Evangelicals & The Crisis of Moral Clarity in Public Leadership

Moral Clarity as Sine Qua Non

We are living in a time when a simple, straightforward question becomes the spectacle of theatre and obfuscation, and frankly, I find it repugnant. One may say what they want about Donald J. Trump, but I will give him credit. If you ask him a question, he will give you exactly what you asked for. I would venture to say that for at least Kentjani Brown and Keith Ellison, they would pledge some fidelity to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, even if that proposition be no more than as a Cultural Christ-follower. Keith Ellison is just the latest in the sad and depressing lineage of public officials who do everything within their power to avoid speaking truth in the public square.

Winston Churchill is known for many things, and one of the things I remember most fondly is his advocacy for speaking with what he called full chest.

The collective state of the professing, visible Church is only further sullied when alleged representatives of the great Potentate, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, refused to let their nays be nay, and their yays be yay.

Being in the public eye is daunting and can be all-consuming. I grant that at the outset, but each individual made a volitional decision to enter public life, and that decision brings a level of expectation. Sadly, I see all too often this loathsome behavior coming from those on the Left. What happened to the days when Men were men and dinosaurs roamed the Earth? As a young Commissioned Officer, that was an expression frequently bantered about whenever the conversation drifted to longing for the good ole days.

Public trust erodes when leaders refuse to answer straightforward questions.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was asked a direct question by a senator:

“Should people who enter our country illegally be deported?”

Image of Keith Ellison

The question was not abstract. It concerned statutory law. Deportation proceedings are embedded in federal immigration statutes. Enforcement is written into law.

Yet the response was not a clear yes or no. It was pure theatre where Ellison attempts to use lawyerly legal mumbo-jumbo to avoid the obvious answer, an answer so obvious that the person who was asked the same exact question before Ellison responded with an unequivocal, "Yes, Rule of Law!"

Just as Brown and Verma refused to answer their interlocutor, Ellison tried to evade the legitimate inquiry because it would reveal his failed worldview.

When a public official charged with upholding the law hesitates to affirm whether the law should be enforced, the issue is no longer partisan. It is principled, and I submit that Ellison has no such principle. Consequently, I would further submit that he is not qualified for public service.

Moral Clarity in Public Leadership and the Rule of Law

Is Not Cruelty

Image depicting the Rule of Law

Every functioning nation maintains borders. Immigration law exists for a reason. Deportation is not vengeance; it is a legal mechanism within sovereign governance.

Romans 13:4 reminds us:

“For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.”

Government authority exists to maintain order and justice. Clarity about enforcement is not extremism. It is a responsibility. It is essential that elected officials take the integrity of our borders seriously. This is ultimately a question of moral clarity in public leadership, because when officials refuse to answer direct questions about law and biological reality, confidence in governing institutions begins to erode.

When Definitions Collapse

Image of Ketanji Brown Jackson

During her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was asked:

“Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?” Her reply: “I’m not a biologist.”

I mean, when I heard this, I almost literally had no words. What did she mean? She was not a biologist. I, too, am not a biologist, and I matriculated at the State University, but I have enough education to easily provide a cogent response. In fact, cogency is not even really required. I would submit that even an adult with a low IQ, however that is defined, can easily answer said question.

I lay this fiasco squarely at Joe Biden's feet. This is what happens when politicians become slaves to identity politics. First, Biden pledged to nominate a woman, and when that was not enough to appease his rabid base, he had to double down and pledge to nominate a Person of Color. For that reason alone, Brown should not have accepted the nomination.

It is this author's opinion that Brown will be forever known as the DEI Supreme Court Justice, and I further submit that, based on Justice Amy Coney Barrett's very direct and pointed dissent in a recent SCOTUS decision, some of Brown's colleagues have no real respect for her.

The Brown exchange was not about specialization. It was about definitional clarity. Federal statutes, Title IX protections, and equal protection frameworks rely upon coherent definitions of sex. If a Supreme Court justice cannot define the category embedded in the law, jurisprudence grows unstable.

When Biology Becomes Negotiable

Image of Dr. Nisha Verma

Physician Nisha Verma declined to give a direct answer when asked whether biological males can become pregnant. For the first time, I witnessed Dr. Albert Mohler shun the polite gloves and refer to Verma as an idiot: TWICE. One just does not see Dr. Mohler use such polemic language, almost ever. So you know it had to be atrocious for Dr. Mohler to go there.

Human reproduction depends upon biological differentiation. Chromosomes are not rhetorical devices. Medical realities do not adjust themselves to ideological pressure.

When professionals hesitate to affirm biological fundamentals, public trust weakens.

A Pattern of Evasion

Consider the parallel:

• A direct question about deportation.

• A direct question about defining a woman.

• A direct question about biological pregnancy.

Three straightforward questions.Three evasions.

Jesus warned:

“Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’” — Matthew 5:37

Clarity is not cruelty. Definition is not oppression. Law enforcement is not hatred.

When leaders entrusted with authority decline to answer foundational questions plainly, institutional confidence erodes.

Speaking with full chest should always be the case for the Christ-follower. I would be the first to admit that doing so will not be easy, and it will not make you popular, but the Christ-follower must do so.

• We must never affirm someone identifying in opposition to the gender God Almighty assigned to them at birth

• We must never affirm the legitimacy of someone claiming a marital bond with another of the same gender

• We must never give legitimacy to any claim for a moral right to kill life in the womb, even when that life comes as the result of rape and incest, and I go one step further: even if the life of the mother is at stake. I submit that the baby in the womb must always take precedence, and if one must perish, the mother is to be preferred. I understand I am in the minority report concerning this position, but this is where I land, with fear & trembling.

Truth is not partisan. Reality is not ideological. And the Rule of Law is not optional, not if America is to have a just and well-ordered Immigration Policy.

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Thank you in advance to those who support my ministry. Make no mistake: I see what I do as ministry. It is how and why I spend considerable time and energy producing blogs and YouTube videos. I do so to complete my fourth-quarter strong for the name and majesty of Jesus the Christ, my Lord & Savior, period, full-stop, and end of story.

As always, keep your hands to the plow and seek to serve for an Audience of One.

With fear & trembling,

Ricky V Kyles Sr. DEd.Min.