Without Natural Affection
The Hypocrisy of ‘Protecting Children’ in MAGA America
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come…Without natural affection…”
— 2 Timothy 3:1–3 (KJV)
We love the children.
Or so we say.
MAGA voices are quick to declare a divine mandate to “protect the children,” yet their policies and behaviors often expose a twisted kind of affection, one that bears no resemblance to real love, safety, or care. They pass laws in the name of morality, yet those very laws push children into harm’s way, erasing critical protections and vilifying safe, loving spaces for queer and trans youth, while simultaneously coddling predators under the veil of respectability, religion, and culture.
This is not love. This is control, obsession, and perdastery wrapped in the illusion of holiness.
🧠 Sacred Texts, Cultural Codes
Historically, perdastery (sexual relationships between adult men and boys) was present in many ancient cultures, including Greco-Roman society - the very context into which the New Testament emerged (and a cultural context from which MANY of these men hail from). When the Apostle Paul speaks against “unnatural affection” or “unseemly behavior” (Romans 1), he isn’t describing love between consenting adults. He’s referencing exploitative, often pederastic, relationships common in the power structures of empire (some say to which he himself had been involved with, with Timothy).
In today's MAGA world, this same kind of exploitative affection is cloaked in nationalist ideology and religiosity. It’s not lost on us that the loudest voices claiming to “protect children” are often the very people accused or excused when real harm is exposed whether in church pews, political offices, or school boards.
💔 Where Is the Real Love for Children?
If they really loved children, they would:
Fight to end child poverty
Support comprehensive sex education
Protect youth from violence and discrimination
Ensure children have access to food, healthcare, and emotional support
Condemn sexual abuse unequivocally…no matter the political or religious affiliation of the abuser
But instead, we get:
Book bans
Surveillance of youth
Forced births with no care for maternal health
The erasure of LGBTQIA+ families from school curriculum
And the upholding of pedophilic violence within religious institutions under the guise of “mistakes” or “forgiveness”
🧿 Divine Disruption: A Black Psychospiritual Reflection
As a Black religious and mental health professional, I name this for what it is: Spiritual trauma and systemic grooming. It is not the queer child or trans teen who is a danger, it is those who hide their abusive ideologies under “G-d,” “family values,” and “freedom.”
This distortion not only traumatizes the body, but it also warps the psyche, especially for children of color, who are doubly vulnerable due to systemic racism and under-resourced protection systems.
Let’s be clear: Protecting children means creating a world where they are safe, seen, and free. Not surveilled. Not indoctrinated. Not criminalized.
⚖️ To the “Protect the Children” Crowd
You don’t love children.
You love power over children.
You love controlling children.
You love shaping them in your image, not G-d's.
And when someone grows up to say no, I am not that, I choose love, I choose myself, you call it rebellion.
But maybe, just maybe, they're choosing to survive.
🔥 Fruit of the Thought
Jesus said, "Let the little children come unto me"—not drag them into court, erase their identity, or punish their curiosity.
MAGA Christianity has become the very thing it claims to fight against: A predatory ideology hiding behind a cross.
This is why so many are leaving the church.
This is why so many are seeking a G-d of their own understanding.
This is why we are building new altars, sacred and safe.
Because this world has forgotten what real love looks like.
And we refuse to let it cost our children any more blood.