It was not at all long ago that one would risk a torrent of contempt and potential doxing for pointing out obvious facts, among them: men can’t be women, intersectional diversity is not the greatest strength of any organization or society, and the traditional family is the supreme structure of ordered civilization.
What a wondrous turn we are seeing in the U.S. this year as truth reenters the national discourse. Even some fashion companies have decided it’s time to once again feature attractive people in apparel advertising. Sanity is regaining lost ground at a pace I did not think would be possible in my lifetime. In that we should rejoice. But even so, this is no time for complacency. We must press the cultural battle charge even harder while this momentum remains. Last week, we pushed forward again in Leavenworth County, Kansas.
As noted last month, I delivered a proposition to the county commission on July 9th. It aimed to mark July as Traditional Family Month in this semi-rural area that has become a battleground for a loud, determined force of activists intent on making it a model for small-town capture nationwide. The commissioners heard me out, and to their credit, added the proposition for deliberation.
To be clear, those of us who live according to natural law do not need special recognition for recognizing objective reality. We don’t need a special event or parade. Our lives are a daily observance of the most foundational truth of anthropological design. We celebrate the beauty of this design through every birthday, baby shower, wedding, and moment of marital intimacy. In living naturally, we do not have to scream ‘normal’ to convince others.
The reason for asking the civil government to proclaim the goodness of traditional family life is not because men and women in marital covenant wish to become a special interest group. Rather, the official acknowledgement of the traditional family’s goodness is proper because one of the government’s most basic duties is to promote virtue. Challenging the county commission to honor this role offered them the opportunity to proclaim truth amidst a backdrop of other governments, businesses, and institutions promoting vice.
They stepped up and passed the proclamation in a 4-1 vote on July 30th, marking August as Traditional Family Month in Leavenworth, Kansas. This moment can serve as a roadmap for the rest of the nation, proving that we can succeed in calling lawmakers to honor righteousness.
Though sanity won that day in this place, and can in your city as well, be prepared for resistance. The proposition was deliberated across four commission meetings. During that time, the local newspaper’s social media feed was filled with angry comments against the effort. Critics showed up to testify against it in person as well.
Barbara Williams came on the day of the vote armed with every Marxist quip in the book. Her dark claims included that the traditional family evokes exclusivity, oppression, Christian Nationalism, and even the KKK. The sin of envy drives such hyperbolic arguments.
In her book Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age, former feminist professor and lesbian-turned-Christian wife, homemaker, and apologist Dr. Rosaria Butterfield points out that those trapped by transgressive lies depart not just from morality, but from the very pattern of creation. Sexual revolutionaries portray a movement based in joy.
Yet their actions demonstrate anger because they want the full blessings that can only come from living according to nature’s pattern, without holding themselves accountable to it. The hopelessness of that impossible pursuit drives them from one disappointment to another, evoking outrage. In contrast, the pattern set through traditional family structure has perpetuated civilization throughout all of human history. Nature itself replenishes our ranks. We need no fallacious arguments about certain behaviors among wild beasts to justify disordered lifestyle and behavioral choices among humans. Such illogical attempts are made in desperation by those who cannot form a logical defense for self-destructive choices.
The structure of the traditional family elevates all and remains extraordinarily inclusive. The stability of this time-tested model also blesses adopted children and echoes in the hearts of all, regardless of household situation.
The scientific data on this is conclusive and matches what every honest person can clearly observe: the traditional family is the foundation upon which stable societies are built. Government officials who value the latter must necessarily encourage the former. But it takes prodding to rebuild political consensus based on accurately defined morality. Thus, people who value truth must now get off the sidelines and into your courthouses, legislative halls, and town squares—whether physical or online. We just scored a victory here. Now is your time to go and do likewise in your place, at this time.
Author’s note: The version of the proclamation our county commissioners passed differs significantly from the initial proposal, but retains the proper spirit. Commissioners chose to remove statistical references to negative outcomes associated with children who grow up without a stable two-parent home, and understandably added language to show support for single parents whose plight is not driven by deliberate choice to pursue an alternative lifestyle. The final language approved by the Leavenworth County Commission is below.
Proclamation
Whereas, traditional families, consisting of a natural mother and father, children and extended family have been a cornerstone of society, fostering security, stability, and values of citizenship for millennia—as noted by the International Federal for Family Development: “children in healthy, married, two-parent families are more likely to lead happy, successful lives… Families are the most powerful, human, and economical system for building competence and character;”
And
Whereas, the freedom to uphold these values, rooted in the laws of nature and protected by the U.S. Constitution is vital to societal well-being;
And
Whereas traditional families have declined with only 17.8% of Americans living in nuclear families today, compared to 77.5 of children living with married parents in 1960. While single person’s households rose from 13% in 1960 to 25% in 2018, divorce rates increased from 27% 1950 to 45% today, and birth to unmarried women rose from 5% in 1960 to 40% now.
And
Whereas courageous single parents benefit from the sort of strong families and communities thrive when traditional family values are celebrate and nurture the next generation.
And
Whereas we need to return to the values of traditional family that made America a strong nation for all history.
Now therefore, the Leavenworth County Commissioners declared the month of August 2025 to be traditional family values month, to bring attention to traditional families and challenges they face.
Signed this day by Mike Smith,
Chairman of Leavenworth County Board of Commissioner
