During my college years, I did not have any strong political leanings. An evangelical Christian, I had heard life sermons my entire life about the separation between church and state, and frankly, politics bored me.
During my last year in college, I came across a book, “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger.” I wept as I learned for the first time about the huge social and economic inequities in nations around the world, and the problem of dire poverty in many countries. I knew I had to do something and did – giving to organizations to help the needy. And after moving to California, doing across the border volunteer work in Tijuana, where my friends and I took food and provided basic first aid to jail inmates and poverty-stricken families who literally lived at a garbage dump.
My friends and I bathed and washed the children who lived at the Tijuana dump, taught school one day a week, and provided food when we came. As I saw the terrible conditions these people lived in, I became more and more angry at the fact that most people in America had no idea that just over the border, thousands of people were trying to survive, living on the edge of starvation.
In my anger, I looked for a political answer, and believed that I found it in socialism. I read books on Christian socialism and voted for anyone who promoted social justice. I became friends with socialists who were in graduate school, and told anyone who asked my about my politics, “I am a Christian socialist.” I applauded countries like Denmark and the UK, whose governments maintained democratic elections within a socialist or semi-socialist framework. I felt that the U.S. should follow suit and provide a more equitable distribution of wealth.
As I traveled in my late 20’s and met and talked with people who actually lived in these and other socialist countries, I heard a very different story than the books, articles and student discussions portrayed. One individual, a nurse in the UK, shared how disgusted she was with the low pay for healthcare workers and the long waits that patients often had to endure before they could be seen. (She had emigrated to the UK from another country without socialized medicine), She mentioned the fact that only the very wealthy – who could afford a private physician – did not have to wait to be seen, and how unfair this seemed.
I was a nurse at the time, so this was of interest to me.
I talked to other individuals from Poland, the USSR, and Canada. They all mentioned long waits for healthcare from relatively low-paid practitioners, the difficulty of getting an appointment with extremely busy specialists, and the hypocrisy of a system where the wealthy could afford either a private physician, or could fly to another country (including the U.S.) for healthcare. I also learned about the food shortages in some countries; and about long lines to wait to get groceries with their frequently empty shelves, while the wealthy could afford any food items they wanted.
These discussions dampened my enthusiasm for socialism, as I discovered that while the theory sounded good, in practicality, human greed took over and that this form of government (along with communism) often increased poverty for the majority in countries where it was practiced. I also began reading more and discovered that communism and socialism often destroyed the economies – and the basic rights, including freedom of speech – of those who lived under these systems. I read the Gulag Archipelago and was horrified to find out that the central authority given to the leadership in the USSR caused so much abuse – and such heavy-handed stamping out of dissenting voices.
By this time, in my mid-30’s, I became an “independent” politically. I decided that I would vote for the candidate who stood for the issues that meant the most to me, regardless of their party affiliation. I trusted that at least one candidate would have a platform based on integrity and advocating for the poor. Over the next 28 years, I voted for candidates from many different parties, including independent. I was busy, working two jobs, and did not really have time to think about politics, other than when a presidential election came around.
Then, I became more active in church, and was confronted with the issue of whether a fetus was a human being, or simply “tissue.”. After years of viewing ultrasounds as a nurse, I had felt that the unborn child in the womb had feelings. This issue became important enough that I decided I would only vote for a candidate who supported the right to life for the unborn. It was then I discovered that overwhelmingly, these candidates were conservative.
This created a dilemma: I wanted social justice, but I also wanted to protect the rights of the most vulnerable in our society: the unborn.
As I read and watched the news, I also became extremely concerned about another issue: the extreme bias in the media (on both the “left” and the “right”) that seemed to politicize EVERY issue and seemed intended to create division without room for discussion or negotiation. Over the years, the arguments became ever more heated, with increasingly disrespectful speech on both sides. While I supported candidates who were pro-life, I could not support the “hate speech” and rhetoric by many conservatives, as well as liberals. At one point, out of disgust, I was tempted to forget about politics altogether.
But then I began listening to Christian preachers who indicated that one reason our country is in the shape it is, is due to the church sitting back and doing nothing. I felt conflicted; this was the very thing I had done most of my life. They taught that if an individual would like to see change, it was possible, by becoming involved. This went against everything I had been taught in church most of my life, where I had heard “politics is dirty, and Christians should stay away to avoid getting contaminated. But the teachers I was listening to online indicated that politics is dirty in large part because Christians stayed away.
Two years ago, I began listening to Dutch Sheets, a Christian minister who leads daily prayer for our nation. In 2021, I began listening to Victory News featuring guests such as Rick Green and Dave Barton, who discussed constitutional law and gave examples regarding how far our country has wandered from the original vision of our country’s founders for a constitutional republic. I learned about the need to get involved to bring about change, and prayerfully decided that if I found a way, I would.
My best friend and I decided to go to a bipartisan voter integrity rally in Lansing, Michigan in late fall 2021. Despite my personal dislike of Trump, and after reviewing the evidence given by many professionals whom I believe have integrity, I had serious concerns about possible voter fraud. I wanted to have an opportunity to voice my concerns in front of the state capitol. This was my first act of activism!
Alarm bells had rung for me when the Attorney General for the state of Michigan had threatened to disbar lawyers who were bringing up suits regarding possible election fraud or illegality. I wondered why this draconian approach was being used, instead of simply saying “Okay, go ahead and review the evidence, there’s nothing to hide, and you won’t find anything.”
At the rally, there was a booth for Convention of States (COS). My friend and I read the literature and were intrigued by the thought that Article V of the constitution was created which gives states the power to call a Convention of States, whereby state delegates could suggest and ratify amendments to the Constitution. This article was created to check the power of the federal legislature. I had never heard of this in Civics class! The idea that the states could and reign in the federal government if it began exceeding its authority was exciting to me. I learned that 34 states would need to agree to call a convention, and that 38 states must ratify a proposed amendment for it to become law.
This truly was a “constitutional solution” to the increasingly centralized government I was seeing.
I chose to become a volunteer for COS. Since I was a professional writer for years, I joined their communication team for the State of Michigan. I am excited about the opportunity to make a difference – and to help educate others about what I believe is the solution that the founding fathers of our country intended to help “check” the federal government if it ever began centralizing too much power.
This authoritarian centralization of power (“runaway government”) is evident to me, after seeing how the federal government and its agencies have recently handled issues such as:
- Treatments for COVD symptoms which were not allowed in the US, due to large part to pressure from pharmaceutical firms which provide grant dollars for research to our “regulatory” agencies such as the CDC and NIH.
- Mask mandates -- although the cloth masks worn by most individuals cannot block virus particles. As a former ICU nurse, I knew this and read studies that confirmed it.
- The U.S. border which was opened, and kept open, in spite of the destructive cartels and traffickers using this opportunity to flood our border cities and towns with immigrants and illegal drugs.
- The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, in which billions of dollars of military equipment and unknown numbers of American citizens were left behind
- The decision to stop work on U.S. pipelines to promote green energy, which could have helped our country continue to become energy independent followed by the inexplicable decision to fund USSR pipeline production at the same time – and then buy oil from the USSR prior to recent economic sanctions. This decision alone was guaranteed to raise gas prices, with resulting increases in shipping costs and food prices
- Increasing media censorship of “dissenting viewpoints” framed as “disinformation” and cancel culture silencing our free speech.
These, and many other concerns, have motivated me to volunteer with COS – an organization that I believe proposes a constitutional solution to the trend towards an increasingly authoritarian central government. I particularly like the fact that COS is nonpartisan, because getting involved and making a difference crosses political beliefs or party affiliation.
