My Big-Long Political Involvement Soapbox

I spent this past Saturday in delegation for the Republican party for the 2008 elections. Hearing the local and state representatives as they discussed what is at stake this year for America was quite a sobering experience. My previously jaded views (brought about by the mistrust I have of government based on un-kept promises and the unabashed leftist agenda of the media) have all but vanished. I suddenly realized, sitting in that high-school auditorium with over 500 other conservative voters, that I could either complain and whine about the future while I did nothing to change it... or I could stop talking and start doing something about it.

This is probably the most political post you'll ever see on this blog. I am a realist and understand that people aren't perfect and politics are a necessary process, but I am usually one to favor discussion that doesn't divide. I don't like division and long for that heavenly destination where all men truly can come together as equals in a utopian state of love. It is a sad truth that it won't happen until Jesus returns; but that should never stop us from trying to aim for peace today. My dislike of arguing is probably why I don't talk of politics more often. That doesn't mean that I am not a fierce believer in the conservative and level-headed foundation our nation was built on - and it certainly doesn't mean that I am not aware of the facts surrounding today's political minefields.

With the seriousness of this election year in mind, I am setting aside my 'let's not talk politics' stance to share with you a little piece of my heart. It isn't just a part of me - it is a part of America. Don't think I didn't consider sleeping in Saturday instead of getting up to drive many miles to attend that delegate convention. I had a lot I would have rather done. So did my husband and my kids. But when my eyes popped open at six o'clock, I felt the hand of God pulling me out of bed and sending me on a very important mission... one that is close to HIS heart, too. It isn't until you truly understand that politics affect PEOPLE'S LIVES that you can see why God cares if you are involved. God really does love America. I know because He gently pushed me out of bed Saturday morning and gave me eyes to see how important the issues really are. They aren't just for making talk-radio-show-hosts or CNN get ratings. They affect us all. Today's issues and our political answers to them will eventually touch every life in this country... and that is why involvement in politics is a MUST. Whether you like difficult discussions or not - God is calling you to speak up.

Here below is the essay I wrote in my head on the way home Saturday after 4:00PM. My husband was napping in the car and the kids were quietly drawing. My heart had a heavy burden for this country and this is what came to mind:

Conservative American Ideals: Worth Fighting For
... speaking out against apathy in politics.

There may be smoke on the horizon, but our flag still stands. Our nation is at a precipice that will determine the course of our future. Much hinges upon the elections of 2008 – not just at the presidential level, but at every level. Considering this historic upcoming moment, I have been inundated by thoughts of the great Mother of civilizations: Rome. I Googled the term “looking back at rome” and came across an interesting article written in 2006 about Rome's panic and subsequent fall after the government began to take away its citizen's freedoms because of pirate attacks. The greatest empire of the ancient world was ultimately weakened and set up to fall by the mass panic of its citizens - eager to give over their freedoms for false security and empty political promises. It seems America could learn a lesson from Rome. I hear a lot of people asking for change - but not many who have an idea of what type of change they want. I fear that the blind will be "leading the blind" off of a political cliff if we don't stop to take a look at what our true values are. Voting for something "different" just because it is "different" is like playing a lottery of chance. Without a goal in mind, we are doomed to get the natural rewards of entropy - a 'holy mess'. The outlook that most conservatives have envisioned for America if the winds of 2008 blow to the left is indeed grim.

Just like most lackluster students of the American education system, I was content for most of my adult life in thinking that voting was enough. I thought that showing up at the polls was my only American duty besides paying faithful taxes and staying out of trouble. It seems a stretch of imagination to merge today's life of consumerism in suburbia with the reality of heroes serving America in the military and those who have died to preserve freedom in our past. What does a great nation require of us? Service would certainly be preferable than blood. However, it would do us all a great deal of good to read back through the pages of U.S. History to see what men WERE willing to die for. It seems that one reason our nation is having such trouble today is that people are in need of a cause... and once we have one, we are in need of the motivation to stop resting on our laurels and do something about it. As I read about the ‘Bravehearts’ of young America’s history, I find that many idealists gave more than most of us would dream: their duty, their honor, their very lives – for lesser injustices than we are enduring even today. Men died because of unjust taxes and a nation was birthed out of an impossible band of Bible-literate farmers and merchants – the pioneers of freedom. What would those intense men think of the spiritual and moral landscape of America in 2008?

