Once again America is living thru times that are testing man’s souls and sadly today many are losing. The agenda of hate, jealousy, anger and rage is being spread and promoted by politicians and the media which is leading our hearts to being filled with hate for our fellow man and many play along instead of seeking ways to stop it. This results in many seeking us to join to a collective and conform to a view where we all must agree and if you don’t you are considered an enemy.
Sadly today many have allowed themselves to be divided like never before, along countless different lines including who you are voting for President, party lines, class, race, age, sexuality, religion, gender to name just a few. This has caused many to consider quitting and giving up on America, to stop writing, podcasting, doing videos sharing a message and has led to many people going silent on social media.
This year has been filled with many highs and lows for me personally. It seems today logic, reason and principles have been abandoned and replaced by emotions and the challenge of always winning. I look at American politics today and the most popular argument I see in the race for the White House is not only shared by both the left and right, but it is totally devoid of principles. That argument is you have to vote for X, to stop the other person gaining power.
I honestly don’t have a horse in the political race and have not this whole cycle. My job is to raise issues based on principles and try help people find where they stand on the issues. Sadly when it comes to elections in 2016, I have come across more people who don’t want people to ask principled questions, they seek a glorified cheer leader for the candidate they like.
So recently I took a break from my podcast, writing and the projects I am involved in and considered quitting. I sat down and wrote some very tough and principled questions for myself and I want to share them with you (along with my answers but these will be different for everyone) in the hope you will help you find your path in life because I have a hard time believing I am the only person who has considered walking away over the last couple of weeks and months and dreamt of an “easy” life.
1 – What have I to gain by quitting?Will my life get better in any meaningful way?
I thought long and hard about this because I believe God leads us on paths and we are to learn a lesson, a skill or make a contact etc. and then the road leads onto a new path. My answer came to me straight away and only got stronger the more I thought about it.
Whether I like it or not, this is my life. I am not the type of person who likes going out and socializing with others on a regular basis, not the type to sit around watching lots of movies or sports and defo not the type to settle down, get married and have 2.4 kids. I also realized once again how much I love speaking and doing radio and podcasts as sharing the history of America is one of the greatest thrills in my life.
2 – What are my priorities in my life?
If you only answer one question on this list, please take some time to sit down and really think about this and as you list your priorities out, think about the amount of time you spend on each. It helped me reorganize my life mentally and to put focus in different places. However after review of this list I found one thing missing that I felt was striking…. Politics was no-where on the list and yet I spend so much time every week discussing it and talking to people about it online. Imagine what I could do with that time if I stopped?
If you have completed the first two questions and you are thinking of quitting, please think about these couple of questions:
A. Have you done everything you could do to help?
B. Do you think you can change things in the future and have a different outcome?
C. Can you channel your energy elsewhere? Could you do more videos and less writing? Could you focus on a different topic like the Constitution rather than political elections? Or could you stop writing about politics and start writing books to share principles to try change the culture?
3 – Do I have a responsibility to stand and do what is right?
Everyone has different upbringings, experiences and emotions so therefore they will have different responsibilities in life. As someone who has lived their whole life under tyranny in the form of a socialist government, I feel a great responsibility to America and your wonderful people. I feel it because I know and love you a lot of you personally. However I have also studied a lot about your history and visited countless times so I understand your freedoms and truly believe you are the most exceptional nation on Earth. Therefore I have a responsibility in this era of big government progressives and statist to point out their flaws (thru principle, logic and having lived their failures) and work to ensure America remains that beacon of hope and light for the world.
4 – If you not you, WHO? If not now, WHEN?
This is one of my favorite Reagan quotes and it sums up exactly how I feel. I see folks like Bernie Saunders talk about Nordic style Socialism gaining creditability in America today. I see folks on both left and some on the right speak like America sucks and love to point the finger of blame at America as they call you greedy and say your Foreign Policy is imperialistic.
Has America made mistakes? Sure, but show me a nation that has not. Also in the context of the world, no nation (past or present) or collection of nations has done more for the world than America.
My Conclusion
Personally I asked myself the questions above and I have made a decision to stop talking about politics because honestly it’s not my passion nor my priority and over the many years of doing this I don’t think I have accomplished anything meaningful. I have decided I am going to spend all my available time breaking down stories from Scriptures, from America’s amazing and vast history and try break down every principle of freedom I can because I believe I have a responsibility to do so and also because those great words in your Declaration of Independence mean more to me today than ever before – We pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our SACRED honor.
What is your path? I would love to hear your thoughts below or get in touch via social media @FreedomDisciple. If you enjoyed this article, I spent my podcast last weekend going into this in more detail and you can check it out for free on SoundCloud and ITunes by clicking here. God Bless you. JD