Pro-family conservatives are being pulled in new directions by national leaders. But are the parents fighting battles in the trenches being left behind?

The national Values Voter Summit, arguably the most prominent annual pro-family conference in the U.S., took place in Washington, DC last week. Thousands from across the country came to hear dozens of excellent speakers and connect with the exhibitors. It also attracted some big names. President Donald Trump, Judge Roy Moore, Michele Bachman, Steve Bannon, Laura Ingraham, and Bill Bennett were among the luminaries who spoke.

MassResistance was an exhibitor. On display in our booth were: our book, The Health Hazards of Homosexuality; the latest book by MassResistance-Texas leader Dr Robert Oscar Lopez; Wackos Thugs & Perverts: Clintonian Decadence in Academia; and a book by former elementary school teacher (and MassResistance activist) Ellie Klipp to help young children deal with the “transgender” agenda being forced at them, titled I Don’t Have to Choose; plus write-ups of our current battles.

The book that no one wants to talk about!

The three main themes of the conference were the radical Islam threat, religious freedom, and “draining the swamp.” There were also presentations about increasing the influence of Christianity in society.

But there was no formal discussion about the radical homosexual agenda – which has taken over corporations, government, the entertainment industry, and much of society. There was nothing about the LGBT destruction of the US military. Or “gay marriage.” Or the ex-gay movement. It appears that this overwhelming issue is largely being conceded by the pro-family establishment. Furthermore, there was only one session on the recent “transgender” push.

Nobody but MassResistance was addressing the medical issues surrounding homosexuality, even though that has become a major public health issue in America.

Of the headline speakers, Judge Roy Moore was the most notable figure known for fighting this aspect of the culture war in a fearless and uncompromising way. But it wasn’t the centerpiece of any of the major speeches at the conference. (And Judge Moore spoke at a ticketed luncheon, so many attendees missed him.)

There was one panel discussion titled, “Transgender Ideology in Public Schools: Parents Fight Back.” But the advice that was given was to parents was pretty unsettling. They were told that in order to fight the transgender agenda in their schools, parents should not talk about their Christian beliefs, or sound angry or “anti-gay.” Instead they should come off as “reasonable.” To gain credibility and support, they were advised to form a coalition with atheists, liberals, and homosexual activists who appear wary of the transgender agenda in the schools. This kind of watered-down, non-confrontational advice seems interesting in theory, but we’ve never seen it ever work in practice.

These days everyone’s talking about working for “religious freedom.” To us that seems to be too defensive and compromising on our side, and too dependent on the Left listening to reason. It doesn’t seem like a recipe for taking back our liberties. In other words: All of us already are supposed to have complete religious freedom. So why should we have to bargain for it? Our attitude should be to take it back!

This is all extremely distressing. But it’s not the fault of the conference or its organizers. It simply reflects the state of the movement.

The people across America running the mainstream pro-family movement no longer think in terms of serious culture war, or confrontation against evil people. Those things are too uncomfortable. It’s now about measured and reasonable opposition, scholarly analysis, and non-offensive talking points. Not exactly a war strategy. And, of course, lots of fundraising.

Despite all that, the Values Voters Summit was well worth attending. It attracted a lot of under-the-radar, grassroots pro-family activists and leaders. A stream of people came to the MassResistance booth.

We found that we’re more well-known that we thought. The president of one state Family Policy group approached Brian Camenker with his high school-age daughter. He told her, “These people at MassResistance are the ones who keep the rest of us all in line.”

Former presidential advisor Sebastian Gorka told us he liked what MassResistance was up to, and was happy to take a copy of our book, The Health Hazards of Homosexuality. Judge Roy Moore’s wife also got a copy.

We talked to people from an ex-gay group, pro-family Tea Parties, parent groups, and groups fighting radical school committees. We found that when you get to the grass roots, there is a huge demand for the kind of direct counter-revolutionary activism that we provide. A number of activists asked if they could form MassResistance chapters back in their states.

We left the three-day conference energized.

Besides President Trump’s and Steve Bannon’s speeches, the biggest national news story from the Values Voters Summit – despite the dozens of other speakers – involved our MassResistance book on The Health Hazards of Homosexuality. For several days it was the pro-family story that wouldn’t stop. In our next post you’ll read all about it!