The Toughest Week of My Life
The middle of last month (May 2016) gave me the most challenging week I have ever experienced. I was faced with a forced business decision where I could either make the popular choice or what I believed (and still believe) to be the principled choice, the latter of which would lend myself to backlash from dozens of people.
My pastor told me that because I do business in the arts, I would be confronted with decisions such as these earlier than most, but that these things "are coming for all of us here in the church." Ironically, those who profess tolerance often show absolute intolerance for those of us who hold to conservative values.
This spread through the Kansas City theater so fast, and libelous statements were made about me by some who I had trusted for years and had even been on my payroll. And all of this was not because I changed anything about who I am or the way I had presented myself for years. It was all because my open, outspoken, unchanged beliefs were finally put to the test, and they insisted that I should have waivered on them. For this reason alone, they determined to fight until my business was either shut down or made to suffer greatly for it.
I ended up stepping down from my company amidst the controversy. It was not an easy decision, but I feel it was the right one. I was prepared to "go down with the ship" (so to speak) if that's what it came to, but my sister was prepared to continue the company for all of us, including the families who continued to be involved.
In stepping down, one of the things that was particularly painful was knowing that it would be seen as a victory by so many leftists who love to silence principled conservatives like me. But ultimately, this experience has given me a stronger impression than ever that there is little hope of changing the minds of people who head down leftist lines of reasoning. And an important takeaway from that is that i should focus not on them but on those who can still be saved--first and foremost: my own family. I think that this life change will perhaps do more to aid me in prioritizing them than any other single decision I've made in years.
My pastor told me that because I do business in the arts, I would be confronted with decisions such as these earlier than most, but that these things "are coming for all of us here in the church." Ironically, those who profess tolerance often show absolute intolerance for those of us who hold to conservative values.
This spread through the Kansas City theater so fast, and libelous statements were made about me by some who I had trusted for years and had even been on my payroll. And all of this was not because I changed anything about who I am or the way I had presented myself for years. It was all because my open, outspoken, unchanged beliefs were finally put to the test, and they insisted that I should have waivered on them. For this reason alone, they determined to fight until my business was either shut down or made to suffer greatly for it.
I ended up stepping down from my company amidst the controversy. It was not an easy decision, but I feel it was the right one. I was prepared to "go down with the ship" (so to speak) if that's what it came to, but my sister was prepared to continue the company for all of us, including the families who continued to be involved.
In stepping down, one of the things that was particularly painful was knowing that it would be seen as a victory by so many leftists who love to silence principled conservatives like me. But ultimately, this experience has given me a stronger impression than ever that there is little hope of changing the minds of people who head down leftist lines of reasoning. And an important takeaway from that is that i should focus not on them but on those who can still be saved--first and foremost: my own family. I think that this life change will perhaps do more to aid me in prioritizing them than any other single decision I've made in years.
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