Leadership vs. Celebrity (Part 2)

Family policy matters in engaging and informative weekly radio show and podcast used by the North Carolina family policy Council hi this is John Weston presidency family and were grateful to have you with us for this week's program is our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged and inspired by what you hear on family policy matters and that you will for better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state and nation, and now here's our hosted family policy matters. Tracy Devitt bring up our tale of a two-part shell with Joel Gurley, Executive Director at generation Joshua, an organization focused on assisting parents to raise up the next generation of Christian leaders and emphasis that you put on how young people communicate their messages because all ages seem to have lost the ability to have a reasoned and measured conversation. So how do you get this point across to these young people what we do. A couple generation Joshua we do a couple different events throughout the year that are designed to help particularly underlined that challenge and help you in your practice of addressing of the first when we do over the summer, except for the classroom. Thank you coated with the program called I got her and we are planning for next year and at the weeklong summer capital thing to do them in different spots from US were kids come together and we give them essentially a a mockup of the US government, but they have built their hands on the levers of trying advanced policy, but we divide them into teams like we have different political parties. We must get to decide with a few step forward, not copying the two parties but then they go at it hammer and tongs trying to get something solved effects that can be anything from balancing the budget for policy.

They tend to be weighty issues with serious implications. The challenge of course is these are people that you have to have debates with on the House or Senate floor in the cabinet room or wherever the place happens to be within you have to interact with outside at a dinner and you have to get your Bible study.

Later that night or chapel something fat and some of you can have a strong disagreement with that have to do with them later and not just yelling at them online or in some other 11 vector format actually damages a small town politics assembly for yelling at the town Council chamber.

You will see at the store later and you have to interact with them outside about the downside of social media is the you can screw people all day and you will receive in person or you'll never know if you do until we try and do his effort to start with tablet conversations you have to humanize the other person making sure that they know who they are, that they are from our perspective made in the image of God and worthy of his love like you are right.

So if you're both ready for love you worthy of each other's respective minimum and that happens best when you actually interact with people I was talking to one of one of the local public school teachers a week or so ago and she said the level of of back-and-forth and backbiting and vitriol in the online education attempt they've made is spectacularly higher than what it is. Traditionally, in person, why because you no longer building your relationship with each other and thus you can't respect someone you disagree with it. Just yelling at each other that social media online and II think to get off of that and dehumanize people does wonders to rebuild that idea of civic discourse that one part of the other part I say is political advocacy when you're actually advocating for politics and policy were North Carolina couple weeks ago doing that involved in Senate election, and if you think you without going on a rather busy date. We we did door-to-door campaigning emigrated this year with covert rules and masks and all the different procedures rights but we did it and you would not believe the positive reaction we were having when we are from Doris speaker to come up to someone and we have a 15 or 16-year-old walk up and say hey our 15-year-old preamble to hey I can't vote yet but I really care about the future of our state that you can can you make sure you bother to do it to actually go about like oh yeah totally likely coming. You know you should go about writing the note that right but we get busy we don't then with a 15-year-old bother to knock on your door that I can actually legally do it yet but I care enough to make sure ask you, would you please do it. They go about the other thing I have is they say you I been wanting someone to talk to about these things and actually have a conversation with not a Facebook shouting match these kids have fabulous conversations would be of blue people of depth about policy and politics in the state and people loved because it's all human and really Kevin I think covert is really exacerbated the vitriolic tendencies we have in politics because we remove the face-to-face interaction yelling at the monthly phase is quite a bit different than typing ON your keyboard and I think that in person interaction with serious policy disagreements, but in person a way you're going to keep interact with a person does wonders to reintroduce the recognition that each person is human and valuable and should be respected equally disagree and that helps heal that particular problem in our country. Although it's not an easy challenge this this seer is listening now.

There seems to be a sense that I'm afraid to actually try to understand you, because you might make some yes are you finding that with your kids as well.

I will say the advantage of working with kids they don't actually care as much of the wrong wonderful because they're wrong all the time right in the center as a kid when you grow up.

You're constantly trying things in your company discover new stuff and that learning process means regularly bumping into stuff and realizing your raw.

The problem we have as we get older as we start to associate the some fact, we believe with an aspect of our core person that we exist dependent on that reality and the problem is we tend to attach our realities to things that are impermanent so in my case I would say realities attached to work creative, loving God and the Christian that is a safe place to attach it because I know doesn't change when you start attaching your reality and your understanding of what is true or not, the things that aren't that come to political positions. For example, then anything that can threaten that threatens you because you are now wrapped up in that idea the left recently. I would argue was done he ran them to be careless. Isn't this is an just left the right justice to do degrees they wrap themselves up in being identified with a particular belief that must be true and if you threatened that you threatened them, and so the result is you may not speak to that I won't listen, because if I listen my my actual sense of identity is been endangered in politics that is terrifying because what you end up getting you get acolytes. The zealots even on on either side because they've attached what they believe so firmly to a thing that may not actually true… A figure on things that are principles that are true nor are right to life are our belief in freedom of speech and religion. Those are good things, but you'll see people attach it to like policy self procedural matters, things that aren't even big principle their technical things and when you debate the technical although some may personally feel threatened and they'll shut you down or ignore you and that's really dangerous and that is not healthy as a culture talk about the endgame.

