The first time I came across the “In This House…” display was earlier this spring, when the Unitarian Universalist church down the street erected a ten-foot-wide sign on their front lawn, facing the intersection. My eyes grew wide as I took it in. A church, of all places, posting something this outright inflammatory and divisive? A vigilante church board member was the only thing that made sense. I was sure there would be a community outcry and it would be removed within days. Each chapter focuses on a virtue (like Joy, Forgiveness and Respect) and gives simple ideas to incorporate it into hearts and home for the month. My favorite aspects are the definitions and catch phrases that Courtney provides to help children understand and remember each virtue. Within a matter of hours of the sign's placement, a remarkable chain of events was underway. A woman who happened to walk by Garvey's house had taken a picture of it and posted it to a friend's Facebook wall. "You should make signs like this," commented the friend, tagging another friend. That friend, Jennifer Rosen Heinz, agreed enthusiastically. Unlike Garvey, Rosen Heinz is most definitely an activist. "I'm kind of the carnival barker," she laughs. And she felt the profound need for something that the anti-Trump resistance could rally around. What I find fascinating about "In this house," beyond its ubiquity, is that it's functionally a creed, a dense statement of political and even metaphysical belief. I think veteran character actor Tobin Bell would agree that, with the right grimace, he can be creepy-looking on his own. But surround the guy with steel dungeons, horrifying torture devices, and a weird little clown on a tricycle, and you’ve got yourself one ravenously villainous horror icon. Sure he talks a lot (even from beyond the grave), but he’s still pretty damn scary.

This spot almost went to Lon Chaney’s classic The Wolf Man from 1941, but let’s be honest here: this horror-comedy contains the scariest, freakiest, and most ferocious wolf-man combo we’ve ever seen. He’s another tragic villain to be sure, but between his first transformation, his initial killing spree, and that mayhem at Piccadilly Circus, yeah, scary werewolf. Thank you Courtney for this valuable resource that is helping families giggle, grow and get serious about the things that will matter ten years from now. Lauren Tomlin, wife of Christian music artist Chris Tomlin and on the journey with him to raising a family after the heart of Jesus We laughed our way through this book with its honest snapshot of all that comes with being a parent. We also were seriously inspired to invite our kids into a life filled with virtues. Courtney takes the guesswork out of it by giving parents creative and practical ways to seize everyday moments and make following Jesus fun!” I love being a dad, but to be honest, I’m an insecure one. I want to be really good at this, but there are days when I wonder. This is one of the many reasons I love Courtney’s book. She reminds us that we should take parenting seriously, but not so much ourselves. Love, giggles, and virtues are a lot more fun than perfection anyway. This is a practical and encouraging guide for parents who aren’t perfect but who want to get this extraordinary opportunity right—and have fun along the way.”Parodies of the sign from a right-wing perspective also exist, including one that promoted the conspiracy theory that the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen, that Epstein didn't kill himself, that Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates are untrustworthy, that Hillary Clinton belongs in prison, and that "media is propaganda". This sign was shared with approval by the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party. [3] See also [ edit ]

Still, the sign stands as one of the more enduring legacies of Trump-era resistance. As a political credo, it is more bold and memorable than anything the Democratic party has come up with in the last four years. Whether its central message survives, or collapses into a thousand more personal versions, the sign has already done a great deal of good. Women’s rights are human rights. Sadly the people who put this on their yard sign likely insist that “women’s rights” necessarily include unrestricted abortion access, which immediately undermines any moral authority they have on “human rights.” Unborn human rights are human rights too, after all. But again, the underlying notion of the dignity and equality of women is actually rooted in Scripture (Gen. 1:27, Gal. 3:28), which foregrounds and dignifies women in ways that were unparalleled in the Greco-Roman world. No wonder Christianity was so attractive to women. Further, as Rebecca McLaughlin has pointed out, the very idea of universal human rights comes from Christianity . We can identify and challenge where biblical truth has been distorted or manipulated for partisan purposes, even as we find common grace ground. Kristin Garvey with her original sign, now in the National Women's Party Museum in Washington D.C., and the redesign. Credit: jennifer rosen heinz 'I've wondered if it could make me a target' The exercise above shows that the progressive creed is not miles away from biblical truth. It’s a “post-Christian” creed because it comes after, and is thoroughly marinated in, a Christian culture where truths about human equality, dignity, love, and kindness were first shaped.

