Anyone who is paying attention to recent events can clearly see that America is embroiled in a culture war. There is a battle of ideas, of opinions, of what is right and wrong. And this battle isn’t going away any time soon. That’s why people of principle must take a stand against what is wrong. As Thomas Paine once said, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”

The battle fronts are numerous and it’s worth an overview.

First, we have been exposed to the grotesque behavior of Planned Parenthood. A group called the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) has been releasing undercover videos of the atrocities committed by the nation’s largest abortion mill, including profiting from the sale of aborted babies and baby parts.

Some question the strategy of CMP, worrying that the regular release of these videos may backfire — failing to change minds or hearts, while entrenching abortion advocates. That remains to be seen, as the Leftmedia blackout of the videos keeps them generally hidden from most Americans.

Naturally, Planned Parenthood has its defenders, and they have circled the wagons. A “social justice website” called RH Reality Check launched a personal attack on Holly O'Donnell, the interview subject of some of CMP’s videos. They have attempted to silence her from continuing to expose the truth about Planned Parenthood, and done so in such a personal way that even they ended up retracting the story.

Meanwhile, a group of Satanists from the Satanic Temple of Detroit have been protesting pro-life protesters. Part of their “protest” is dumping milk over the heads of bound women, supposedly to illustrate the “forced motherhood” of a world without abortion. This group claims they are strongly opposed to" misinformation" and are rejecting tyranny, yet they are defending the murder of innocents. Just like their father, the devil.

In other news, same-sex marriage is continuing to cause problems for business owners who object to it because the Supreme Court’s ruling violates their religious convictions and God’s natural law. (We should note here that the courts approved same-sex marriage, not, in most cases, voters.)

Aside from the well publicized cases against bakers, Chick-Fil-A recently put in a bid to open a restaurant in the Denver International Airport but was denied due to concerns that a local franchise could generate “corporate profits used to fund and fuel discrimination.” Yet is it not Chick-Fil-A that’s being discriminated against because of its founder’s beliefs?

Next there was the murder of a nine-year-old girl named Jamyla. She was killed in a drive-by shooting in Ferguson, where violent protesters claim black lives matter. What about her life? Did it not matter that she happened to be there in the supposed safety of her home with her grandmother only to be on the receiving end of a fatal gunshot wound? Where was the outcry over her life? Where is the outcry over the dozens of black lives lost every day to the violence of other blacks?

Finally, there is the recent disclosure of millions of users of the adulterous website Ashley Madison. The website was breached by hackers known as the Impact Team (IT), and the website’s owners are crying foul that adulterers and would be adulterers whom they refer to as “freethinkers” have been illegally exposed. Not to defend the hackers, but at what point did it become evil to expose or confront the evil immoral acts of others?

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his observations of our nation that “America is great because she is good, and when she ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” With all of the atrocities going on within our own culture, is there any hope left for America? Is there any good that can be seen amongst us?

Yes, there is and hopefully there will be more coming soon to a town near you.

Last Friday in Mississippi, the Brandon High School Marching Band did not perform during the halftime show of the football game. No, it was benched — due to a court order from the bench. In July, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves declared that no prayers, religious sermons or activities were permitted on school grounds because they were in direct violation of a federal order. The band was prohibited from playing the hymn “How Great Thou Art,” which it had prepared as part of its halftime show.

Thankfully the story doesn’t end here. Angry that a judge was violating their constitutional right to worship freely, hundreds of people from this small town spontaneously started singing the hymn anyway. Their simple act of peaceful defiance could result in fines imposed on the school district. But yet their adherence to principle and the desire to take a stand is just one example that there is still hope for America.

In a culture that is full of darkness, instances like this can become the spark to light the flame of Liberty. But the fire must not be contained; it must be fueled by the love and desire for freedom that is within each one of us.