When I Say “Homemaker,” Act Like a Chicken

Years ago I was coaxed into attending a hypnosis comedy show. I had never experienced nor even been witness to hypnotism, and I wondered if it was even real.

Not long into the act, the hypnotist invited the audience to participate in a group demonstration in which he would persuade us that our hands were stuck together. I remember vividly the moment I learned that hypnosis was real. My hands were indeed stuck together.

I did not enjoy the feeling of being out of control of my mind and body, and it took me a few seconds to snap myself out of the spell.

For the next hour or so, I observed a dozen semi-voluntary participants subjected to numerous humiliating hypnotic tricks. One was the classic bit, “When you hear the phrase (insert trigger), you will act like a chicken.” Honestly, I didn’t enjoy that experience as comedy, or even entertainment, but I certainly learned something.

Years later, in 2020, I was having a heavy, but necessary conversation with my little girls. They were asking why almost everyone we knew was still making fools of themselves with the COVID situation. “It’s like everyone is under a spell,” my 8-year-old said sadly.

I understood that she was exactly right. The propaganda was thick, relentless, and clownishly obvious. But with everyone glued to social media, receiving their daily talking points and trigger phrases, the entire world seemed to be under a spell—just like at that hypnosis comedy show.

This spell-casting technique of evildoers didn’t begin in 2020, and it certainly hasn’t stopped since. The weekly news cycle of allowable opinions we can hold, new phrases we must speak to signal our conformity, and the things we should be fearful of or offended by continues.

Last week, the word “homemaker,” spoken by Super Bowl champion Harrison Butker during a college commencement speech, triggered gnashing teeth and foaming mouths from millions who live in discord with reason and nature. As quickly as a snapping finger, the hypnotized became chickens, squawking against words that would otherwise be accepted as wisdom.

Has the world become so hypnotized that professing that the most exciting and purposeful roles in life will likely be mother, wife, husband, and father is to be met with such vitriol?

Even if you “believe in science,” this fact is true: spousal relationships and procreation are at the very core of our nature and biology.

But, of course, this type of gaslighting is so common now. It’s as predictable as math. There’s nothing scientific, truthful, kind, or loving about encouraging young men and women to deny themselves loving family relationships. The lie is that their greater purpose will be found in career ambition. Many who follow that path find regret in the end.

It’s clear to me that this aggressive movement against a family-centered lifestyle did not come about organically. This is orchestrated. Family has always been the bulwark against totalitarian systems. In the hypnotists’ desired future, it has to go.

Is there a silver lining? Yes. The spellcasters have played their hand too hard and too often. People are snapping themselves out of the trance and becoming more brave and vocal in opposition. A small sign of this—Butker jerseys have sold out, and in women’s sizes especially.

There are more and more people who have had enough of pandering to the thought police and their groupies. Our go-along-to-get-along compliance and silence has allowed them to control the narrative that they are of the majority opinion. No more.

It’s time we walk out of their unfunny comedy show. As you add your voice to the chorus, the music gets louder, and more people will hear and join in.

-Elijah