I was recently asked how someone could get started in politics. The implication was that I am "experienced at it". The truth is that like anyone else my wife and I are feeling our way out in how to get involved. Hopefully we are doing some things right, but primarily we are just
trying to do something for good government. I would say the best
thing to do is to just do something. Write a letter to a congressman,
support a candidate, read a book about economics, etc. Or even
consider running for office! My commitment to being involved
politically sometimes comes in spurts. I often say a good day is a
day when I didn't read the news. Ignorance truly is bliss. Yet if I
did not strive to do my duty, I think the words of Moroni would
convict me. "Can you think to sit upon your thrones in
thoughtless stupor, while your enemies are spreading the work of
death around you? ....And now my beloved brethren--for ye ought to be
beloved; yea, and ye ought to have stirred yourselves more diligently
for the welfare and the freedom of this people..." (Alma
60:7,10)
The
first thing to do in my mind is to study principles of good and
righteous government so we can develop skills to discern truth and
develop a foundation to frame our thoughts. Unfortunately debate on
national issues often resides in the shallow soil of policies and
procedures and rarely seems to get into the bedrock of questions
regarding what principles should guide us. I have found the John
Birch Society to be a good resource in studying principles of
government. JBS.org has a lot of resources and there are probably
some JBS chapters in Oklahoma City as well as all over the nation. I
got my political start and love of libertarianism through connections
to the JBS as a youth. On the level of studying and learning
principles by which to guide our political actions, I firmly believe
we need to liberate ourselves of the mental box created by major
media. One of the most insidious impacts of major media in my mind is
to create the box that constrains national dialogue. As the saying
goes, we need to think outside of the box. The same goes for
political parties, which tend to constrain debate to false options.
We need to look beyond political parties for guidance and knowledge.
The
second thing to do is to cry, because we have departed so far as a
nation from the great gift of liberty God and our forebearers gave
us. But when you're done crying, then all we can do is get to work
and do the best you know how, and let God take care of the rest. Like
President Monson says, "Do your duty, that is best, leave unto
the Lord the rest".
We
have found a lot of meaning in campaigning for Ron Paul, because we
feel he truly stands for liberty and our Constitution. This year we
have also spent a great deal of time campaigning for a local
candidate for state representative, because he is an honest, upright,
and God-fearing man. D&C 98:10 says, "Wherefore, honest men
and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise
men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than
these cometh of evil." We have recognized that by the time a
general election is upon us, the choices of candidates are
essentially already fixed. To have more influence, we have decided we
have to get involved in the political process a long time before the
ballot box. We have also joined the central committee for a political
party in our county so we can try to have more influence on the
political process in our area. While we do not like political parties
and wish they did not exist, we have finally decided that the reality
of the moment is that two political parties have a stranglehold on
the political process in our nation, and if we are going to have much
beyond superficial influence politically, we are going to to have to
do so via a political party. We believe the two major political
parties in this nation are highly corrupt on the national level and
both are sending our nation careening into an abyss. We actually see
little difference in the FRUITS of either political party on the
national level in spite of the incessant rhetoric regarding
differences in philosophies.
Ultimately
we believe and know that God controls the destiny of nations. Ben
Franklin said that a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without God's
notice, and surely an empire cannot rise without His aid. So, perhaps
the best "political" tool we have is prayer. We can implore
the Lord to raise up righteous men and women to govern us. And of
course we can learn righteous principles so we can govern ourselves
well, as Joseph Smith taught. The better men govern themselves, the
less cry there is to have someone else govern them. Taking
responsibilities for the natural consequences in our own lives is
part of this, rather than trying to cast the burden on society, i.e.
the government.
My personal conviction is that the Lord will cause a separation
among the people of this nation and of the world. An example (there
are more) of a scripture prophesying of this event is 2 Nephi 30:10,
which states, "For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God
shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he
destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if it so be that he
must destroy the wicked by fire". I don't believe that this
refers to a division along partisan lines or anything like that, but
rather between those who have God as their king and those who don't.
The Lord repeatedly told the Nephites and Lamanites that if they were
righteous and had Christ for their King, they would prosper in the
land, but if not, they would be destroyed. I personally believe our
nation is ripening in iniquity and ripening for destruction for many
reasons. However, I do not believe it will be a wholesale destruction
but rather a division as prophesied in Nephi, because there are so
many who serve and honor God. Among the people I associate with both
in and out of the Church, I feel I have seen a growing dedication to
God. At the same time wickedness casts a lowering shadow over the
land, the brightness of truth and righteousness is also growing in
intensity. However, these cannot long coexist, and in a coming day
the darkness will be eradicated. I say all of this in relation to
politics for two reasons. First, I believe God stands for our
constitutional government and the liberty of mankind, and I believe
when we reject the Constitution and principles of liberty in favor of
alternate ideas, we are rejecting God's principles. Second, I believe
that no matter how hard we work for liberty or other principles of
godliness, it is ultimately God who will bring the victory. Similar
to Gideon in the Old Testament, it is not the strength, wisdom, or
efforts of man that will allow liberty to prevail, but rather The
grace and goodness and power of God magnifying the efforts of the
those who fight for liberty.
I
believe in optimism. There have always been trying times on the
earth. We cannot get discouraged about what we cannot control. We can
only do our best to be our best and to influence others to be their
best, and then be happy! The Lord has a plan for His children and for
this earth, and man cannot destroy His plan. Men who do not follow
God's plan can only destroy themselves. Cecil Demille, producer of
the movie, "The Ten Commandments", stated in a commencement
address at BYU in 1957:
"Some,
who do not know either the Bible or human nature, may see in the orgy
of the Golden Calf only a riot of Hollywood's imaginations--but those
who have eyes to see will see in it the awful lesson of how quickly a
nation or a man can fall, without God's law. If man will not be ruled
by God, he will certainly be ruled by tyrants- and there is no
tyranny more imperious or more devastating than man's own
selfishness, without law. We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We
can only break ourselves against them- or else, by keeping them, rise
through them to the fulness of freedom under God. God means us to be
free. With divine daring, He gave us the power of choice."
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