THROUGH YOU THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CAN REGAIN IT'S ROLE AS THE PARTY OF HOPE!
by
Jim Finfera
Thanks for coming to this political candidate workshop. Even if you may not currently be a candidate, your attendance shows your willingness to consider the prospect of running for office. Our party used to be a party of hope. You could very well be key to our party regaining its role of being a party of hope ……if you are committed to be a principled center leader. Let me explain!
Some you younger members of our party may not remember the days of the early sixties. We old timers still do….like it was yesterday. The period was called Camelot. Our country had a young president, John F. Kennedy, whose favorite play and song was King Arthur’s Camelot. King Author had this hope of making the world a better place as did this young president. We got to know this man thru a book he wrote as a young senator titled “Profiles in Courage”. He wrote about political leaders of the past who chose to do what was right even if it caused them their own political destruction. He wrote about principled centered people, and when he became president, lived the book he wrote. We, the public, loved the man because we could see this ingrained goodness in him. This brave man, emulating the people he wrote about, took up the civil rights cause, which was, by no means, popular then, as the cause for the unborn is not necessary popular today. In those days, like this young president, the Democratic Party was a party of hope. What happened to our party? Some would say it lost its luster with the death of this man. No, I propose it is something more than that. In those days it was a party of character, a party of principles. It somehow lost its way. It, like the young president and the people he wrote about, used to be principled centered. It used to be at peace within itself. It no longer is. It used to be a party of hope generating the greatest hope of the ages: stability, “world peace”. Why not now? The people can see it! That is why they are no longer following us. We recognized the rights of the woman but threw out the rights of the unborn and with that, hope.
Both now and as in the time of Camelot the average American is preoccupied with a very uncertain and unstable climate, they are hungry for world peace and hunger for principled leaders and party. If our party wants to be touch with the American voters then we must be principle centered and generate principled centered leaders which are society’s hope for stability and world peace. We must be truly pro-life and not abandon the unborn. If we, as democrats, are to bring stability back to this great country of ours or even the world as a whole, then, again, we must be completely pro-life. Pro-life is the respect for the dignity of the human being from the moment he/she is defenselessly within the mother’s womb till the moment of death regardless of the gender, social standing, health, race, nationality, religious beliefs of lack there of, etc. Our party is good at much of these but has abandoned the unborn.
Sounds kind of way out doesn’t it; equating stability (world peace) to protecting the unborn. Let me explain. I am not in the least original in drawing this conclusion. I am going draw from two great thinkers and humanitarians, Confucius and Stephen Covey.
5000 years ago, as today, war and instability plagues the landscape. Then and now it played on the minds of just about everyone. People hungered for the end of war, for world peace. One day an individual who was tired of war and was hungry for Peace and all the benefits asked Confucius, “Can a person ever stop war?” Confucius answered in only one word, “Yes!” He or she asked, “Do you know how?” Again a one word answer, “Yes”. The logical request followed, “Please tell us oh enlightened one!” Confucius’ answer is as valid then as now, “If you truly want to stop war, first and fore most you must be at peace with yourself. Then and only then, you must bring peace to your immediate family, then your community (i.e. social, worship, political, work, etc.), then city, then country, and eventually the world.” That’s it in a nut shell. So simple yet so elusive!
“Well! What does that have to do with pro-life and the rights of the unborn?” is the logical question you may ask. The answer to that question lies with our exploring and understanding the meaning of “being at peace with ourselves”. Stephen Covey in his book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” gives us the tools in getting a grasp of this.
He tells us it all depends on our center: That area where we validate ourselves…That area where our personal values come from. For example, if our center is wealth, then we are validated by the amount of wealth we possess. If it is “power” then we are validated by our control or influence on others or events. If it is “to win an election” then we do whatever it takes to win the election. Whatever our center is, it is the most important thing for us. The list can go on and on. Just think. If we lose that center, like our wealth, reputation, power, winning the election, we can be devastated. Any of these things which we may base our center on are elusive. They are like shifting sand. No stability. Our center is how we conduct ourselves. Whatever our center is, we will do anything within our power to achieve the product of our center. If it is wealth, we will do anything within our power to accumulate wealth. Let’s say our center is our intellect or knowledge. That sounds good doesn’t it? But! what if we suffer a stroke that robs us of our intellect. Then, again, we are devastated. I know of a very sad story of a very brilliant individual who suffered a stroke which removed his keen intellect. This person was so devastated that he killed himself. So sad! What if our center was winning an election? That sounds good also. But if that is how we validate ourselves individually or as a party, then we would do anything to win that election, even if it is abandoning the rights of the unborn or telling the voter what we feel they want to hear to get their vote. We become Machiavellian, where the end justifies the means. Is there a better way? If so, then what should our center be based on? Covey’s suggestion was our center should be based on principles.
