A New Year, A New Day, A New Revolution

Some on the left, like Francis Piven and Van Jones, are urging a revolution, a taking to the streets. Libertarians like Glenn Beck and John Stossel say it is time for an inward revolution.. a renewal of our personal commitment to restoring the great luster of this Great Nation.

JAMES had wrote earlier in the year that it was time for the revolution, not of guns and might, but of ourselves. It is time that we face the facts that the further our country has strayed from the fundamental values of the Judeo-Christian foundation of our Republic, the worse the troubles of the Nation have progressed.

The New Revolution will not be welcomed by all. In fact, it will be resisted by many. Those who have attempted to alter the basic theories of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness will fight the New Revolution each and every step of the way. A return to the values and morals as defined in the Bible will anger many, but far more, the majority will welcome them.

May each of us embrace the concept that the only saving grace to this nation will be for each of us to look within and decide if we are willing to accept the challenge to be this Nation’s, this moment’s William Wilberforce!

@ National Prayer Breakfast, Obama mentions his “faith”……and “Citizenship”

     The President, as we have seen, is very “thin-skinned”. He does not take well to criticism (He won’t do FOX because they aren’t nice to him), and he does not like being questioned (I won, you lost). Yesterday in his choreographed appearance with the Democrats, he urged us to stop watching TV (cable news like FOX or CNN we suppose) and to stop blogging! (oops).

     Today, he sopke at the National Prayer Breakfast. In his humbleness, he commented that he is not perfect, a point that he says Michelle can testify to. He then went on to say that it is one thing to question his policies, but to question his Faith…………..pause…………….”or my Citizenship” is wrong. The crowd laughed, but it was another example of his contempt for those who question him.

     No, his faith should not be questioned, except that he has shown an allegiance to those of the Muslim faith, moreso than any other. His “faith” that he shared with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a faith that intermixes God with the angry rhetoric that spewed from Wright’s pulpit, and he embraced that faith for 20 years. Going back to the Muslim ties, I do not believe that Obama is a Muslim, but when John Kennedy was running for President, his Catholic faith was questioned because many thought he could become a puppet for the Vatican. That would be the concern emanating from Obama’s allegience to the Muslims. (And his perpetual bowing is not helping).

     The fact that he brouight up his citizenship himself acknowledges, in my opinion, that he knows that he has handled this situation improperly. He must realize that the lack of transparency on that one issue alone has fostered the continuing and growing questioning. I have heard his citizenship mentioned on “Face the Nation” and “Meet the Press” several times recently, by his leftist surrogates, said with sarcasm to an extent, but said in such a manner is to insinuate that even some diehards like Donna Brazile think the issue is not going away.

     I did appreciate his reference to Britain’s Sir William Wilberforce, who fought the system to abolish the English slave trade. I have asked repeatedly, who will be our “Willliam Wilberforce”?

UPDATE: The video of his “civility” remarks has appeared on YouTube:

Where to From Here: Leading the Charge, or on the Sidelines?; Knowledge is Power, but what will we do with that Power?

      The economy, the election of Barack Obama, and the ever-present “Clear and Present Danger” that his policies are and will have on our lives has begun to have the grassroots rumblings throughout our great Nation. Rick Santlli’s live TV rant regarding the massive spending spree of the liberals in Washington has ignited the populace, without regard to political affiliation.

     I recently told my wife that we know that “Knowledge is Power, but only if we use that Knowledge“

     So with the knowledge that we have about our President and his incompetent appointees, with the knowledge that our elected officials are continuing to put their personal and political gain ahead of the “best interests” of the country (i.e- not READING LEGISLATION), where do we go from here?

      We must understand what is at stake here. The issues that are impacting the America our grandparents left us go to our core values:

                               Family Values, with attacks on the sanctity of marriage, government intrusion into parental rights (such as education decisions), and challenges to our Freedom of Religion and our Freedom of Speech.

                               Immigration concerns and their impact on our economy and society.

                               Isolationism versus global leadership

                               The disregard that our leaders have for our Constitution, and the manner in which the new administration is seeking to move us toward socialism, the use of sharia law, and the outspoken denegratrion of our American society.

      Where do we go from here? The national patriotic movements of “Tea Parties” that have occurred across the country demonstrate that the American people are aware of what is going on and that they know there must be a change. But, the real question is “Do we have the COURAGE to face the issues, to face our leaders and DEMAND the changes that are necessary?” This country was built upon a revolution from the tyranny of the monarchy in England, by LEADERS with the COURAGE to stand up for their beliefs. They were LEADERS willing to lead the charge, to stand on their PRINCIPLES, to not fear the challenge.

        Our country’s direction must change now, and the ultimate question is will you LEAD the CHARGE, or sit on the SIDELINES!

Who Shall be our “Wilberforce”?

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE (1759-1833) was a British politician and philanthropist who served in Parliament from 1780 to 1812. As a child, he was a close friend of Sir William Pitt, who would later become the Prime Minister. What makes the story, the biography of William Wilberforce is the nature and demeanor in which this man chose to pursue his political career.

In 1784, after just four years in the Parliament, Wilberforce became an independent, and continued to hold his Parliamentary seat. It was at this time, during a trip through Europe, that the young Wilberforce underwent a spiritual conversion that lead him to more deeply and intuitively examine his life, his past, his future, and his commitment to God.

It was in this spiritual conversion that Wilberforce saw that there were injustices that were not being addressed, primarily, the slave trade that the British empire was actively involved in. He began to meet, firstly secretly, with leaders in the anti-slavery movement. He began submitting legislation toward the abolishment of the slave trade, which, understandably for the era, was met with great opposition.

Year after year, Wilberforce faced the challenges, and the ridicule, pursuing and championing a cause that the majority would not embrace. His close friend and confidante, Sir William Pitt, was also an abolishinist, who himself sought to aid Wilberforce’s cause. The eventual outcome was the abolishment of the slave trade.

What makes the William Wilberforce story somewhat unique was that, at the time of his spiritual conversion, in an era where one’s religious beliefs were private in nature when publicized, would make one subject to ridicule, Wilberforce first questioned his role in public life, and then, embracing the challenge, would not permit his religious beliefs to diminish his belief in his legislative goals. His politics had to embrace his religious convictions, and vice-versa. Subject often to the contempt of his peers, to the point that he became ill, Wilberforce was relentless in the support of the various causes he championed.

To understand Wilberforce’s impact on moral reform, abolishment of slavery, prison reform, and other social causes of the day, the movie Amazing Grace provides a glance into Wilberforce’s struggle to balance his religious ideals with his social goals. (Note: The movie was released in 2007 to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the 1807 act to abolish slavery).

So, the question for today, for those who want to be our leaders, is, who will be our Wilberforce?

While our founding fathers, like Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, may have pursued their goals with idealism and passion of Wilberforce, the “business” of politics has long changed that in America. It is time that we have a leader come forward who does not “flip-flop” on the issues, a leader who is not afraid to face the controversy head on, a leader who accepts the challenges but is unfaltering on his principles and values. The challenge before us is who before us is our Wilberforce? Who can step up to accept the challenge of our economy, our decaying moral values as a country as a whole, our fuel crisis, our war on terrorism, and our place in the global marketplace, and face this challenge without compromising his principles and values?

With all truth and honesty, I am not sure that either John McCain or Barack Obama could come even remotely close to being William Wilberforce, and I’m not sure who presently would be able to meet that challenge. It is time that we begin to demand this standard of our leaders.