Sanctity of Life
I am pro-life.
So what exactly does that mean? To put it bluntly, I believe that life is precious and we have an obligation to support life, to do all we can to reduce and eliminate abortions, and to respect life to the point that we do not create human forms of life for the sake of destroying it.
Since 1973, more than 48 million Americans have been killed via abortion. This isn't about having a choice. This is about giving unborn children the right to experience life and to make a difference in the world. If a woman or couple desires to not have a child, they have a choice to have the baby and raise it, or to give that baby up for adoption.
On the same issue, there are millions of women and men who suffer the consequences of having an abortion, knowing that after the procedure, they have killed a baby and will suffer emotional distress for the rest of their lives. We must provide them with care and support options to move them in the direction of healing.
We have an obligation to make the alternative to abortion - life - the only choice that makes sense.
Supporting the American Family
I believe that the sacrament of marriage should be reserved for the joining of one man and one woman in holy matrimony.
I do not condone gay marriage.
At the same time, I do not condone divorce. In a country where the divorce rate has been at or above 50% for more than two decades, I would like to see activist groups speak out as much against divorce as they do gay marriage. Divorce harms the American family structure, destroys the finances of one or both of the divorcees, and inflicts emotional harm on the children, and the divorcees involved. It is one thing when a divorce is granted due to abuse or neglect. But when people get divorced because they can't get along? Marriage is supposed to be for life, not for a tax break or for convenience.
What I'm saying here is that the pro-marriage folks need to be as vocal about anti-divorce as they are against gay-marriage.
Faith-Based Initiatives
I believe that the federal government has made the American church lazy.
That may sound harsh, but as a pastor, I stand by my beliefs. The federal government was never given a mandate to care for the poor, the orphaned, and the widowed. But as I recall from my Sunday School classes as a child, the church was given that mandate. As a seminarian, I know the church has forgotten that going into the world and preaching the Gospel message should create a Christian culture of helping those in need, feeding the poor, providing shelter for the homeless and standing up for justice.
The church culture in America is suffering because the full power of the Gospel message has been watered down. The power of salvation comes from a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The fruit of the transformation should be evident in the lives of every Christian and every church, working as one body, not hundreds of denominations honoring doctrines, but together accomplishing the works of the Gospel, shining a light into a dark world.
Our motto at my church this year is to Participate in 2008, to stop being pew potatoes that do nothing more than self-medicate themselves on Sundays, struggling to get by during the week. To actually take one's faith and make it real in their lives and the lives of others.
It doesn't matter if you're Jewish, Catholic or Baptist, Pentecostal or Methodist, Presbyterian or Non-Denominational. America needs our churches and places of worship to work together to fulfill the mandates of their calling. Feed the poor! Clothe and shelter the homeless! Care for the widowed! Adopt and support the orphaned! Stop talking about your faith and start doing something with it!
Nearly 80% of Americans claim to be Christians, but I dare say that the majority of these folks don't practice their faith. Where is the fruit?
If the church were to start doing what it is supposed to do, taxes would be lowered, federal and state programs would become healthier, church attendance would grow, and giving/tithing for these non-profits would increase.
We must provide our churches with resources and a platform for dialouge to start doing this work, returning credibility to the pulpit and the pew, and accomplishing more to tackle key issues on the social agenda that the federal government cannot fix or control.
On a personal note, I believe that religion is personal, but the practice of one's faith is not. Whether you are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or any of the other religions, or non-religions, of the world, one's faith becomes a part of who you are. To somehow perceive that faith is something you can turn on or off like a light switch is a mistake. Religion is something a person does to help grow or maintain a level faith something. Faith is what makes us better people, calls us to hope and love, and determines our reaction to situations both within and out of our control. Faith is part of who we are, and true faith will be shown in our everyday actions.
I'm a Christian. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I can't stop that relationship because I'm running for office. In fact, my relationship with Christ is one reason as to why I'm running for office in the first place. Because I have a mandate; we have a mandate. We have a job to do - to love one another. To care for the widowed and the sick. To help the needy and the poor. To set the captives free.
Let's get to work! Let's make a difference in our district, in our state, our country, our world. It's time to leave a legacy of hope, to lay a foundation of faith. It's time for change in 2008!