This is the goal of everything we do.  Positive Lasting Change  .  An escape from politics as usual.  An escape from extremes.  The coming together of rational, informed and open minded people working together to save our great Nation.   As with any project, the place to start is by clearly stating our goals.  That is what this post is all about.

CHANGE

This is the big one.  The place to start is admitting that we have problems, and they are not small.  Our politicians want us to think that their policies of tweaking this and adjusting that will save us.  They are wrong.  Regardless of what your ideals are, if you apply them to a faulty system, you cannot succeed.  Let’s be honest.  Our systems are broken, and they are broken because of politics.  The underlying fault of everything that we do as a Nation is that complicated policies and procedures don’t work.  If what you want to do takes thousands of pages to explain, it won’t work.  It is just that simple.  All that you accomplish with gigantic government documents is create work for politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists, lawyers, accountants and consultants.   Because of this, our Tax system is broken.  Our Judicial system is broken, Our Banking and Financial Services Industries are broken.  Our Health Care Industry is broken.  Even our Military is broken.  Anybody that tells you that this is not the case is lying.

We need change, and we need it in a big way.  We need to change our underlying attitudes, we need to change the way we look at Government, and we need to change the types of solutions that we employ to meet the various needs of our Nation.   Change is not going to happen overnight, but if we can at least admit that we need to change, that is a good start.

POSITIVE

You would think that this one would be easy, but in truth, it includes a trap that has to be avoided.  Politicians (like all of us) lie.  They lie on a daily basis, and one of the first things that they lie about is in telling us what we should care about.  They talk us into wanting things that they think that they can deliver, or that they think that they can blame the other side for keeping from us.  Lies have created a public mind set that distracts us from the real problems, and masks the fact that politicians are not trying to solve the real problems, but are simply trying to stay in office.  In order to have positive change, we need to set aside a whole laundry list of special needs, wants and desires, and focus on our basic need, a system of Government / Economy / Society that actually works.

LASTING

Over the last 20 years, the effects of politics have taken us to a place where the two major parties have moved further and further apart.  As a result of this polarization, and our growing culture of lies and misinformation, we have reached a point that each side is dedicated to being against anything that the other side says or does.  Our elected representative have reached a point that they are willing to ignore policies with which they don’t agree, throw roadblocks in front of anything that the other party does, and openly admit that their goal is to overturn anything that their opponents manage to get passed.  As our election margins narrow, we are in great danger of going into a four year cycle where nothing gets done, and if it does, it is reversed 4 years later.  In order to have lasting change, we have to take steps to change our political system so that it has a possibility of working.

POSITIVE LASTING CHANGE

Now let’s look at the whole thing at once.  In reading everything above, if you are a passionate Democrat or Republican, you probably feel insulted.  YOUR  politicians don’t lie, it’s just the other guys.   YOUR needs are not special, they are for the good of everyone.  YOUR programs would work, if only everybody else would get in line and admit that you are right.  This is what we have to get over.  One Political Party did not get us to where we are.  It took both.  The Parties by themsleves did not do it on their own, it took the help of special interest groups.  The special interest groups were only doing what they claim is in the best interest of their members.  YOU and ME.
The starting point for Positive Lasting Change is with individuals.  Each and every one of us needs to do a 360 review and determine where we need to change. 

• We can support our political parties without buying into everything that they say. 
• We can pursue our political agendas at the same time as we try and improve our Government. 
• We can work to properly educate those that disagree with us instead of calling them stupid. 
• We can break the cycle of lies and misinformation and demand that our politicians tell the truth.
• We can call out the media when they work to misinform.
• We can protect our society and our Country without harming others.
• We can admit that we have problems, that our current systems won’t work and we can work towards Positive Lasting Change.

For some interesting ideas on change, HERE is a recent article by columnist Scott Burns.

There is a lot to change, and a long way to go.  Feel free to disagree with anything that I have said, especially if you have a better idea.  If you can’t present a civil, constructive basis for your position, you are wasting your time posting it. 

Facebook Connect should be working for comments now.

