by Stephen Frank
Special to the Judeo-Christian Caucus
Shortly, the Presidential and legislative races will be over. At the end of the day, the winners will be de facto “leaders.” Some in office may be so arrogant they think they are dictators issuing proclamations, Executive Orders, and signing bills. They will grace events as if ancient potentates.
Election to office, however, does not make you smarter; it just gives you a leading role in setting policy and standards for the community or nation. The real leaders of our community and nation are those who are heard—the people give elected officials their opinions and support. Whether it is the local Rotary Club, political organization, or religious community, leadership always stays with the people.
While elected officials have the power, they, too, know that power comes from the people. The Democrat Party is being transformed from a JFK Liberal ideology to a radical, totalitarian Socialist model. We see AOC and Bernie Sanders as the leaders of the movement, true. But it is the radicals in the community, the State, that ordain them as the leaders. In the GOP, the fight is between the go-along and get-along crowd with no real philosophy or direction, vs. the Trumpian view of populism, which goes back to the 1890s and William Jennings Bryan. But Trump is the leader because of the people who elected him to lead. Whether it is the Progressive movement or the Trumpian efforts, it is the people that prop up and continue leadership.
On the Progressive side, there are two identifiable groups of leaders—the academics and the unions. On the Trumpian side it is the workers and the Church. If any of these are silent, confused or divided, then their knights will lose. If some are more energized than the others, those knights will win.
The Progressive movement has grown due to the mandatory union membership, with unions using members as fodder for political campaigns. The academics have for two generations miseducated our students by lying about history, economics and freedom. Add in the sexual revolution, drugs and rock and roll, and students have accepted the notion that debate and discussion is bad. They believe opposing Socialism is racist, sexist and hateful. It is easy to accept lack of discussion and debate. It is easy to be idealistic if you have no absolute frame of reference, morals, values or ethics.
On the Trumpian side, we have seen massive turnouts for rallies, parades and events. Flags, banners, hats and open support of Trump is the order of the day. Throughout California and the nation, there have been numerous gatherings with tens-of-thousands attending, without a single call from the Trump campaign or the Republican Party. These have been true, grassroots happenings.
It is the churches that have been lagging. Some churches have set up ballot boxes to collect ballots for the pastor to deliver. Others have distributed petitions to Recall Gavin Newsom. But most churches have silently complained about being shut down, stayed away from elections, and now need to have someone connect-the-dots for them: They are shut down because elected officials closed them. Churches wanting to re-open need to do so under the requirements of the First Amendment, even if the Governor refuses to obey the law.
Next, the churches need to protect themselves by getting involved in Biblical education for the congregation. In the 1960s, the Civil Rights movement was led by the religious community. It wanted equal rights for black Americans. Today, there is another war meant to simply keep our congregations open.
Slowly, we are seeing small pockets of churches, organizations and individuals begin to galvanize and hold rallies in front of the State Capitol. Fed up with unconstitutional closures of houses of worship, they are praying on the streets and marching in their communities. A few brave pastors have taken their efforts to the courts through lawsuits. Some concepts were used in the 1960s; some may be new. All are nonviolent.
Yet, this movement is just now beginning. It has taken time and personal pain to see how legislation in Calif. has drifted so far left—and efforts to pull it back towards center are late; but at least they are starting.
If the 1960s saw a Civil Rights movement, we now need a Religious-Rights Movement. Believers in Judeo-Christian values are seeking it. As houses of worship respond, you will find their memberships would grow. Folks want to be involved with efforts that make a difference, show energy, and are based on eternal values.
Leadership for the future does not start in Washington or Sacramento, it starts in the largest community with shared values in America: the religious community. In the 19th Century, the real influencers of social discourse were the churches. It was a time of freedom and the trend was for prosperity, with a small government. Since then, it has mushroomed like a nuclear bomb.
Perhaps we took our eyes off the ball because we became too prosperous; success can corrupt, too. In this new decade, it behooves the Church to decide whose house will it serve: the one built on sand sitting in Sacramento, or the one founded on the Rock.
Stephen Frank is Senior Contributing Editor of California Political Review. Read California news that is incisive, hard-hitting, and solution-oriented with a free subscription to Steve’s daily emails at http://eepurl.com/UAspv
NOTE: Blogs published on the Judeo-Christian Caucus website are the opinions of their authors and not necessarily those of the Judeo-Christian Caucus.
