judges 4, Deborah the judge and Jael, a woman with a deadly nail, and both received honor over Barak. But it’s clear that Barak had first failed to lead.  

This historic shift of how male and female are currently understood is a symptom of the bad ideas of our gender politics. God’s design was wise and good, grounding our dignity and yet acknowledging the real differences that exist. When that design is ignored, there are consequences, for individuals and for nations. 

Right now, I’m focused on protecting my daughters from this national absurdity. 

 This Breakpoint was co-authored by Michaela Estruth. If you’re a fan of Breakpoint, leave a review on your favorite podcast app. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org. 

Copyright 2024 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

Freeing Corporate America from its Far-Left Captors

It’s no secret that Corporate America is in the censorious grip of ESG activists.

Far-left groups like the Human Rights Campaign require companies to take deeply partisan stances on or against legislation and to provide targeted marketing and support for LGBTQ+ consumers. To put it simply, HRC is demanding that each company risk becoming the next Bud Light, which famously torpedoed its own brand by partnering with the highly controversial transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.

Companies shouldn’t take fringe stances on contentious political issues. It alienates customers, pushes away talented workers, and betrays the trust of the shareholders who want the company to succeed.

That’s why Alliance Defending Freedom developed the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index. The first comprehensive benchmark designed to measure corporate respect for free speech and religious freedom, the index provides a roadmap for corporations looking to de-politicize their products and services.

Working with a broad coalition of financial professionals, business leaders, shareholders, and state officials over the past couple of years, we’re already seeing some important victories from our efforts.

Check out this video to see how ADF is making significant progress in this key arena.

Find more videos like this at https://ADFLegal.org/Freedom-Matters.

Gov. Sanders Appoints Former Senator Jason Rapert to State Library Board

In this file photo from 2021, Sen. Rapert (left) speaks with Sen. Alan Clark and Family Council President Jerry Cox (right) at the Arkansas Capitol Building.

On Monday Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed former state senator Jason Rapert to a six-year term on the State Library Board.

According to its website, the State Library administers state and federal funds appropriated for libraries and library development, including State Aid To Public Libraries funds and federal Library Services and Technology Act funds.

During his time in the Arkansas House of Representatives and Arkansas Senate, Jason Rapert sponsored several good pieces of legislation — including Act 1213 of 2015 authorizing a privately funded monument of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas State Capitol Grounds and Act 180 of 2019 that now prohibits abortion in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother.

Jason Rapert is a staunch conservative and a proponent of the biblical worldview. He will be a much-needed addition to the library board in light of recent concerns some people have voiced about inappropriate material in local libraries.