Confessions of a Green Card Republican

So I'm a Christian guy getting involved with politics. I'm becoming a very informed and active citizen. 

Five great questions of life: Life * Love * Learning * Labor * Leadership

Confessions of a Green Card Republican

Life is so interesting these days. Wisconsin is international news and Wausau is in the heart of the drama. Protesters continue to storm the capitol in Madison while the Republican governor and senators remain entrenched in support of the budget repair bill. I helped get Senator Pam Galloway elected. I helped get Governor Scott Walker elected. I'm a card carrying Canadian Republican.

You heard me.

I sang God Bless America at the close of the Lincoln Day Dinner on Sunday, hosted by the Republican Party Marathon County. I help maintain the RPMC website. I was announced this week as the chairman of the RPMC Public Relations Committee. I issued my first press release today to Wispolitics.com, defending Senator Pam Galloway's review of medical excuses given on the street in Madison.

So I'm a Christian guy getting involved with politics. I'm becoming a very informed and active citizen. I am wholeheartedly conservative. That includes deep conviction in the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, free markets, the rule of law, and national sovereignty. I believe these are the principles most effective in bring freedom, peace and prosperity to a nation.

OK, that's something about me perhaps you didn't know. If you haven't already hit the "unfriend" button on Facebook, stay with me a bit longer. I have hundreds of friends whose brains are frying over this post. I also have hundreds of friends who are pumping their fists in the air and singing "On Wisconsin." And there are still hundreds more friends who don't give a flying flip about anything political.

Have I found your group?

Part of my conviction about coming of age in democratic societies like Canada and the United States is that citizens are called to step out and lead. I don't mean that we should attack anyone whose views differ from ours. Colleen and I have dear friends in Wausau that are rabid Obama supporters. And there's a very awkward tension in the state right now between supporters of the public union leadership and supporters of Governor Walker. Neighbors and friends are political opponents, and it's OK.

Some of you may write me off as narrow-minded, but that's not my intention. I don't see people as Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Progressive Conservative, NDP, Green Party, or any other political affiliation. But when we are free people, that is a slice of who we are.

I'm not ashamed of it. I believe that if we don't stand up and lead in our local caucuses, we will lose our nations to something that's much less than free.

I'm careful with God talk in a political post because I don't want to send the message that Republican = Christian. I would love to see people of deep faith, compassion and commitment to truth assuming leadership of all political parties.

I'd truly love to hear from conservatives, liberals and non-political types. How do my ideas strike you? Do you gain or lose respect someone who steps into politics? Does your faith keep you from civic leadership or push you to it?