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There exists in the United States individuals and groups of Christians that claim that America is a Christian nation.  These people seem to be against the separation of Church and State, and have been known to claim that this separation was not the intent of our Founding Fathers.  The intent of these people seems to be establishing a Theocracy based on THEIR beliefs, with legislation against what many people take to be the basic rights of others.  There are many labels that have been used to describe these people, all of which appear to be inaccurate, and unfairly “mark” certain groups of Christians.    For the present, I will refer to these people as “radical” Christians, not as a reference to their specific religious beliefs, but to how they apply their beliefs to secular issues.  I am still open to a better description if anybody has one.

On the morning of September 17, 2012, our facebook page had a grand total of 162 likes.  If this was print media, it would be as if every time I posted something, I was going into a closet and talking to myself.  162 people is not a grand audience . .  but they do have friends.   Print and on-air media both require large audiences to be effective.  Everybody knows this and accepts the fact that this skews the news and information that is presented by these types of media.  To get on television, you had better be both loud and controversial.  I don’t know if this is a good number, but I read somewhere this week that Radical Christians make up 15% of the Christian population of the United States.  So why are they so visible in the media?  Because they are controversial.  Because they will say things that offend.  Because they have built special interest non-profits that constantly push their message.  Even if there are not a lot of people that agree with them, just about everybody knows what they have to say.

So, where does that leave the rest of us?  Do mainstream Christians need to make a huge production out of their beliefs in order to “combat” the Radical rant?   The answer is no.  The main messages of Christianity are Peace, Love, and the promise of the gift of Salvation.   While these are powerful messages, worthy of  great acclaim, they don’t lend themselves to grandstanding or impassioned speeches.   They do lend themselves to quiet confidence, steadfast belief, and the knowledge that the battle can be won, as long as we don’t sacrifice our core values to the battle.     The key to winning the battle is in refusing to fight. 

Yep, that’s what I said.  Refusing to fight.  Does that mean give up?  No.  Does that mean run away?  No.  It means to use our core values as our shield, stand fast in front of the barage of lies, mistruths, anger and fear coming our way, and quietly and continuously offer a better way.   There is nothing that a bully likes better than to fight an unfair fight.   Bullys always pick on those smaller or weaker than themselves.  In the public arena, there is no point in trying to fight a bully on their terms.   They are so convinced of their righteousness that they will lie, distort and bluster to turn people against their enemies, because they cannot use the truth.  There is nothing that a bully hates worse than someone that stands up to them.   There is no point in arguing with them, they are not interested in changing.  There is no point in speaking to them in truth, they have distorted truth beyond recognition.  The goal is not to destroy the bully, the goal is to strip the bully of his hangers on.

The issue is that 15% of the population is using lies, deception, fear and hate to rally a much larger group of people.  These people cannot be swayed by an opposing rant or a blow for blow argument.  They can be swayed by a different approach.  The Mainstream Christian Message.  Peace, Love, and the promise of the gift of Salvation.   It won’t happen over night, but in the long run, how can anyone choose Hate over Love?   The Bully can offer words to back up his position, but Mainstream Christians can offer both words and actions to back up theirs.  Over time, the difference between words and actions will shine through.  Hate takes up energy.  Hating is hard work.  Love is both easy and energizing.  We have to show them a better way.  

Now let’s get back to the small voice thing.  On September 17, 2012, we posted the following meme on Facebook to our 162 (then) followers:

Nothing earth shattering, just a simple message befitting a religion based on preaching to the poor and the rejects of a society.    In reality, most of us will have difficulty living up to this message.   I certainly do, and so does my church.  But the point is that I recognize this as a core value of Christianity, and so does my church.   The fact that the Radicals have walked away from this message creates a weakness in everything that they do, and as long as the Mainstream holds to this value and strives to meet it’s promise, we will be on the path to victory. 

