With every passing year, it seems we Christian Conservatives find ourselves increasingly in the minority.

There might be more of us than we know, but the loudest and best-funded voices are almost exclusively liberal. If we know our Bibles, this shouldn’t come as a shock to us. For many of us who are weary of fighting in relative obscurity, though, there is a real temptation to uncritically align with anything or anyone that seems allied to our purposes.

A recent example is the calendar that was put out by Conservative Dad’s Ultra Right Beer, a brand created in response to the woke agenda overtaking (and largely torpedoing) companies like Bud Light.

The calendar (which I’m not linking for reasons that will become clear) includes women who are big names in conservatism like Riley Gaines and Dana Loesch, which by itself wouldn’t be a problem.

The issue is that the women in the photos are scantily clad and/or in provocative positions or settings.

In some of their ad copy, Conservative Dad’s states that, unlike brands that “oppose conservative values,” they are “doing the opposite.” But what conservative values are they referring to? According to their site, they want to bring back the age of “great beer, American patriotism, fun, fast cars, and beautiful real women.”

Who wants to tell them this isn’t conservatism, but nostalgia?

There’s nothing wrong with hearkening back to the “good old days,” but that alone won’t fix what’s broken or build a strong foundation for our nation.

It seems that we need a refresher on the meaning of “conservatism,” which at its root must seek to conserve something.

Conservatism is invested in the ideals and institutions that make for a lasting, strong culture.

As opposed to leftist ideology, which seeks to tear things down in favor of a progressive vision (usually decided upon by elites who think they know better than us lowly citizens), conservatism works to strengthen what is good in the family, the culture, the economy, and the government by giving credit to “we, the people” as knowing what is best for our communities.

These ideals almost without fail have biblical truth embedded in them, because God is wise and has written His design into the human heart, whether we acknowledge it or not.

These concerns over the company’s philosophy don’t even scratch the surface of the moral minefield presented by the product. Marketing this calendar to conservative dads means the company is targeting men with families.

Men leading sons and raising daughters. Is this something we think conservative men want, let alone need as they head their families?

The author who writes under the name “Peachy Keenan” hit it on the head on X:

“When you’re a “Conservative Dad” you’re allowed to ogle 23 [year]-olds in their underwear because the girls – get this – are also conservatives so [it’s] fine.”

You can almost hear the eye roll.

The anti-woke movement is presenting more and more opportunities for conservatives to accidentally ally themselves with individuals and organizations that are anything but conservative (and far from Christian). Here are just a few examples:

Ye’s (formerly known as Kanye West) apparent conversion to Christianity (that wasn’t) and quick devolution from cultural truth-teller to antisemite (among other bizarre tweet-storms).

Elon Musk, whose libertarian sensibilities and fearlessness in going after Disney and other woke corporations are refreshing, but who doesn’t see the conflict between encouraging procreation as a societal good while also subsidizing abortion costs for his employees.

Andrew Tate, who rejects woke ideas of gender, feminism, and the classification of masculinity as inherently toxic – and has thus attracted a following of young men who are desperately seeking strong examples of masculinity – but who is also under investigation for rape and sexual assault and brags about his sexual exploits as proof of his manhood.

“Tradwives,” a movement (or fringe group, according to CNN) of women who reject modern feminism and seek to emulate the 1950s housewife, yielding some commendable results but also largely seeking “influencer” status on social media and, in many cases, lacking roots in God’s design for gender and marriage.

I’ll add a personal note that as a wife who submits to her husband and seeks to live as the Bible tells me to, I find it insulting that these women have turned my life into a social media “aesthetic.”

The list is growing. Each of these people and movements is reacting to the woke agenda, and there are clear areas of overlap with biblical and conservative ideals…to a point.

But in each case, their rejection of the Bible and true conservatism as a foundation has led to the formation of unstable ideologies. Inevitably, when the rains fall and the winds blow, these houses built on sand will fall (or already have).

In her excellent response to the Conservative Dad’s calendar, Bethel McGrew writes, “

You can’t fight alien deviance with Playboy lite. You can’t fight the new decadence with old decadence, draped in red, white, and blue.”

We’ve heard the old adage, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” but we must think more critically than that.

Yes, we should and can seek common ground with those who oppose the woke agenda, but as believers, we cannot forget that “friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4).

No matter their political stripe or the size of their platform, unbelieving anti-woke voices need Jesus just as much as our liberal opponents do. As our paths cross, let’s pray first for opportunities to share the gospel and give eternal context for the truths they have stumbled across.

Let us be “wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16) in our engagement with the world, trusting that God doesn’t need rappers, billionaires, podcasters, influencers, or niche beer companies to accomplish His purposes.

Instead, he is using the largely unremarkable lives of people like you and me. Let us ally ourselves with Him and Him alone.