This is the first part of something I've been thinking about writing for a long time. It's a series of pieces on my basic political philosophy. The reason for it is that many times I find that people are confused by my arguments. They want to pigeonhole me as something, and I profess a belief or stand on an issue that goes against what they think I am.
In a nutshell, I believe there are certain basic things that everybody wants, whether they're conservative or liberal, democrat or republican, red or blue, old, young, or whatever. These things are:
Peace
Prosperity
Equality
Freedom
Security
Liberals and Conservatives, and so on blah blah blah, all want these for themselves and promise them for society as a whole. The disagreements come from differing views on how to achieve them. I plan to write a piece about each of these things, and what I think it will take to achieve them on a political level. But politics is only a small part of life, and to really understand why I believe what I believe, you have to understand the ground on which I stand to get the view I see from here.
I was about eight years old when I learned that my parents had me baptized at the United Protestant Church in Dorchester, NH. This made me curious as to what that meant. Not that we ever went to church very often, but my mother had an interest and occasionally, sporadically, we went. Thinking back, I learned more about Roman armor than about God, but like I said we didn't go very often. My father had a much more skeptical view of religion, but did not completely dismiss it. He just wasn't scared to ask questions about it that might make a true believer uncomfortable.
So I started asking my friends whose families went to church what they knew about Christianity. And, I have to admit, I wasn't overly impressed with what they had to say. It seemed to me a bit simplistic. So I began looking at other religions and systems of beliefs. By the time I joined the Navy at 17, I was somewhere between Buddhist, Athiest, and Communist. From there I explored the realm of the supernatural through yoga, meditation, astrology, and drugs. Followed a lot of gurus, didn't get much in the way of results.
In my late twenties I read a novel that made quite an impression on me. I don't remember the name of the book or the author, but it was about a young woman who was on a similar quest to mine. She hooked up with a spirit who guided her on her spiritual quest. She ran afoul of some other spiritist/magical types, and was surprised and pleased to learn that her spirit guide could successfully defend her against them.
I had experienced limited communication with various spirits by this time, and was a firm believer in the existence of supernatural beings. One of my major goals was to have a positive influence on the world, and I knew that any effort on my behalf in this direction would put me on the wrong side of some powerful people. So I knew I needed to hook up with as powerful a spirit as possible if I was going to be able to do any good.
You see, when I began my search I already had a goal in life. I wanted to be President. I had a number of other sub-goals, like rock star and/or race car driver/designer, or maybe journalism, but these would lead into a political career and eventually the Presidency. Hey, if you're gonna dream, might as well dream big.
After a while, like when I got to about 20 or so, I realized that Presidents come and go, but artists are forever. It is arguable that Elvis or the Beatles had more influence on the world than Richard Nixon or John Kennedy. After all, the most a President could serve was eight years, but Elvis is still capable of a hit, and he's been dead for more than thirty years. So I started playing guitar and writing music.
But I needed to have the right message, and that led me through the world of philosophy and religion, and up to the point of seeking out a powerful spirit guide. If possible, the most powerful one of all.
And I found him! In a most surprising place as well. By this time I was 28 and going to college in Sacramento, California. I met up with a few people who professed to be born-again Christians, and found them quite amusing. One in particular, a Davis California native named Rick Nixon (perfect guy to meet when you're a political junkie) was a classmate in a Theater Arts class. Our class went on a field trip to San Francisco to see Shakespeare's "A Midsummer's Night Dream." We got there early, so he and I went off to get some lunch. When we got it, he bowed his head to pray, and I thought, "Oh, boy."
I was merciless, challenging ever preconception he might have had and exposing my own prejudices. And he was not able to answer all my challenges. But neither did I shake his faith. What he stood on was simple; he knew Jesus Christ, and nothing I could say or do could take that away.
So I started looking into Christianity from a new perspective, and found myself being challenged. It was not, as I had surmised in the third grade, a simplistic bunch of rules. It was a personal relationship with an entity known as Jesus Christ. If what I read was true, this was that 'most powerful spirit' I had been looking for. Only one problem; he was unwilling to simply be a guide and help me with my mission. If I was going to have a relationship with him, he would have to be in charge.
It made me think about what I'd learned about the supernatural. The spirits I sought connection with lived on a plane that I could not access. I had been convinced that I was the one in control, but they were moving and acting outside of my knowledge. It was entirely possible that they were manipulating me, and letting me believe what I wanted to believe. At least Jesus was being honest; his way, or the highway. If I was going to be with him, he would be the boss.
At this point, I had a choice. I could walk away, knowing that if I ever came up against him I was guaranteed to lose. Or, I could give up everything I had ever wanted and follow him. It was a choice that was no choice at all. I asked him to take over my life. And he did.
And it's not exactly been easy. I'm now 56, which means twice the age I was when I made my decision. And the main thing I know is that I still have a lot to learn, and a long way to go. My job here on this planet is to be the best example of a Christian that I can be, and I am sorry to say I've been a damned poor excuse for one too many times. But there's nothing else worth doing in this life. I'd rather be a simple, unknown, working class Christian than a rock star, a race car driver, or the President.
So anyway, this is my perspective on life. Any system of government is only as good as the people living in it. To make the country, and the world, a better place, I have to be a better person. For that, I need enough power to overcome my worst impulses, and enough wisdom to know the way to go. Who better to give control of my life to than God himself?
It comes down to this; God created everything and everybody, and loves his creation without reservation. So, he is all-knowing and completely trustworthy. Jesus Christ is the physical embodiment of God, and lived a human life to reveal himself to humanity. The Bible is the most complete and trustworthy expression of his mind, written by a long line of people who he inspired and led. And I trust this because I am, for lack of a better term, possessed by and in communication with the spirit - commonly known as the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost - of God.
And no, he doesn't operate me like some invisible puppeteer. He doesn't do that with anybody, and never has. Which is why there is so much evil in the world, because he doesn't go where he's not invited. The significance of this to my political beliefs is that I prefer a political structure that allows me to act on God's behalf to affect the world in a positive way, along with other Christians.
And one other thing; every religion, Christian and otherwise, has built into it a concept of heaven; a perfect place, where it is possible to live a perfect life. This heaven usually includes the things I named above; peace, prosperity, equality, freedom, and security. Every nation on earth has been an attempt at creating something close to that heaven. It is my belief, as an amateur student of history, that 21st-century America is the closest there's ever been to that heaven. With all its flaws, all the corruption, all the uncertainty, have there really ever been a people as blessed as the average American?
So this series, The View From Here, will be my ideas on how this country is like, and can be more like, a perfect place where a loving God leads His people in His perfect will. Hope you like.
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