Shortly after this was posted, our good friend Mark Sandlin from The God Article reposted it.  And the message started to spread.  Anybody that has spent much time on the internet knows that negative and nasty spreads like wildfire.  Trolls, jackals and heyenas love a good mess, and will jump into the fray in the blink of an eye.  Positive things are harder to spread.  Why this message and not another one?  I think that it resonated because it is a little controversial.  It is not really a feel good message.  It should be, but since we stuggle to fulfill it’s promise, it has a little bit more meaning.  Where people may react to  a feel good message with a quick like, they are more likely to share something that hits them on a deeper level.

In 8 hours, this simple message had passed 500 likes, and was still going strong.  And it has not stopped.  It has been picked up by individuals and churches across the country.  With every new share, a new group of people see this, and it gets deeper and deeper into the fabric of the internet.  For a medium that has the life span that can often be measured in hours, the fact that this image is still growning 10 days later means something.  The share rate has slowed down to about 20 a day, and the current (direct) total is 1218.  Not a stunning number, unless you take into account that the message came from such a small voice.  Plus, if you look at total reach, (friends of friends)  a reasonable estimate is that over 500,000 people have seen this message.   Together we can make a difference.   

So, here is the challenge.  Show the bullies what we are made of.  Show them that there are people in this country that want a better way.  Don’t fight them.  Don’t try and use their weapons.  Walk the walk and let your life represents a better way.  Here is a link to Mark’s original image post:

The God Article – Wall Photos

Let’s give this thing a second wind.  SHARE this image and continue it’s spread.

Is this all we can do?  No.  In the end, it is just a simple message.  The idea is to join together a family of small voices and create a roar that can be heard above the distractions of our society.  Do we all have to agree on everything?  No.  If you don’t like our message, or are not comfortable with it, choose one of your own.   Identify your core values and express them.  Does this only apply to Christians?  No.  Most of the challenges our country is facing are secular in nature.  Our government has to serve all of it’s citizens.  The Radical are against this, and all of us have to stand together against them.   Remember that lies and deceit will show in the end.  As long as your message is based on facts and truth, it is a good message.  If you can check your goals for others against what you are actually doing yourself, you are on the right path.  Stand fast and show the world a better way.  Let me hear your small voice.

(A Bunch of our Memes are on Pinterest)

We finaly figured out how to turn comments on.  For now they require registration and are moderated.  We will work to make this easier in the future.

Peace

This blog is dedicated to Public Policy and a workable Secular Government. While all of our current writers are dedicated Christians, we normally write from a secular point of view, and do not find any conflict between this position and our Christianity. This post addresses both secular facts concerning the establishment of our country and it’s laws, and our Christian view of others that claim to be Christians and their actions.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are the product of the educated minds of great men that had first hand knowledge of the difficulties of establishing a free society in the face of adversity.

From the Declaration of Independence:

“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”

“He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions of the rights of the people.”

” He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance”

Based on long experience dealing with the crown and his “swarms” of representatives, our Founding Fathers knew all too well that both individuals and groups would attempt to exert undue influence on the Government that they were creating, and thus they wrote limitations into the Constitution in expectation of this fact. The system of checks and balances created by the Constitution shows that the architects of this document knew full well the negative side of Human Nature.

Evidence that this concern extended to religion is shown also. The Declaration of Independence, a document that declared the rights of men and the free right of men to govern themselves, mentions a higher power four times, indicating that our Founding Fathers had a strong belief in a higher power:

“they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

And yet when it came time to establish the framework for the government that would protect these rights, the only reference made to a higher power (or more properly the institutions made my man under the guise of such a power) was to limit it’s influence:

“Officers . . . shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

Shortly after the Constitution was created, a concern for the rights of individual, that had not been reconciled in the original document, led to the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. The first of these reads in part: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” So, having started off by declaring that men could not be discriminated against by having a religious test applied, or by being required to take a religious oath”, Congress has come back (with the ratification of the States) and declared that not only would there be no State Religion, but that no action of the State could limit any citizen’s right to practice whatever religion they should choose.

