"In the beginning..." In our personal lives it
is a time of new resolutions, for the calendar the new decade, for
the economy hopeful new expansion, and for Crosswinds a new endeavor.
In keeping with our mission statement of informing, instructing and
influencing our culture, Crosswinds Foundation is starting the New
Year with a new addition: CapStand Council for Policy and Ethics.
Or new organization will be reporting from Washington DC, the
very heart of political influence in our American Republic.
What you need yet another report from DC? Frankly, most
people try to avoid thinking about Washington DC. A study I've often
heard quoted says the average American pays only 7 minutes attention
a week to politics. I'm sure that in recent years most of us considered
even that much to be a waste of time.
However, 2010 proved to be a year unlike most others.
Among continuing wars, terrorist strikes, waning economies,
constitutional crisis, political maneuverings, and the rise of the
Tea Party to fight the MoveOn faction of the body politic; the
realities of our culture's continuing conflict came crashing into our
homes almost daily. In fact, after all we've been through last year,
I wouldn't be surprised if the study I mentioned has to be modified
to say Americans think about politics 9 to 12 minutes a week. Should
you be giving more time to this?
Without question, what goes on in Washington is highly
influential to our culture. Yes, truth be known, Hollywood, the music
industry, fashion, and the elite institutions of America are upstream
from Washington in their influence. However, much of what promotes
and enables, or empowers, these influences to take hold are the laws
that are being contemplated, created, elevated, debated, and
manipulated in our nation's capital. More attention to political
policy and legislation is certainly warranted.
Many folks are aware of the clash of civilizations
present in the world. Today, it is too often couched as a fight
between radical Islam and Christianity. That is a gross oversimplification.
For, besides the fight of radical Islamists with outsiders, Islam is
also at war with itself when one views the discord among several
factions within its faith. Christianity is not without its own
internal problems; its woes are almost too vast to enumerate.
Post-Christian Europe seems to be in an endless state of
neurotic flux with what it should do with itself, with others, and
with its future. Post-communist Europe and Russia are in a search for
any foundation upon which to build their lives. And Asia's billions,
striving to rise from poverty and deprivation, struggle with
conflicting philosophies of economics, religion, society, and
politics.
In light of the global situation, on occasion we'll be
writing with an eye toward an international perspective; however, for
the most part our focus will be keeping you informed about domestic
matters. Because that is where your life is lived. And frankly, it is
in that arena where we can each have our greatest influence on
America's culture.
I'm serious when I say that we can influence culture.
Yes I mean ordinary American citizens. That means you, it means me,
your neighbor down the street, the person sitting on the pew in front
of you or behind you, and the guy or gal you work with.
Just think of two examples that have occurred in the
last 12 years. From the Left side politically: two retirees in
California came up with an idea after hearing a talking head on TV
say that it was time to move on from the Clinton sex scandal. Their
idea was a website and an organization now numbering in the millions
named MoveOn. The name derives from that commentator's remark that,
"It was just sex; we should all just forget it and move
on." More than anything else it is MoveOn that nominated, financed,
worked the long hours and elected Barack Obama President of the
United States.
The second example also spawned from a TV talk show.
While reporting from the floor of Chicago Board of Trade a reporter
for CNBC, Rick Santelli ranted that we all ought to have another
"tea party". From that very comment some people e-mailing
back and forth to one another decided that indeed they would have
exactly that, a tea party. But a funny thing happened on the way to
the tea party. An average dad, Mark Meckler, from Sacramento somehow
wound up e-mailing Jenny Beth Martin a stay-at-home mom in Atlanta
Georgia. Their e-mail correspondence spawned additional e-mails. Not
dozens, hundreds, or thousands, but as with MoveOn.org, tens and
hundreds of thousands of e-mails in a matter of just a few months.
Scores of tea party gatherings at tax time hosting tens of thousands
of taxpaying citizens resulted. We now know the further results of
the Tea Party - Nancy Pelosi is no longer Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
MoveOn and the Tea Party are just two among many groups
seeking to influence the established order in Washington. They come
in various sizes, agendas, abilities, and passions to influence the
policymakers in our capital. What we will endeavor to do is to
examine and explain methods, manners, and meanings, along with the
import for the average American.
Some forty years ago I first started volunteering in
political campaigns. I was bitten by the political bug and have never
been able to fight off the effects of the virus. While the average
American thinks about politics 7 minutes a week, in my lifetime I've
used up a few millennia of those 7 minute weeks. That brings with it
some good things and some bad. While it can bring experience and
perspective to my view, I must also fight off cynicism. I shall
endeavor in my reporting to keep my eyes open and bring to you a
healthy skepticism of both the Left and the Right, when warranted.
I believe that these "culture" winds, whether
blowing at gale force or as a gentle breeze, can be successfully
navigated and we can remain true to our course. I know it can be done
having seen many examples of it during my years of volunteering and
serving in the political arena.
Life's foundational principles and the application of
them to our own personal lives and those around us is CapStand's
stake in this endeavor. We will strive to inform and instruct on
personal righteousness and scriptural foundations not political
correctness, or fad. But beyond that we intend to challenge you to
engage in and influence our society and its culture - to take a stand
for what you believe. Our very civilization, as we have known it,
faces stresses and structural changes that America has not faced in
over 100 years; Western civilization for several centuries.
Please understand: we are not soliciting your vote
for any candidate or party! We are unashamedly hoping to challenge
you to engage with us in understanding the principal foundations of our
national heritage, the covenants upon which it was built, and in the
crucial restoration that must soon be undertaken.
So while Democrats in the Senate plot and scheme,
Republicans in the House rant and rage, President Obama tries to
lead, lobbyists peddle their wares, interest groups protest in the
streets, bureaucrats seek to broaden their power and taxpayers simply
try to survive, CapStand will help provide some understanding and
comprehension of what it means, why it's happening, and what its impact
will be.
We pray doing so will prove to be a valuable use of your
7 minutes a week. And, so it begins.
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