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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Why We Do What We Do

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Plan to join the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's Tea Party at noon today on the Capitol steps in Olympia, WA.

SB5688 is schedule for a vote today around 2 PM.

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Why We Do What We Do

There is a constant chatter that is suggesting that abortion, homosexual "marriage" and pro-family matters should not be part of the public political discourse in America.

Those suggesting that, are, for the most part, secularists and left leaning.

However, not all are.

In different and creative ways, the media is helping this chatter along with news stories intended to support that notion in the interest of bringing our divided nation together so we can be strong, etc. The media also often misrepresents the facts or ignores certain stories for the same reasons.

There is also a movement, well rooted in the same media that suggests that those of us on the "right" are growing weary, are burned out, or in the face of recent set backs, simply giving up.

Dr. James Dobson was on national television last night straightening out a story that has been circulating about him.

Since Dobson announced to the Focus on the Family staff that he was going to step down from some of his responsibilities on the board of the organization he founded, the other side has taken his remarks to staff, twisted and edited them and essentially ran to the ends of the earth with their message, not his.

Starting with the London "Telegraph" rewording his statements in part by omission and part out of context, a story has developed that Dobson has grown tired of the cultural war, has lost heart, has thrown in the towel and any other mindset that would suggest failure. None of which is true.

Last night he was on Fox News' "Hannity" explaining why he would never "throw in the towel" on principles that have been his passion for more than three decades.

How could any of us burn out or give up on eternal principles, when we know that by embracing them an individual or a nation will be blessed with life, prosperity and freedom, and by rejecting them one can only experience decline, insignificance and ultimate bondage?

However, it is not only the media and their allies on the left that are trying to dampen the passion of the Christian conservative, some who should be thankful and supportive of this kind of commitment are also suggesting the "values" people are in the way and perhaps responsible for recent setbacks in elections.

There seems to be a philosophical disconnect among so-called "moderates who have enjoyed seeing the people of faith and conservatives do much of the heavy lifting. While the idea is fed and nurtured by the left, some in the Republican Party are now beginning suggest that there should not be public discourse on such issues as abortion and homosexual marriage---"it's divisive," some say. Of course it is as long as people oppose wholesale killing of unwanted babies and stand in defense of marriage. If the folks who carry the banner for righteousness and traditional values are silent and gone the moderates and far left can live happily ever after, because for them it is about politics. For people of faith and conservatives it is about principles.

This is a secular left wing dream that will not come true.

There are reasons we do what we do.

Political activists eventually burn out, give up, throw in the towel.

People of faith who have this burning passion for faith and freedom and to see our country and our communities stand on eternal principles, don't give up. Eventually there is an appropriate time to pass the torch to the next generation---but you never give up.

Recently, the newly elected chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party gave an interview to a gay newspaper in which she said the Republican Party would not be focused on social issues during her term as chairman and she would back all Republican candidates, regardless of where they stand in the culture war.

She said, "To me, social issues are personal issues. Those are personal views, and we're not legislating---at least, I'm not legislating anyone's personal views."

I sincerely hope she will set aside her position in regards to legislation for those whose personal views include rape, murder and theft, which are also social issues.

Massresistance, a Christian activist organization in the state, has responded to her comments.

Unfortunately, I see some of these same seeds being planted here in Washington State. Sam Reed in an op ed column, suggested some of the same beliefs. Our own press is quick to report these kinds of statements. Reed's and others similar comments are causing some people of faith and conservatives to reevaluate the depth of their commitment to the Republican Party.

Starr Parker has written an excellent column on the subject. In it she says, "Those who write off Christian conservatism as a political force have underestimated the driving compulsion behind traditional faith and American freedom.

Faith and the desire for freedom are often underestimated.

Starr asks, "Without a moral compass in politics and law, where do we go to answer the hard questions?"

Unfortunately, the answer is that every man becomes a law unto himself which leads to chaos.

"The Christian right," she says, "has interjected itself into the political world because the political world came into their world." This has happened through the aggressive advancement of abortion on demand, the redefining of marriage and the attempt to strip every vestige of Christian morality from America's public life.

She concludes, "America is in a crisis because the wrong people have been making the wrong decisions for too many years. Christian conservatives have an obligation to help lead America to it's founding principles of traditional values and limited government. Christians must actively shape public policy in the country and inject our values into every part of our shared space."

And that is why we do what we do.

Thank you for supporting us and allowing us to continue.

God bless you.

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Gary Randall
President
Faith & Freedom

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