Our Founding Fathers had witnessed the place of the Church in England (as another manifestation of the power of the King, and wholly under his control), and did not want to create such a condition in their new Nation. Further, at the time of the American Revolution, the (Anglican) church was not wide spread throughout the colonies, and even so there was dissention between different factions and regions over the place of the church and it’s hierarchy in the makeup of the new Nation. Faced with the wide range of social, financial, and cultural differences among the members of the Continental Congress, the drafters of the Constitution knew full well that their new Government would have to be limited to being representative of all of it’s peoples and not dominated by the whim of any group. This concept is illustrated by quotes from two prominent Americans:

 
Thomas Jefferson -  

Believing that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their Legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church and State (Letter to the Danbury Baptists, 1802).

James Madison -

“Strongly guarded . . . is the separation between religion and government in the Constitution of the United States.”

Unfortunately, our recent history serves as a lesson in why our Founding Fathers were so strong and adamant about keeping religion and government separate. As various churches have felt the pressure of changes in society, and as these changes have caused questions, doubt and discord to arise among church members, church leaders, rather than work to reassure their flocks, answer their questions and allow their members to discover their own relationship to God, have lashed out at society in general and blamed their woes on others, further widening the divide between these churches and society, including their disaffected members.

As a result of this angst among some church leaders, we sit here in the middle of economic adversity, struggling with the very existence of our economy and thus our nation, locked in bitter debate about issues such as gay marriage, women’s reproductive rights, and a litany of other “Biblical” issues that not even the various churches agree on.

The “extreme right” of American religion throws around phrases like “family values”, “sanctity of marriage” and “American values” without definition and as a shield against discussion or argument, all in the name of hating their neighbors and blaming them for their own internal problems.

This campaign of nonsense has grown to the point where proponents of the right have gone beyond rhetoric into the realm of rewriting history and telling outright lies to bolster their position.

One of the key concepts of informed debate is intellectual integrity. There is no possibility of reasoned discourse between men and no hope of resolution of disagreements unless all parties involved are truthful and honest. There can be no rational debate where one party or the other is willing to fabricate facts and misstate history in order to further their agenda. The more prominent the debate and the more prominent the participants, the more important this issue becomes.

In the last week, Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, and recent candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, made the following comments in a recorded conference call (transcription):

“This separation of church and state, which has been driven by the secularists to remove those people of faith from the public arena, there is nothing farther from the truth. When you think about our founding fathers, they created this country, our Constitution, the foundation of America upon Judeo-Christian values, biblical values and this narrative that has been going on, particularly since the ’60s, that somehow or another there’s this steel wall, this iron curtain or whatever you want to call it between the church and people of faith and this separation of church and state is just false on its face. We have a biblical responsibility to be involved in the public arena proclaiming God’s truth. You know, are we going to get up and say ‘you are going to vote for X’? No, but we’re going to talk about Christian values. When you think about the issue of life and protecting life, it’s so important that we as Christians put legislation into place, that we elect women that defend life. The idea that we should be sent to the sidelines I would suggest to you is very driven by those who are not truthful, Satan runs across the world with his doubt and with his untruths and what have you and one of the untruths out there is driven—is that people of faith should not be involved in the public arena.”

 

“You think about what has gone here in the last few days around the world and never has there been a time that I think we need more spiritual courage, that we need more moral fiber if you will. The American family is under seige, traditional values are somehow exclusionary, a simple prayer in our public schools is the basis for these secular attacks; you think about this spiritual warfare that’s going on and [inaudible] going strong as President Obama and his cronies in Washington continue their efforts to remove any trace of religion from American life. It falls on us, we truly are Christian warriors, Christian soldiers, and for us as Americans to stand our ground and to firmly send a message to Washington that our nation is about more than just some secular laws. Activist courts, we see them chipping away from our values and remove so much that is very special and unique about the United States. I don’t want to get too far off course here but when you think about what’s going on in the Middle East and the president stood up in Cairo in 09 and either incredible naïve or very unschooled in the ways of these radical Islamists, and four American lives were lost in Libya. It is our founding fathers knew and understood the importance of the role of our Creator in public discourse and they didn’t shy away from referencing Him, using the values he brought and the message of his son Jesus Christ to build the system that we as a society have  enjoyed for more than 200 years. Securing that system, rebuilding our nation is what these 40 Days to Save America is really all about. It’s about saving our nation, it’s about preserving the values that make us special, about rejecting the concept that freedom of religion means freedom from religion, about turning away from this growing tide of secularism and atheism, the way they preach tolerance and diversity while they engage in oppression and bullying tactics.”

