Christian beliefs, public policy take center stage at Cleveland debate 

Did the Founders establish America upon Christian principles, and do those principles provide moral authority for policies today? 

That question was the fundamental dispute during a forum at the City Club of Cleveland Friday.  

“Our Christian beliefs were the beliefs of the Founders of our country, who established a nation where people can come of all faiths and all backgrounds,” said Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), who was the forum’s featured speaker. 

“We don’t want to say everybody has to be a Christian. We would fundamentally oppose a law that would say if you’re going to live in America, you need to be a Christian.” 

CCV is an Ohio-based Christian organization, which focuses on public policy and education for the state. 

“At the heart of Center for Christian virtue is the belief that we serve a Creator God who made every individual in this world in His image and love them so much that He sent His only Son to die for them,” Baer said. “And that belief compels and instructs a lot about how we order our lives, how we order our society, and how we interact with one another.”

LGBTQ activists protest

When the club invited Baer to speak at one of its weekly lunch forums, LGBTQ activists protested, calling CCV a “hate group” and circulating a signed petition to cancel Baer or invite pro-LGBTQ panelists, according to CCV’s December press release.  

The City Club, founded in 1912, is one of the nation’s oldest independent free speech forums, with the stated mission to hold “conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive,” according to its website. 

Dan Moulthrop, CEO of the club, said they invited Baer because his organization has had great influence in Ohio and encouraged individuals to attend.   

Moulthrop moderated the discussion, first asking Baer several questions regarding faith, policy, education and LGBTQ issues, and then facilitating audience members’ questions.  

The sold-out crowd was evidently packed with pro-LGBTQ attendees who vocally opposed Baer while he was speaking and erupted in applause anytime a left-leaning question was raised. One woman told Baer to “stop smiling” when she accused him of interrupting attendees’ questions.  

When Baer detailed the “heinous act” of transgender procedures that remove genitalia and sterilize children for life, audience members loudly protested his language. 

“This is happening,” Baer said. “If we’re not being honest and clear about the medical procedures that are happening to kids, then we’re not loving our neighbors.” 

In a loaded question, Moulthrop claimed anti-LGBTQ rhetoric directly corresponds to the increased number of suicides among youth struggling with gender identity. Baer countered, however, citing spikes in anxiety and depression among these individuals after they undergo biology-altering surgeries because they were told “you were born in the wrong body.”  

“The reality is, if we are silent on massive harm that’s being done to children, we are being derelict in our duty,” Baer said.  

Reforming education

CCV has launched several schools and introduced other policies to “tear down” the education system, which is “fundamentally failing our kids,” Baer said, referencing the less than 40% of fourth graders who are proficient in reading.  

“There are kids in your community who are suffering and are never learning to read, which means they can’t access for themselves the Eternal Word of God.” 

He explained how school-choice programs incorporate competition and parental discretion into education. CCV has launched 15 Christian schools in the past three years, Baer said.  

“CCV, as a private organization, [is] in the business of helping start new Christian schools, because that’s what we want to do,” he noted, explaining the “free market” aspect of school-choice programs. 

“What’s great about that is, anybody in this room has the religious freedom, as private individuals, to go and start your own schools.” 

Banning phones in schools would improve test results by at least 15%, Baer argued, recommending a return to paper testing because learning and recollection increases by writing on paper as opposed to tablets or computers, which he called an “experimental disaster.” 

‘Hope and a Future’

Baer discussed CCV’s “Hope and a Future Report” – a key focus of his organization – which traces the cultural issues of education, crime, poverty and suicide to the decline of marriage and family. 

In Ohio, 53% of children are raised in a home without a married mom and dad, he noted.  

He explained how both the church and public policy can target this fundamental issue. Policy leaders can establish new laws that incentivize marriage, as opposed to the current policies that cut benefits for married couples.  

The church can allocate funds specifically to support marriage and family through classes, counseling and mentorship. Baer also cited the hundreds of pregnancy care centers statewide that offer free resources such as car seats, diapers and formula to expecting mothers.  

When audience members accused him of pushing his exclusive agenda, Baer explained the First Amendment’s freedoms of religion and speech, which allow private people and organizations to promote their ideas for the public good. The Constitution designates “the buck to stop at the people,” who then elect officials they believe will do the “least harm and the most good,” Baer explained.

“The political process in America is a part of the world that we live in today. So, for CCV, what we care about doing is bringing that perspective of Christians to the political debate. We believe His Word is true for all of us. And so that’s what we do: we advocate for the truth that we see revealed in His eternal Word.” 

(Image credit: Center for Christian Virtue)