A Call to Arms! Encouraging Young People to Enter the Trenches of Political Activism.

A young man stepped across the gang plank and onto the shores of London.  From his handsome appearance and age, no one would have guessed what the last year of his life had looked like, nor what was in store for him in the future.  At the age of 15, he had traveled to Russia  as the secretary to the American diplomat to Catherine the Great.  After five months of intense negotiations, a treaty was signed, and the young man found that he would have to wait six months before a ship would arrive to take him home.  Instead of waiting, he single handedly journeyed on foot across Europe in six months and  negotiated a trade agreement with Sweden in the process.  All of this being done at the age of 15!  This young man was John Quincy Adams.  He would later in life be appointed as the youngest diplomat of the United States at age 26 to the Netherlands, then diplomat to the Portugal, Prussia, and Russia, US senator from Massachusetts, member of the House of Representatives, Secretary of State, and finally President of the United States.  While it is certainly not the role of every young person to enter politics, it does raise an important question.  Can young people accomplish great things at an early age and can they be an influential group in the realm of politics through activism?

"We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice..., and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."  These words found in the preamble to the Constitution, summarize the reason for every citizen's civic duty.  I believe there are three essential reasons for young people being involved in the political process.

First and foremost, we are young people who are servants of the Almighty.  We must realize that politics is not simply an area that Christians should not be concerned with, but instead is an area which we should seek to influence for the glory of God.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 says "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, for training and righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."  Scripture speaks of every area of life needing to be grounded in scripture, including government.  In fact the first part of Romans 13 is specifically dedicated to what Biblical government should look like and the Old Testament is full of principles as well.  If the Lord included whole chapters on government and what it should look like, we must not be disobedient by being absent from politics.  So as the creation and servants of God we should strive to glorify him in government.  

Second, as potential leaders of the next generation, the government policies of today will create and mold the world we and our children will live in tomorrow. In the course of our nation's history, we have allowed the slaughter of 40 million innocent babies, amassed a 10 trillion dollar debt, restricted our 2nd amendment rights to keep and bear arms, allowed millions of illegal immigrants to enter our country, and watched the steady infiltration of socialism into our country until now we are considering a bill which will use American tax-payer dollars to pay of other people's mortgages!  This is ridiculous! Have we gone this far in weeks, months, or even a years?  No, this change in America has been slow and gradual.  Not as a result of a single moment of failure, but instead because of decades of neglect.  As young people we must be willing to take action not just for our own sake, but for the sake of our children and the generations that will come after us.

Third, it is easy to be involved in the political process and be responsible in our civic duty.  The key to doing this is being (1) informed about legislation or elections, (2)active   on legislation and elections, (3) being able to defend your views in a persuasive and winning way, and (4) conscious that there must be a standard for our beliefs in my case the Constitution and the scriptures.  In 2007, the amnesty bill presented to Congress was struck down.  The media attributed this largely to the massive amounts of emails and phone calls that bombarded the capital in the weeks previous to the vote.  Being able to defend our views persuasively will give us many opportunities to share with others and even see some people change their minds.  Finally, we must stand on the principles and standards of our beliefs.  If we choose to compromise or back down, we are putting on our views on the same playing ground as the liberals.  We are in essence basing our views on pragmatism and not on the principles of the Constitution or the scriptures.

In closing,  I would encourage everyone to be active in politics and to strive for reform, because it has been the efforts of minorities, not majorities who have caused change to take place.  Take the Revolutionary War for example.  It is estimated by historians that only a small minority actively supported the revolution and yet they accomplished tremendous feats.  George Washington said in 1788, "No Country upon Earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings.... Much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and depart from the road which Providence has pointed us, so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass.  The Great Governor of the Universe has led us too long and too far.... to forsake us in the midst of it....We may, now and then, get bewildered; but I hope and trust that there is good sense and virtue enough left to recover the right path."  We are in one of these periods of bewilderment, but will our generation, a generation of young people, rise up and reclaim this area of our country or will we let it fall to the ground never to rise again because of our neglect?  No!  May it never be.  May our generation rise up and say we will not settle for these policies of destruction, but instead will return to the paths which have allowed our nation to be the most powerful in the world for these last 200 years.