Minute Men Mentality

     Do you remember studying the American Revolutionary War in middle school or high school and hearing the term “Minute Men?”  Just in case you don’t, or it only sounds vaguely familiar, let me refresh your memory. Minute Men, according to Wikpedia Encyclopedia, were “selected men of great reliability, strength, and enthusiasm” who vowed to be ready for war, at any time, in two minutes!  As a woman, that blows my mind!  I can hardly apply mascara in two minutes!

     Minute Men were leaders; committed to their cause. Most “were provided neither arms nor uniforms and had to equip themselves.” Can you imagine what discipline and passion these men possessed? Are there any Minute Men left today?  YES there are many!!!  But you won’t find them on T.V., rarely at the box office, nor in the video games, nor on most radio stations…maybe on the internet if you find a good site.   (www.promisekeepers.org is a good one!)  

     In a recent Choose to Wait high school presentation I asked a group of teens to define manhood.  The entire class was silent.  They were at a loss for words (which is rare when you have a room full of teenagers)!  When pressed further, this group of astute teens couldn’t think of a single male role-model that finely depicted manhood on television today.  Men are not respected, not revered, not admired, and are usually depicted as sex-crazed, bumbling buffoons in today’s media.  Yet there are plenty of men who live in this sexually overexposed society who discipline themselves daily to live lifestyles of integrity. 

      Minute Men of today are not provided any uniform of integrity by our society. They must be prepared, at any time, to be assaulted and accosted by pornographic imagery.  They must equip themselves daily with discipline in order to NOT act on impulses that trot through their minds when scantily clad females walk by their paths, appear on their computer screens, & walk into their living rooms through a television set.

     Could it be any more difficult to be a Minute Man today?  I think not, yet, many exist.  If you know one; respect him.  If you are one, be strong and encouraged; you are not alone!  If you don’t think enough exist please continue your prayers and support for our abstinence education programs, Choose to Wait and Transformed where we are restoring honor, strength, and integrity to thousands of young men…and encouraging young women to respect men for such.  Together we ARE making a difference!

Tracey Pike

Director of Abstinence Education