A popular song by pop artist “Coldplay” sums up the feeling of today’s cause-less mob: “I’m gonna buy a gun and start a war. If you can give me something worth fighting for…”. My question for us today is: What is worth fighting for? Not only what, but HOW can we fight for it? Many fights are won without the use of WMD. Much of the troubles we have today could be corrected with simple INVOLVEMENT of caring individuals. Maybe our fight should be against apathy, lies, and mediocrity rather than against our political enemies. Not much can stand up against a stellar example, a life lived with passion, a frequently spoken and valiantly defended truth, and a genuine and selfless act of service. “Not with guns, but with love” – I can almost hear Jesus say it himself… and love is an action – not just a feeling.

In the pivotal moments during the American Revolution, a flag stood waving above our defenders. It stood for freedom and the ideals that lay the foundation of this country. It was larger than life… a flag so large that it could not be mistaken from out at sea. It was that flag (the landmark of liberty) that inspired the moral of a desperate band of vagabonds that burned to be free men. They held up the banner of their country through the “perilous night” under enemy fire unto their death. It was bodies that held up that flag; bodies donated with courage and given over wholly to their convictions. They gave more than an hour or two on voting day to attend a precinct convention. They gave more than a Saturday to attend a delegate meeting for their party platform to be hammered out and state delegates to be chosen. They gave more than a simple vote for President or a blog post about politics. They gave their blood so that their children could live a life of liberty.

Today our freedoms are going up in smoke - smoke as thick as that which rose from Fort McHenry on the night Francis Scott Key penned our anthem. Political correctness and the plague of apathy towards the future of this country has left people across the nation hopeless and despairing - and completely faithless in our government and its processes. It is no wonder that the keywords of this election have been “hope” and “change”. Both are something we need urgently. We see the landscape changing for the worst. What seems to be growing on the horizon is something awful and new: the death of personal liberty and the rise of socialism… a life of servitude and slavery to an industrial monster that we have made of our government. So much worse than a tax on tea… So much more threatening than a King across the sea… our destruction awaits from within our own walls – already standing by and armed. Francis and his comrades would cry at the thought. I know I have. But it doesn’t have to end this way.

Satan would love for us to give up and throw in the towel. Our silence is only fuel for the fires of apathy and victory for those who can yell and scream the loudest for America's destruction. Our understanding of the importance of today’s issues should leave us anything but hopeless. It should create in us a driving passion to stand and come to the aid of our country. We aren't made of lesser stuff than the founding fathers - we just need to think like they did and choose a path of action. After all, we CAN make a difference with our voice and our vote. We can offer our time and spread the news of hope for a restored conservative America. It isn’t too late as long as God is on the throne. Last I checked, He was still there. So I invoke you to call upon Him and offer yourself to the cause of His country. If you believe we are truly undivided – under God – please give up your fear and move to action. Do more than talk. Do more than vote. Be involved. It starts with each one of us… and if we come together, America will not end with socialism and economic devastation. I pray that a resounding voice of reason will prevail in 2008… that all of us who still love freedom and our God will do everything it takes to speak and act before it is too late.

I'm Sprittibee and I approved this message.

Be sure to visit the Heart of the Matter when the next issue is published for my (much more lighthearted) re-cap of our county delegate meeting. I hope it will inspire you to become more politically active and raise up a generation of kids who will become future conservative leaders.

* Note: go watch the video (which is actually just pictures put to an awesome sound-bite) under the link about the flag - it is something every American should hear.


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