Why principles? Before we can give the why we have to explain what they are. Principles are laws of human interaction. Laws of human interaction (principles) are like the laws of physics. Both are changeless. Our understanding of laws may change but the laws themselves never change. Last century, our society has made great technological advances (such as harnessing nuclear energy, putting people on the moon, developing the internet, the expanding power of the computer, etc.) because we understood and mastered the laws of physics. However, we have also murdered over 200 million of our own (not even factoring in abortion) because we did not understand or master the laws of human interaction. One more thing about principles! Covey tells us they are inherently apparent to every one of us. They are written into our interior being. Because of this, people naturally gravitate to principled centered leaders like John F. Kennedy and those he wrote about and even emulate them. If an engineer designs an airplane without considering the laws of physics he would most likely run into very serious problem with that vehicle which could very well be fatal to the pilot, crew, etc. The same applies with principles. If we do not consider principles in our human interaction at either the personal level or organizational level, the consequences could be equally hazardous. That is why Covey and numerous humanitarians through the ages say we as individuals need to make our center based on principles which are rock solid, changeless, by their very nature. Regardless of what changing events that will over take us (loss of money, reputation, pleasure, intellect, election, etc.) we will be able to weather the storms because we have a solid foundation which puts things into perspective. Since our center is based on principles then our values are all based on the rock solid stability of principles. With our values based on the stability of principles we in our very nature assume that very stability. Our nature along with our actions is rooted in stability. We become stable people. We become principled centered people/leaders willing to do what is right (i.e. aligned with the laws of human interaction) like Kennedy and those he wrote about. In essence we are at peace with ourselves which is the key building block for bringing peace to those around us leading eventually to world peace or stability within the world.
So what does all of this have to do with abortion? Many of the goals of our pro-choice brothers and sister are good and noble. However, the method (abortion) is suspect. It violates the basic principle of “right of any human being to life” as so well stated in our Declaration of Independence. Yes a woman and any individual for that matter does have a right to decide for their body. It is theirs and they are its care taker. However, if a woman is pregnant, the pre-born baby also has his/her rights, which also must be protected as well; another principle. That is the challenge. Protecting the rights of both without violating the rights of either! That is our challenge which requires very hard work by all of us. As a society we are responsible to both. We both individually and as the democratic party cannot look at the woman and say you cannot have the abortion and turn our back on her, especially if she is in serious need of our help. If we as a party or individually do not lift a finger to help her then we are violating the laws of human interaction. If she, out of desperation, has the abortion then we are, as a party and individually, are in all likelihood for more responsible for the abortion than her. But again we as a party cannot overlook the rights of the unborn, who by the way is defenseless and vulnerable. Principle dictates we must protect those who cannot protect themselves. (i.e. Proverbs 6:16-18: There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil….)
Now! One can ague that, sure abortion is wrong, but we must overlook the act of the abortion and rather look at the long range benefit of having the abortion. In short, the end justifies the means. Sounds good but history proves that form of logic is very flawed with the most serious consequences. Communism of last century is a prime example of that flawed logic. The goal of communism is in and of itself a very noble one that can be of significant benefit to society. It was their vision to have a classless society with an equitable balance of wealth based on individual and social needs. Poverty would be a thing of the past. However, here is the flaw. To achieve that ideal end goal, they felt justified to use whatever means available to reach the highest of utopia to include suspending civil liberties, etc. We know full well the consequence of this way of thinking: “The murder of over 200 million people”. This was not the intention of the original planners but it was the consequence because of their lack of understanding of principles (laws of human interaction). The same is happening again in our country and all over the world with the genocide of the unborn but regrettably in a far greater proportion then the genocide resulting from communism.
If we do not master and understand the laws of human interaction very soon, the horrors of our future could very well be unimaginable. However, that prospect does not have to be our future, if we are willing work very hard in making the necessary social improvements necessary for meeting the noble goals of both our pro-life and pro-choice brothers and sisters that are principle centered (aligned with the laws of human interaction). Our Democratic Party could be a key player. Removing abortion and protecting both the rights and needs of both the mother and the pre-born is a major step to world peace (stability). Our party could regain its role as a party of hope. However, any organization really mirrors its leadership. In the time of Camelot our party became principled centered because it top leader was principled centered. So those of you aspiring to be political leaders, take on the challenge to be principled centered leaders because you want to contribute to the betterment of our country and society as a whole. As you go then so goes the party and so goes our country. The work will be difficult for you and for those you represent. They are up to the task. Kennedy knew this. He knew that sacrifices needed to be taken, that is why he took up the challenge and asked all Americans to take up the challenge, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country!”