Introduction to the UCRP "Grassroots" Debate

The Utah County Republican Party (UCRP) has been dealing with some pretty major internal rifts over the past five years or more. One of these wedges concerns the interaction between regular party members, party officers, and public officers:

• Who should receive the delegate seats at convention?
• Who should be members of the party's governing bodies?
• Who should determine the agenda for the party (For Central Committee Meetings, Executive Committee Meetings, Conventions, etc.)?
• What part should publicly elected Republican officers have in shaping the direction of the party?
• What is the best way to run the party?

In my studies of the governing documents of the county and state parties, I have developed a decided opinion on this issue:

To be an effective force for good in our community/state/nation/world, we need all the different perspectives we can get. What good is a platform if the party structure is so weak and dispersed that the party's message isn't communicated to the public nor the ideals passed into law through energized and connected policy leaders?

My opinion puts me at odds with several of my fellow Republicans from Utah County - including state and federal legislators, party leaders, and friends. While many of them have some good arguments, I tend to see the other side of the argument. Because I see the same situations differently, I tend to come to different conclusions.

I plan to explore these situations, complexities, arguments, and conclusions in future posts over the next few months. My hope is that members of the Utah County Republican Party can come to this blog to learn first hand about a viewpoint that may not be proclaimed as loudly as the "grassroots" side. Then, when these issues are presented in Central Committee or Conventions, everyone can make an educated vote that will help determine the majority opinion, hopefully bringing some more peace to our party.

Stay tuned for more ....

Course 101 Why I Love the Constitution

For Goodness’ Sake:
Developing a Love for the Constitution of the United States of America

[Editor's Note: I wrote this essay for the George Washington School of Freedom, a free online course that encourage students of all ages to learn more about our heritage of freedom. Please check out the main website at gwschool.net.]

Sit back for a moment, if you will, and focus your mind’s eye on something you absolutely love. What would it be? Why do you love it? What memories do you recall? How does it make you feel?

One of my favorite places to visit is Thanksgiving Point Gardens. I love walking through the vibrant flowers set against the multihued greens of the sweeping lawns and trees and bushes. I laugh at the bronze statues of kids at play appearing next to the trickling brook. I smile at the joy on my children’s faces as they roll down the grassy amphitheater slope or spy a rainbow in the waterfall mists. And, oh, how I love to breathe in the sweet fragrance of roses, tulips, honeysuckle, lilacs, mint, and lavender!

What about your favorite things? I’m sure the answers would vary like the sands of the sea. But I suspect one common aspect would tie all of them together: an inherent sense of goodness. In a majority of cases, the things that we most love somehow lift us, inspire us, bring out the best in us, and increase our own goodness just for being there. This is precisely why I love the Constitution of the United States of America.

I realize that the term “goodness” may cause some confusion. After all, you can’t really measure goodness like you can measure someone’s height or weight. Also, one culture may see a practice as good while another culture would consider it to be an insult. Finally, it seems that many people tend to confuse “good” with “perfect” and so they discount or dismiss something completely at the sign of any weakness. Consequently, let’s briefly discuss these ideas to understand a little more why I use the term “goodness”.

1. My personal faith and belief is that both good and evil certainly exist in our world. Additionally, I believe that every human being possesses the capability to sense the difference between them just as much as we can discern the difference between the day and the night. Some things are just inherently good and some things are just inherently evil, albeit in varying levels. We can’t necessarily see or measure them with our five senses. But as we develop our abilities to focus on the feelings we consistently get when we experience one or the other, we can better discern the differences between them.

2. While “goodness” can vary based on culture, “Goodness” (with a capital “G”) is universal.In my early twenties, I lived in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, for a short time serving as a missionary. One night, a neighbor brought over a bag of ripe avocados. I absolutely love sliced avocados sprinkled with a little bit of garlic salt. As I was reaching for the salt shaker, my roommates – all native Brazilians – gasped and wondered what in the world I was doing. I knew Brazilians enjoyed avocado-flavored pudding, smoothies, and even ice cream, but hadn’t they ever heard of guacamole? Apparently not. For my roommates, eating avocados with sugar was “good”, but eating them with salt was “bad”.

That was just one of several experiences that taught me that so many of our differences with others are not better or worse, they’re just, well, different. It really will not affect the fate of my life or my family or the world if I choose to eat avocados with sugar or with salt. This is what I mean by “goodness” with a small “g” – perceptions of what is good based on the patterns, customs, or traditions of a particular society.

On the other hand, most human beings would consider behaviors such as murder, dishonesty, theft, kidnapping, etc., to be inherently evil. Sometimes in our efforts to avoid offenses, seek common ground, or validate our own actions, we overlook the fact that some things really are better or worse than others. It seems easier just to claim that neither good nor evil exists. But why would there be a need to justify an action if there was nothing inherently wrong with it in the first place? Do we find ourselves making excuses for being kind, honest, loving, forgiving, etc.? Usually not. This is what I mean by “goodness” with a capital “G” – attributes or behaviors that in and of themselves are universally uplifting, helpful, enlightening, or in other words, just plain Good!

