'Dont Mess With Our Kids': Parental rights activists gather for prayer rallies nationwide
Parental rights activists nationwide are holding prayer rallies at each of the 50 state capitols and in Washington this weekend as part of an ongoing effort to turn individual states and the United States as a whole "back to God."
#DontMessWithOurKids rallies, spearheaded by the Her Voice Movement, will take place at capitol buildings nationwide Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. local time in each respective time zone.
The gatherings aim to "pray, fast, and stand for the turning of their state and America back to God." The rally is a collaboration between the Her Voice Movement and additional "individuals and organizations."
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The Her Voice Movement is encouraging the formation of prayer hubs of two to 10 concerned women and mothers who "pray once a month to bring change to every sphere of culture" as "our nation is in a crisis."
The group's website states that the nation is in crisis, saying that one in five youngsters in Generation Z self-identify as LGBT and that "there are still states where abortion remains legal, some even up to full-term."
Jessica Gentry, the executive director of the Her Voice Movement, told The Christian Post that the event should be considered a "prayer rally or a prayer gathering" rather than a "political rally."
"#DontMessWithOurKids is biblical," she said.
"We're talking God made … male, God made female, and so we're not getting into a lot of … things that could be questionable. Like, we're just on biblical principle, which is male, female and family units," Gentry said.
She hopes that rallies will send a message that "enough is enough" when it comes to the "gender ideologies" being promoted in public school systems.
The prayer rallies, Gentry said, are a way to push back against "parents not knowing what's going on and not being informed of what's happening in the schools when their kids want to change their pronouns and change their names and it's hidden."
The rally comes as hundreds of school districts across the U.S. have reportedly adopted policies that permit or advise personnel to withhold information from parents about their child's desire to identify as trans or nonbinary.
Gentry also expressed dismay at reported cases of children being "taken away from their parents" who oppose social transitions and refuse to acknowledge their children by their preferred gender identity.
The prayer rallies encourage the Church to take a more active role in speaking out against what Genry views as problematic ideology.
"We've realized the Church has not been out in the public square; the Church has not come out of the building," she said. "So that's what we're really trying to encourage and promote. Let's get fired up at church, and then let's go out and get out of the locker room and go into the … streets, go into the public places."
She contends that if Christians want to influence the culture, they "can't just stay hidden and inside a building."
Organizers have been planning the rallies since last July and hope 100,000 attend nationwide.
The Her Voice Movement is "an empowerment of citizens to engage in reformation strategies to turn their state back to God." The movement encourages Christian participation in school board meetings and urges them to "run for local offices."
Gentry lamented that "we're not getting enough people voting locally" or running for office.
"We aren't getting enough people going and actually running for office, running for school boards, running for … councils, city council, just all the different ways to get involved," she asserted. "People just need to start getting informed and getting out there."
The rallies will consist of an optional 10 to 20-minute opening that may include worship and 20 to 30 minutes of prayers, enabling participants to engage in repentance, forgiveness, and communion. There will also be 10 to 20 minutes of offering specific prayer points for each state and the nation and a 10 to 20-minute call to action.
The organizers hope the event will be a "catalyst to build momentum to a historic gathering in Washington, D.C."
Participants were asked to fast for three days before the events. However, the type of sacrifice one intends to undertake is up to the individual.
Gentry expects counterprotests to occur alongside the #DontMessWithOurKids rallies, noting that "we know other people are also promoting their own rallies on that day." She recalled seeing "flyers for pride and transgender rallies that happen to coincide on the same day and time as ours."
"We hope that people not only pray and fast, but they start to … stand for righteousness, go get involved at the local level, and for people to get their voices back," she concluded.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