What happens if we continue down that road. Generally, if you keep don't going on or over one side: your site in a communist or socialist the other side is calling them fascist, you end up justifying in people's mind. Violence that does really bad things for country. Call it what it is okay that dissolves you know a union and we have our idea of our culture. View e pluribus unum right of many, one. We have this idea of that we have the freedom in our country to have diversity of viewpoints and and respect each other and still do what is good and right relative to each other but if we don't take steps to preserve that imparted that is how we interact with people we disagree with Dr. the most important and interact with people disagree with the agreement is easy for people disagree with how to do that well and rightly. The description one of things I found personally just running for local office that was a mind blowing experience was the one of the people I work with best wishes politically to the left as I was to the right so that we both didn't like for example or equipment are present. He thought that she was far too conservative. I have a slightly different view of the results with people who were far left for the right. At least I would some people I've ever met me that I find who found common ground on a bunch of practical issues and so we approached views and and big solicit philosophical issues very differently.

We could find points of agreement that helps us maintain effective each person here with both human and beautiful and and and someone that is worthy of respect and honor. Even when we strongly disagree and and diligently work to prevent the other person's policy from being put into practice what we do in a way to respective a person that builds our union industry. Even within disagreement and it lets us absorb disagreement. But when you can't do that when the response to someone like that is that they are fascist or communist, then you really quickly get toward violence. I think we saw some of that and that was not healthy. I was not healthy and unfortunately when people don't believe they can be heard or respected. Listen to and of the other side is literally just evil. Violence is not that far from an acceptable response. It shouldn't be but unfortunately it can be. That's why go back to that initial principle of humility and importance of that for anyone going to working in politics like you to be firm and passionate, engaged, and an unprincipled but you also have to have enough self-awareness to say Saddam's okay what the impact of going at it this way we talk about our site all the time that we try to motivate people to get involved in politics is the absolutely crucial part country, but we never want to do it from a position of fear. So, do we have reason to help Jill out always and part of me says that because I am firmly grounded in a sovereign God right to have the master plan is good and is faithful and even when I do know the plan once and I can hope because without even needing to have that the evidentiary aspect of it, but since we like having evidentiary reason for hope. You have several reasons.

First of all, we've seen were seeing in this generation.

Unlike others, for example, on the life issue were seeing a young generation to look setting is no this isn't a necessary thing, and for the first time in a long time we seeing a trend nationally to saying that that life is better than an choice has an amazing thing that people are getting on, you know that we don't buy those reasons anymore that the course of the national consensus but but is now the majority of citizens. That's an amazing thing that gives me great hope. I'm very much hoping and believing that the generation I see right now will be the generation it's easy in the ropey way that would be spectacular for our country that as an adopted kid who statistically should been one of the victims Roe versus Wade. I'm very thrilled about that one thing that I see the next thing I see is frankly I see kids looking at the political I'm not applicable like the cultural dialogue on politics today in America going all this can be good. There's gotta be a better way to strike it coming to me at high school students, I parents etc. thanks. Please fund it is better with my kids to engage in people. The end result is thousands of kids to come through what I do better wanting a better path forward principled determent of their convictions and holding those with a better method of engaging each other and willing to look at a call a lot of fear mongering a lot of a lot of panic inducing and saying you know we don't need to do it that way. There's a better route.

I think this people on both sides looking for that release for the young men were my liquid.

I work with on the right. They certainly looking at it that way.

That's a good thing.

The other thing I'd say is I think there's been a there. There's been some awakening of people going. This isn't good long-term panic or fear may work in the short term and this is one of the permanent challenges of anyone who works the political field.

You can get farther faster with panic, the adrenaline fight or flight. But if you run an adrenaline too long to bring Pegasus your body right it's not good for you biologically thinking work for political system you want panic or fear to lock the burns on your political process. I think a certain point, people are no longer willing to give into the panic or the fear because the lamb Sarge can do this anymore. I've been seeing that that's a good thing. Honestly because it needs to be toned down.

I thought I would say those are both good things are coming and then I think, frankly, the people willing to sit down have conversation with people they don't normally interact with.

That's a great thing me to build that sense of of common discriminate the danger. People who are unwilling to that but I think the people that I would have a conversation that's a beautiful thing and it's a good thing for our country and it gives me hope. Thanks. Well, we are just about out of time for this week before we go. Joel went to our listeners go to learn more about your work and the kinds of things that you offer their generation Joshua will be easy places. Generation Joshua.org website. If you have a young teenager who's interested in learning more about the Civics or policy process and how to approach it from a Christian perspective, and we do but we do politics and policy. Most groups been bitten like one of the other.

We think that you have to learn the bridging treatment you have them take a look at joining their high school program out little bit college stuff mainly designed for high school students from middle school would love to have them participate in it. If you're a parent interested in stuff like this. I would actually have you take a look at our parent organization which is called HSL BA action HSL DA.

The home school legal Defense Association generation Joshua came from that to its HSL VA.org HSL BA action is the limit of the policy. Some great talking to you Joel really with generation Joshua, thank you so much for being with us on family policy matters.

We hope you enjoy the program and plenitude in again next week to listen to the show online insulin more about NC families work encourage and inspire families across internal audit or website it NC families on work that's NC family.org. Thanks again for listening and may God bless you and your family