Politics...Yes and No

I was recently asked if I was still as involved in politics as I was during the last few years.  The answer is yes and no.

Let me address the no first.  I am not as involved in the Clinton County Republican party.  There is not much going on right now.  There aren't any active campaigns and candidates probably won't start coming forward until late summer and into the fall.  Our local county party is also run by old guard types. After the 2008 election and all its ramifications, there was a huge inflow of people who wanted to get involved, myself included, and brought new ideas and energy.  The powers-that-be at the local level would have none of it.  They continue to cling to rubber-chicken dinners at 6:00 on Tuesday nights, when most younger people are just getting off work instead of trying more informal Saturday night mixers or family-friendly events.  The contributions they collected were wasted on ads in newspapers with declining circulations and snail-mail flyers.  We had several offers from some very tech-savvy people and a talented graphic designer to amp up our website and social media outreach.  Again, they were refused.  After a while, these new, fresh faces tired of the fight and found ways to contribute elsewhere.  I stayed the course through the election, but when the new campaign season begins, I will probably devote my time and energy to assisting specific campaigns instead of the party at large.  I also had some major developments in my personal life when I accepted a new job and planned our daughter's wedding, so it was an absolute must that I reduce my obligations in another area and my activities with the party were the most sensible choice.  I have also learned, through my involvement and observations, that politics is not the problem.  People and principles are the problem and that is where the solutions will be found.  I seek solutions.

While my formal affiliation with the Republican party has ended, I remain a committed Conservative.  People have been beaten over the head with political speak, sound bytes, tweets and slogans.  They tune it out and turn it off.  What people are hungry for are solutions that they can see and feel and relate to in their own lives.  They are seeking truth and honesty.  They are tired of both parties. 

My pastor gave me the best suggestion.  He encouraged me to continue to try to influence the people around me.  I, being the most miserable salesperson on the planet, have sought ways to try to gently do just that.  I can't do a hard sell.  I am who I am and I know what I know and all I can do is bear witness to that.  Through this blog, Facebook, conversation and just living my life, I have shared, and will continue to share, as truthfully and as honestly as I can the principles that I believe in and that I think will yield the solutions we seek as a nation.  Hopefully, I can influence at least one other person to become aware and to vote their principles instead of a party at the next election.

I believe that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values.  The Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers and Constitution all recognize the existence of God.  The evidence that the founders relied on prayer, the guiding hand of Divine Providence and the Bible can be found throughout their writings and documentations of what transpired at every stage of our nation's birth.  I believe in those values and the governmental framework that came from them.  I appreciate our Bill of Rights and want to share that appreciation by exercising my rights to freely practice my faith, to freely speak my mind in any forum I choose, to petition my government without fear, to keep and bear arms, to vote and all the rest.  I seek to share thoughts and actions that reflect my belief that we are a Christian nation and the system we are now living under is not what it was intended to be.

I believe that the problems facing our children (generational poverty, poor education, abuse, crime and the rest) can be significantly improved, if not eliminated entirely, by a return to the traditional family, defined as one man married to one woman and raising children together. 

I believe that our country was made great by people who got up everyday and went to work and were productive and provided for their own families.  We cannot long survive as a society if people keep leaving productive activities and jumping into the welfare wagon.

I believe that every person, from the unborn to the elderly, has value and the right to life.  We are creating a culture of death when we allow the most vulnerable of us to be killed before they have even had a chance to draw breath or when they have outlived their perceived usefulness to society. Every life has value and until we get that straight again, evil will continue to have free reign in our country.

I believe that the property you earn is yours and you have the right to use it and defend it.  No one else should be given the opportunity to take it from you.

I believe that local communities, churches and private charities are the best, most efficient providers of education and assistance to the needy.  It makes no sense to take dollars from our communities, send it to the federal government, fund a bureaucracy, and return pennies to the community that can only be spent on very narrow and specific programs. 

Most people I know share these beliefs, yet, time after time, they go into the voting booth on election day and vote for a party instead of a principle.  Or they allow a single sound byte or slogan to become the basis for their vote.  That is my mission, to influence as many people as possible to forget the label, republican or democrat, and become active, educated citizens and vote for the candidates and issues that most closely align as a whole with what they truly believe and how they live their daily lives.  Until we engage more people of principle and change the hearts of the voters we have no hope of changing our course and restoring the Judeo-Christian nation we were founded to be.

Am I still as active in politics?  Not so much.  I am spending my time living in the freedom of the Word of God and the founding documents of our great nation and sharing with as many people as I can the joy that I find in both.