ACT NOW: Email your legislators in support of parental rights

4/23/24

As you likely already heard, the Supreme Court recently denied the petition of Mary and Jeremy Cox to defend religious liberty and parental rights on a national level. It is now up to the state to bring justice to this family and prevent any others from experiencing the heartbreak and injustice they have endured, when their child was stripped from their custody because the parents did not support his “gender transition.” 

In 2021, the Indiana Department of Child Services initiated an investigation into the Cox family because they could not, in good conscience, refer to their son using a name or pronouns inconsistent with his biological sex. Despite the fact that they were caring for all of his medical, physical, and educational needs, the state removed him from their custody, banned them from speaking to him about the topic of sex and gender, and placed him in a home that would affirm his transgender identity. DCS specifically argued (about their son, a biological male), “She should be in a home where she is [ac]cepted for who she is.” Even after DCS dismissed all allegations of neglect and abuse against the parents, the trial court continued the removal and the gag order on the parents’ religious speech to their own child in their own home. The child was never returned to their custody, and he aged out of the foster system.

Since the Supreme Court failed the Cox family, it’s now up to our legislators, governor, and DCS to right this egregious wrong. Click here to email your elected officials now!

As legislators consider their priorities for next session, strengthening parental rights needs to be at the top of the list. Christian parents are having their children removed by the state government, simply because they believe that a boy is a boy and a girl is a girl. The legislature is the last line of defense for parents.

With that said, Governor Holcomb and the leaders at DCS are ultimately responsible for this egregious attack on parental rights, and it is their responsibility to end this practice now. Because DCS was allowed to take a child simply because the parents wouldn’t go along with woke gender theory, all Indiana parents of children who struggle with mental health are now at risk. DCS has been emboldened by the state court system to continue their abhorrent violations of parental rights. We need immediate action by way of public regulations that will prohibit DCS workers from attacking conservative, Christian families in the future. 

Will you join us in demanding parental rights are respected in Indiana? 

It’s time for our legislators and government officials to rise up in support of the Cox family and parental rights. Your calls and emails go a long way in encouraging them to do so. We hope you’ll take two minutes today to send our pre-written email to your elected officials. This terrible precedent cannot stand. The Indiana General Assembly, Governor’s office, and DCS must act.   

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We need your support

4/2/24

Hiring additional staff is an important long-term goal for us, so we can be fully equipped to fight for your rights at the Statehouse, Supreme Court, and beyond. Many of our goals are contingent upon hiring additional support staff in the coming years to get us to the finish line, and this year we are saving toward that pursuit.

You may be wondering what those goals are, and why they require additional staff. Here are a few of the things we have coming down the pipeline, and why it’s essential we add more dedicated workers to our team:

IFI’s Education Initiative: We still have a lot of work to do to help school districts push back against liberal indoctrination and bring back common sense. We’ve touched at least 20 school districts in Indiana, but the successes in some of those districts need to be leveraged in other places around the state. Right now we only have one staff member addressing education issues for the entire state – pointing back to our need for additional support staff. 

Hoosier Leadership Series: We believe that by growing our alumni association and engaging the other 400 alumni across the state, we can activate a Christian, conservative army of leaders throughout Indiana. The ripple effects of that army would be felt  statewide. We need additional staff to manage our alumni and create those relationships between alumni and our current class. 

Five Freedoms Project: Even though our general counsel, Josh Hershberger, is doing an immense amount of work on a number of important legal issues, he is stretched thin and can only take on a few cases at a time. The work we are doing with the Five Freedoms Project focuses on quality over quantity, and it is deeply important work (such as representing the Cox family), but many great opportunities are slipping through the cracks. For every important case, many other Hoosier families are not able to be helped. We are hopeful that we can expand our legal team in the coming years to fight for even more families who have had their rights violated. 

Church Ambassador Network: We’re incredibly grateful for several out-of-state donors who helped us create the Church Ambassador Network and continue to fund its existence, but we know their support is not permanent. We need this program to be 100% Hoosier funded. We only have two staff members managing the Church Ambassador Network, ministering to over 10,000 churches throughout the state and thousands of state and local elected officials. The fields are ready for harvest, but the workers are few. 

Would you pray about standing in the gap, and helping us meet our yearly needs like never before? Our 5-year-goal is to consistently raise $1.6 million. This is a stretch, but we know that nothing is impossible with our God. Will you be an ambassador of His kingdom and help us? 

Please consider taking a leap of faith this year and doubling your donations from 2023 to help us multiply our impact in Indiana. We are eager to expand our efforts in the legislature and beyond, but we can’t do it without your support.

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Happy Easter!

3/31/24

We are praying that you, your family, and your church have a powerful Resurrection Sunday! Our hope and prayer is that many in your community come to know Christ this weekend. 

Easter is such an encouragement to us, especially as we continue to promote Biblical principles in a quickly changing culture. Below is an excerpt from our General Council Josh Hershberger, sharing his reflections on the importance and power of Easter in our increasingly secular age:

“The tomb is one of the chief antagonists of the Easter story. The tomb stands for a type of absolute tragedy. Innocence was found guilty. God was killed. Evil prevailed. Period. 

But then came the Resurrection. Truth showed a deep resilience. Truth triumphed despite evil and even through it. As Clarence W. Hall so aptly stated, “Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.”

In sum, the tomb lost. This means that we can live and work in hope. We can struggle with courage against our own faults and the stubborn blackness in all our hearts. We can claim victory and live without shame. We can struggle to redeem our broken world as agents of our coming King that will make all things new, and we can live victoriously no matter how dark our times. We can live with assurance that one day injustice will be swept away, evil will be overthrown, and death itself will die.”

He is Risen! We are praying for you this Easter Sunday!

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