 

To say that these thoughts are ludicrous would be an understatement. For a man of such supposed stature to make a statement of this nature, one that any high school student with access to google could refute in short order, as an argument for the participation of religion in government, is ample proof that such participation is not only not warranted, but would be highly dangerous.

I have already covered the establishment of separation of church and state. There really is no doubt that it was written into the Constitution with great purpose and forethought. Moving forward from there, there is no proscription against “men of faith” from participating as individuals in our government. There IS a proscription against religious groups participating and there IS a proscription against religious issues working their ways into the laws of this nation.

In truth, there is as Governor Perry claims, “spiritual warfare” at work in America, and there is a growing emphasis on pushing right wing extremists away from the Government. The deception in his statement is that this “warfare” was initiated by these extremists, and the push is to halt their advance and remove them from where they have no place to be.

Because they cannot control the members of their faith with their wisdom and teachings, these non-followers of Jesus Christ have taken their battle to the public arena, using fear and hatred to poison our country against it’s own citizens, while clinging to an unjust feeling of superiority from a limited reading and application of the Old Testament.

One of the key concepts behind everything that is posted on this site is courtesy, tolerance, open minded discourse and the hope of changing America for the better. When church leaders undermine themselves by preaching hate instead of Love, I can rest assured that their duplicity will be their undoing. As long as Love is an option, it will win out. Christians of good faith must stay the course and show the world that there is a better way. In this case, when the threat to honesty and integrity is so blatant and obscene, I will step beyond these boundaries. It is difficult for me to find justification for many of the lies, half truths and deceptions that are put forward by people in the public arena in this country. Most of these can be ignored. When a man that a major political party was considering putting forward as their candidate for President utters such vile garbage it is an insult to Jesus Christ, this country, our Founding Fathers, and to every single citizen. That Rick Perry would not only hold such an opinion and state it in a public forum is ample evidence that he is either a moron or is so conditioned to pandering to the extreme that there is no limit to what he will say or do to advance his twisted agenda.

And, by the way, the “values that make us special” are freedom and tollerance for all citizens.

For a little story about Rick Perry and Prayer, CLICK HERE

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For adults of a certain age and persuasion, the phrase wax on – wax off has meaning on several levels. As a starting point, it is proof that gems of great meaning can come from just about anywhere. In the 1984 film, “The Karate Kid”, Pat Morita as the Asian Handyman, teaches Ralph Macchio, as the bullied kid, about life. I doubt that anybody went to see this movie looking for a succinct statement about a core principle, but there it was. When the kid went to the wise elder to learn how to defend himself, he was dismayed by the endless list of tasks he was given to complete. Paint the fence. Scrub the deck. Wax the cars. But because he stuck with these mundane tasks, at the end of them he learned that they had a purpose.

Things done properly and repeatedly become a part of us.

Unfortunately,

Things done wrong repeatedly become a part of us.

The kid learned that the motions of painting the fence, scrubbing the deck and waxing the cars, done properly and committed to muscle memory, would help him to reach his goal of defending himself. He also learned that a great deal of effort goes into learning something worth knowing and doing well.

Just like physical motions, thoughts, emotions and actions, good or bad, can become a part of us. Several years ago, we had a group of young men that had grown up together that were always saying mean things to each other. It got to the point that their habits were becoming disruptive to the larger group (and detrimental to the smaller group), so I pulled them aside and had a long talk with them about their behavior. After we had agreed that change was required, the boys turned to walk away. One of them made a comment of some sort about where they were going. Another snapped back with something rude and derogatory. The take away from this is that, even as he said it, the second boy knew that what he did was wrong. He had a horrified look on his face about what he had just done, but it proved my point to them perfectly. The majority of the things they said to each other was habit, not thought. They had trained themselves to be rude, ugly people.

