A picture of Dr. Rachel Levine and Sam Brinton, two of the most visible officials in the Biden administration, went viral last week. Levine, a man who believes he is a woman, is the assistant secretary for Health. Brinton is a deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Energy who identifies as “non-binary,” dresses in drag, and is public about his puppy role-play fetish.

Like Levine and Brinton, Lia Thomas also made news last week. Thomas is the male swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania who won an NCAA national championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle in March. His school decided to honor that accomplishment by nominating him for the NCAA’s 2022 “Woman of the Year” award.

These three men have something very important in common. They are all prominent leaders in the second-wave DEI movement.

First-wave DEI was mainly focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and academia based on race and sex. Affirmative action, coding camps for black teenagers, and government set-aside programs for women-owned businesses are all part of first-wave DEI. These policies and initiatives have always faced varying levels of opposition, but people are generally more supportive of programs that widen the net of participation rather than lower the bar of performance in a particular field.

Second-wave DEI builds on its predecessor but has a very different set of goals. It uses demoralization, extortion, and intimidation to force social change on an unwilling public. The primary beneficiaries of the second-wave are “gender and sexual minorities,” but supportive nonwhite and female allies benefit from the scraps that fall from the rainbow table.

The unofficial start of the second-wave DEI movement was July 15, 2015. That was the night Caitlyn Jenner was given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs. Jenner was described as “courageous” and “stunning” by the person who introduced him that night, but not everyone was in full support.

NBC Sports commentator Bob Costas expressed his opinion at the time during an appearance here on "The Dan Patrick Show":

“It strikes me that awarding the Arthur Ashe to Caitlyn Jenner is just a crass exploitation play, a tabloid play. In the broad world of sports—and this is not anything against Caitlyn Jenner—I am pretty sure they could have found someone who was much closer to actively [being] involved in sports who would have been deserving of what that award represents.”

It is unlikely that any active broadcaster of Costas’ stature would say anything close to that now. Even the most outspoken, politically incorrect sports personalities have evolved with the times.

Charles Barkley pledged his love for the beneficiaries of second-wave DEI at a recent event in Nevada. Barkley’s public gesture is a reflection of the impact men like Sam Brinton have had on the second-wave DEI movement. Brinton is a “handler” in the puppy-play fetish scene. He teaches his “pups'' how to submit and obey his commands. They are bound by leather and chains but claim to be “free” in their alternate identity as long as he is in charge. In puppy parlance, Charles Barkley rolled over and showed his belly.

Brinton’s position in the Biden administration may focus on nuclear energy, but he plays a much more significant role as an activist. UPenn’s women’s basketball team helped craft a plan of action after George Floyd’s death. None of those players would dare utter a word in defiance of Thomas or his second-wave brethren. His female teammates and opponents know that. The lack of support is demoralizing, which is why they would rather keep quiet than risk being ravaged by an angry mob for protesting.

Not their will, but his be done.

Second-wave DEI activists have also mastered the art of using fear and emotional manipulation to assert their dominance. Throughout history, extortion has always taken the form of “give me what I want or something bad will happen to you.” In second-wave DEI, it generally means “give me what I want or something bad will happen to me.”

This is how trans activists back most people into a corner. The average person would rather play the personal pronoun game than be linked to threats of suicide or physical harm. This is why “I’d rather a living daughter than a dead son” and “so, are you saying trans men don’t exist?” have become commonplace in our political discourse.

Like all dominant members of a social hierarchy, people like Sam Brinton and Khiara Bridges are trained to exploit any signs of weakness. Bridges is the University of California Berkeley Law School professor who told Senator Josh Hawley that his rejection of “pregnant men” was tied to violence against trans people.

Macy Gray showed a moment of weakness and whimpered through an interview where apologized for correctly defining womanhood. She went from biology to “vibes” in less than one week. Black women like her were pioneers in first-wave DEI, but white men can reassert their dominance in the social hierarchy by claiming to be what Macy Gray has been her entire life.

Second-wave DEI is the first time in human history when a fake commodity is perceived as more valuable than the real thing. No one pays more for cubic zirconia than diamonds, but an obedient society values Impossible Women over the XX chromosome variety.

Caitlyn Jenner, Lia Thomas, Rachel Levine, and Sam Brinton are the poster boys for the new DEI regime, but the father of all lies has been at this for much longer than 2015.

The Bible describes Satan as the “accuser of the brethren.” Christians who struggle with sin know the feeling of drowning under the weight of guilt and shame. We hear the inner voices that say “everyone will abandon you if they find out who you really are or what you’ve done in the past. I’ll protect you if you bow down and worship me.”

Fear is a powerful tool for forcing compliance. Left to our own strength, it can cast a true believer back into bondage to sin. Second-wave DEI is the commercialization of psychological warfare. Its leaders know whoever owns the mind can control the man. God demonstrates the priority He puts on our thinking in Romans 12:2 that says:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The only thing that can withstand the current wave — and all the ones to come — is a renewed mind firmly rooted in biblical truth. No other ideology can assure victory. Liberals have become libertines and conservatives don’t know what they want to conserve. The choice is simple. Our culture will submit to Christ or we will have chaos. The waves will continue to crash, but believers can stand firm in the knowledge that the battle has already been won.