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A quarter of Democrats at all levels of education worry they could lose their jobs over their politics, the survey found, but fully 60 percent of high-education Republicans — those in the professional-managerial class — think their politics could "harm them at work." The same poll shows that fear is not unfounded: A third of "strong conservatives" support firing business executives who donate to Biden, and 50 percent of "strong liberals" would do the same with Trump. The desire to punish and insulate oneself from political difference isn't universal in America, but it's certainly mainstream, particularly on the left. It may sound silly in concept — and even on the screen on some occasions — but I bet it stinks when a stadium-sized glob of ravenous red jelly absorbs you inside its gelatinous innards. While both movies make it pretty damn clear that this ooze from beyond the stars kills its victims in horribly painful fashion, it’s the 1988 remake that truly exploits that premise in gruesome fashion. And yes, I left 1972’s Beware! The Blob off the list for a reason.

Garvey, Joiner, and Rosen Heinz didn't have the time to manage the phenomenon; they all had day jobs. (Rosen Heinz did business development for a local magazine.) So they made the decision to hand over ownership of the sign to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health, a tiny advocacy group funded to this day by proceeds from the sign. "It's like giving someone a little 401K," Rosen Heinz says. You might not share the politics of the people proudly displaying these yard signs, but don’t dismiss their importance. They should be illuminating and convicting for Christians—ultimately a cause to connect rather than argue with your progressive neighbor. Post-Christian Creed The sign has spawned multiple variations, with various levels of agreement with the original message. Some variations have been sold for-profit, which Garvey has expressed her disapproval of, writing: "I don't want people to make money off of it. If they're donating the money they make, then that's fine". [1] Conservative parody of the "We Believe" yard sign

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The sign has proven popular at protests, including the 2017 Women's March and the George Floyd protests in 2020. [2] Variations [ edit ] Modified "We Believe" sign design in Arlington, Virginia, October 2020. Similarly, Love is Love is pretty hard to argue with. It’s a literal tautology… try getting out of that one. The argument behind this one is in favor of certain LGBTQ policies, some of which are, at their core, demands for complete repudiation of the human sexual binary. Nothing divisive about that, right? In its most innocuous interpretation, it’s a call for acceptance of the LGBTQ community (on a side note, why not keep it simple with Q?). Dig a level or two deeper, though, and you uncover far more contentious issues, some of which contradict one another ( lesbians, apparently, must now dig trans women or they’re branded as hopeless bigots — for all the talk of love, hate has been allowed to speak the loudest). Gay marriage is already settled — legally speaking, though the division lingers on. Around the same proportion of Americans ( one third) oppose gay marriage as voted for Joe Biden for president; imagine how unifying a “You’re a fool if you voted for Biden” yard sign would be. Sissy Goff, director of child and adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling Ministries, Nashville, TN, and author of several books, including Intentional Parenting Rosen Heinz still proudly displays the sign outside her home. "I've wondered if it could make me a target," she says. After all, not everyone agrees with these statements. People have told her they've had their tires slashed in the driveway outside houses bearing the sign, and that homeowner associations have fought over whether it should be allowed. A friend of Rosen Heinz in Texas had a running battle with a neighbor who kept taking it down, saying it violated the HOA rules on political signage. But the HOA rules had nothing to say about flags. "So she got the biggest-ass flag you can find" with the message on it, Rosen Heinz says. The HOA had no rule against flags. What’s illuminating about the sign’s language is how each statement—as much as it signals a particular politics with various unhelpful baggage—at root reflects or distorts biblical truth. Let’s take each creedal statement one by one.