By definition, our society is made up of millions of people, most of whom are vastly different from ourselves. Regardless of how much we are alike, the differences between people will always be considerable. This is true of somebody that grew up next door to you, and more so as distances, influences and background come in to play. Differences are not going away, so we have to find a way to deal with them.

Our Country seems to be filling up with groups of people who’s only reaction to people that are different from them is to be rude, (or worse) and the really distressing part of this is that they are doing this as a reflex action, and not as a result of thought. Everybody knows we have problems in America. The reflex action is to believe (without thought) that the answer is for everybody else to conform to our ideas for solutions. If they don’t conform to our ideas (which are so obviously right) they must be stupid.

It is very rare for groups of people, each of which thinks the other group is stupid, and says so out loud, to reach a consensus on anything.

There are a lot of lessons that we need to learn in order to fix our problems. To get started down that road, the first thing we need to do is be thoughtful about what we say.

Get out of the habit of being rude, thoughtless and closed minded.

Create new habits. Be polite. Listen. Think.

No matter what the problem, not matter what the cause, no matter who is to blame, we cannot have Positive Lasting Change unless it starts with us.

None of us is perfect, so let’s all agree to change.

Learn to be a better person. It may save us all.

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(Kickstarter Project Is Scheduled To Launch 9/12/2012)

To learn more about our concept and what my project is all about, use the navigation tabs above.

I also have a Facebook page.  Like us on Facebook and keep up with our daily Memes that will expand on our message.  (And will later be available on our shirts) 

Thanks for looking.  I hope that you will help me make a difference.

Andy -

One of our premises is that open, honest communication is neccessary for Positive Lasting Change.  By open, we mean that anybody that can politely state their position is welcome and needed. By honest, we mean that I will not lie to you, and if you point out a case where something I say is incorrect, I will acknowledge the error and correct it.  In return, I ask that you do not lie to me, and if someone disputes your facts, support them, correct them or retract them.  This does not imply that everyone will always agree, but that we should give it our best shot and do it politely.

My current “favorite” illustration of this issue is that somebody calling themselves the Tea Party (I don’t know if they are actually the Tea Party or not) is running a series of George Bush “Do you miss me now?” Memes that use statistics to imply that things were much better before Obama.  The problem is that 15 seconds on Google will show that the numbers that they are using are bad.  It is up to you to decide who you like better and who to vote for, but if somebody has to lie to you to  influence you, how much faith do you have in them?  The real rub is that the Democrats are doing the  same type of thing also.

Today, a Facebook user that came to our Facebook page from another page commented on this image:

The problem with writing anything, and especially pithy one liners, is that the writer knows what his subject matter is, but does not always properly convey that information to the reader.  The concept that was in my mind when I wrote this is that we have a constant stream of lawyers telling us that “my client has not done anything illegal”.  The reason that they can say this is that our laws are often written with such huge gaps in them that a good lawyer can drive a tank through the gap, often assisted by a bevy of highly paid consultants.  (Think Enron, AIG, Bear Sterns and the current Libor scandal).  Another image on this subject that we have not used yet is:

My overall point is that our society will happily throw a burglar or pot smoker in prison for a long term, but inside traders, prescription drug abusers  and much, much worse walk the streets and hold on to their ill gotten gains.  Our society seems to believe that if you live down the street or donate to the symphony you must be OK.  (not like those OTHER people).  We have to find a better way of influencing the actions of our citizens.  More laws will not do the trick.  Simpler laws might work. Public shame might also.

Now that you all have a length explanation of what I wrote, I hope that the original post makes more sense.  The problem is that, without the explanation, it could be seen as an exhortation to accost people on the street and lecture them about their morals.  This is neither what I intended  nor a good idea.

So,  Thomas A. Ollendorff, I thank you for your comment, I acknowledge that you are correct, and I thank you for helping to improve our message.  It is an important message and we need all the help we can get.

To show that our hearts are in the right place, here is one of the first images we posted: