Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth, for the Colson Center. I'm John Stone Street. Recently, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee declared the month of June Nuclear Family Month. In doing so, he was also declaring that June is not Pride Month. The resolution stated that Tennessee will prioritize the nuclear family.
which it described as, and I quote, Consisting of one husband, one wife, and any biological adopted or fostered children as God's design for familial structure. End quote. Even more, according to the Tennessee resolution, the nuclear family is under attack in our beloved state and nation, and it's our responsibility to uplift, protect, and support values that help Tennessee proper. End quote. Now predictably, this Tennessee resolution engendered much outrage from LGBTQ activists.
After all, it's now fully expected that our nation recognizes Pride Month each June and that media, professional sports teams, local and national retailers, and federal and state governments will participate. One might think that Pride Month is even federally mandated, but as Tennessee has just demonstrated to us all, it is not. The first Pride Month marches took place in 1970 in response to a police raid on a gay bar in New York City. Activists date this as the beginning of the so-called gay liberation movement. In 1999, President Clinton issued a presidential proclamation that June be recognized as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.
Ten years later, 2009, President Obama renamed it. as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Month. And since then, of course, the T's have basically taken over. Presidential proclamations are important, but they are mostly ceremonial and they're not binding laws. The Tennessee Resolution makes clear that the family has contributed far more to our nation than have sexual minorities, and yet it faces attack from various angles in American society.
Thinkers as far back as Aristotle argued that the family is the most natural of all associations and thus an essential pillar of any healthy civilization. And how now shall we live? Chuck Coulson wrote these words, quote, nearly every civilization has protected the family both legally and socially, for it is the institution that propagates the human race and civilizes children. The contemporary systematic deconstruction of the oldest, most basic social institution is a prime cause of the social chaos in America in recent decades, end quote. In more recent years, organizations like the Institute for Family Studies have provided treasure troves of data about the family, demonstrating the essential link between a healthy and flourishing society and healthy and flourishing families.
The Tennessee Resolution is also an example that even at the state level, hopeful alternatives exist to so-called pride. An even better example is Fidelity Month, a grassroots project that was imagined and managed by Princeton University professor Robert George. As Professor George explains, Fidelity Month is dedicated to the importance of fidelity to God, to spouses and families, and to our country and communities. The Fidelity Month initiative is not primarily a statement against anything, but it's rather a proposal for. It's an attempt to light a candle rather than merely curse the darkness, as their website says.
And the Fidelity Month website provides a whole array of resources for individuals, families, churches, communities, and local governments. to help them promote and celebrate faithfulness through social media, with friends and neighbors, public announcements, legislative resolutions, and within the church. And new this year to Fidelity Month is a national essay contest for high school juniors and seniors. In effort to challenge students to recommit to God, family and country, the essay prompt this year asked students to focus on areas of American history with a specific emphasis on faithfulness to the basic values that unite Americans. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three essays.
And in fact, the 250th anniversary of America's founding is a wonderful opportunity to meaningfully reflect on what it means to be. Faithful to one's country by first being faithful to God and to family. After all, faithfulness is a virtue. Pride is just a vice, and it only leads to destruction.
So choose faithfulness this June. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Andrew Carico. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org.
In honor of America's 250th birthday, our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom are inviting you to commit to five days of prayer for America. Since its founding, America has been sustained by the prayers of its people. Through our highs and lows, Americans of faith have turned to God for wisdom, guidance, and strength. And so, as we prepare to celebrate 250 years of freedom, ADF is asking believers like you and me to join them in dedicated prayer for our country, thanking God for how He has worked in the past and asking Him to prepare us for what's ahead. Commit to Pray for America by signing up today.
For the next five days, you'll receive daily text messages and emails with specific prompts and insights about the issues facing our country and how you can pray about them. Visit joinadf.com slash breakpoint to sign up to pray today or text Pray250 to 838-48 to opt in.
