What are the martial arts? The martial arts can be defined as martial = militant, and arts = occupations requiring knowledge or skill. In Japanese, there is a difference between Karate-Do and Karate-Jitsu. A “Do” art generally focuses on using the martial arts, not just as a means of self-defense, but also as a means of total personal development physically, mentally, and spiritually. A “Jitsu” art would be one that is more focused on the combative success only. A sampling of “Do” arts you may have heard of would be Judo, Aikido, Karate-Do, etc. Whereas “Jitsu” art examples may be Ju-Jitsu, Aiki-Jitsu. and Karate-Jitsu. Today I will focus on the “Do” art. “Do” (pronounced dough) means “way”. As in the WAY of the Empty Hand, which is Karate-Do.
In our martial arts organization, we practice a “Do” art. This means that we have character development lessons as a part of the curriculum. In today’s world, we have more of a need for values like faith, courage, perseverance, honor, and integrity, than we do fighting skills. The values we use daily. The physical self-defense rarely. But with the way things are going, self-defense definitely is a need on the rise! The values that we teach at Vortex have been in existence from the beginning of time. But times have really changed tremendously since the 1960s. That seems to have been the beginning of a worldwide cultural coup where morality and traditional values have been supplanted by subjective morality. Subjective morality is a morality that can be defined as “do whatever YOU feel like if you think it is right”. In Western civilization, the Bible was the OBJECTIVE morality or the standard that we lived by. For more on subjective morality, please click this link. https://www.carm.org/about-ethics/what-is-wrong-with-subjective-morality/
As a Christian-owned business that teaches a Biblical worldview and Biblical principles, we find our values at odds with the newfound values of tolerance, diversity, and inclusion. You see, God’s word teaches exclusivity by nature. The Bible is our absolute, OBJECTIVE moral authority. It teaches us that we are to love all but to hate sin. That means that a practicing Christian can be loving, respectful, and inclusive of the individual, but must stand firmly against overt sinful behavior like stealing, murder (abortion), lying, sexual impurity like homosexuality, and other Biblically defined sins.
The challenge is that we as conservatives and Christians try to play fair and nice with folks that wish to force their indoctrination into our lives, onto our children, and into our communities. They expect absolute tolerance and acceptance of their SUBJECTIVE morality while giving zero respect and tolerance to our OBJECTIVE biblically-based morality.
As a father and teacher, I believe it is more important than ever for parents to stand up unapologetically for their faith, if for no other reason than to be an example for their children. There is sin and evil that must not be tolerated all around us. To do that today takes courage, bravery, and integrity, in the face of overwhelming backlash. Online attacks, cancel culture, and physical assaults have risen to epic proportions in the last 15 years. To stand for what is right as a Conservative and Christian puts you’re physical and mental health, your family, and your business in real jeopardy.
Recently we had a lesbian couple enroll their child in our after-school program. They had to fill out and sign documentation that they knew that we taught Christian values and are Christian-owned and operated. They did so, and we accepted their child into our program. A few months in, when they no longer needed services, they paid what was owed and ended their membership. They were treated with the utmost respect during their entire time at Vortex. No sooner did they leave the program, they began bashing us online, causing several one-star reviews on our business, because they disagreed with a blog discussing the indoctrination of our kiddos all over the country into the lgbtq community. They never called to discuss the differences of opinion. They just attacked and caused others of their ilk to do the same. They weren’t civilized enough to respect a difference of opinion. That is ok. We will pray for them and wish them well.
The most important thing we can do in a situation like that is to ignore the keyboard warriors, and take a stand on what is right in the face of an assault. It sets an example for our children and the students. So what about the “old-fashioned” values like faith, honor, perseverance, and courage, that seem to be under such attack today? I say we need them more than ever! Stand up, stand for, and stand against. Set the example for our future generation. It is what we are called to do as parents, teachers, and most of all Christians. Truth is offensive, especially biblical truth. So offend away, then love and pray for those that show no tolerance, love, mercy, diversity, or inclusion for conservatives and Christians.