3. “Goodness” doesn’t necessarily equal “perfection.”A final observation I have about goodness lies in the pernicious habit of perfectionism. With our increased abilities to measure and quantify, we tend to focus so much on the weaknesses of something that it becomes difficult to see any good in it whatsoever. We get caught into the mind trap that if something is not perfect, then it has no worth and should be thrown out. I have read multiple articles over the years from critics who discount the inherent goodness in U.S. Constitution because of the slavery question, the vagueness of language, or the indiscretions of some of the men who wrote it.

It’s interesting to me that in the Biblical account of the Creation, God repeatedly states that His creations were “good” (see Genesis 1: 4, 10, 12, and 18). What He doesn’t say is that they were “perfect”. We can observe from the next few chapters that Adam and Eve were certainly not perfect. Some harsh consequences followed from the choices they made because of their imperfections. But did that mean that Adam and Eve had no goodness left in them whatsoever? They must have had something of goodness in them or they would have been destroyed like Jericho, Jerusalem, or Sodom and Gomorrah. For those who reject the Bible as a historical document, even Darwin’s Theory of Evolution suggests progression or continual growth, not a static state of perfection.

So, when I talk about the “goodness” of the U.S. Constitution, I am not claiming that it is a perfect document. Neither do I excuse it away as a relative standard from a bygone era. As I have read, studied, and pondered the Constitution of the United States, I have come to see and appreciate many points of inherent goodness in both its words and meaning. I lack space and time to write even a part. In a nutshell, here are a few examples:

1. The Founders held a hopeful but pragmatic view of human nature.

2. They created a system of checks and balances to allow for governmental efficacy while protecting us from governmental abuses.

3. They rejected the European notions of divine right and aristocracy.

4. They created a near-perfect balance between tyranny and anarchy by institutionalizing the rule of law.

5. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 proved that people of varying opinions, backgrounds, and temperaments could unite in self-government.

6. The Founders placed their hopes and faith in us for the preservation of our freedom.I hope to be able to illustrate these points and many others in future lessons. I also encourage you to look for points of goodness in the U.S. Constitution as you study, ponder, and write about what you learn.

In summary, I have grown to love the Constitution because I can discern the inherent goodness not only in the document itself, but in the people who created it and in the process by which it was created. I feel inspired by our Founders’ hope and faith in me. Because of this, I will do my part to cherish our republican form of government and preserve it for future generations. I hope you will do the same.

Ideas for Application and Teaching

1. Points of Goodness File: What “Good” things do you already know about the U.S. Constitution? How do these things inspire you, lift you, or help you to be a better person? Keep track of these ideas by creating a “Points of Goodness” file. On one side of an index card, write down an aspect of the Constitution. On the back, write down how that aspect has motivated you to do or be good. Continue to record your thoughts on cards throughout your studies and keep them together in a small box. You may want to separate the cards into a “To Do” section and a “Done” or “Journal” section. Review the cards regularly.

2. The Big Black Dot: Color a big black dot in the center of a white board or a white poster board. First ask family members what they see. Most of them will probably say “A big black dot”. Share this quote from the lesson: “A final observation I have about goodness lies in the pernicious habit of perfectionism. . . . we tend to focus so much on the weaknesses of something that it becomes difficult to see any good in it whatsoever. We get caught into the mind trap that if something is not perfect, then it has no worth and should be thrown out.” Tell them to think of black as “evil” and white as “good”. Invite them to look again at the white board and ask them what they see. Discuss how we can focus so much on the negative aspects of things that we fail to see the good in them. Discuss one or two weaknesses of the U.S. Constitution and compare them to the big black dot. Then ask family members to think of positive aspects of the Constitution and write them on the white board. Encourage family members to keep this lesson in mind as they’re studying the Constitution this year.

3. Salty or Sweet: Ahead of time, slice up an avocado and divide the slices between two different plates. Sprinkle sugar on one and salt on the other. Invite each member of the family (or just a brave volunteer) to try a slice from each plate and share how the two are different. Read the story about the Brazilians and the avocados. Invite family members to share some differences between cultures, sexes, ages, etc. that in the long run really don’t matter. Next, turn out all of the lights in the room. Discuss together what it’s like to be in the darkness, the feelings, the potential dangers, etc. Next, turn the lights back on and discuss the differences between the light and the darkness. If you already know quite a bit about the U.S. Constitution, share one or two “Good” things about the Constitution and invite family members to think about what the opposite would be. Emphasize that the Founders spent months debating and voting on exactly which principles would go into the Constitution.

4. Read and study The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupéry. Write down five lessons the Prince learned throughout his adventures and compare them to principles included in the U.S. Constitution. Alternatively, pretend you are one of the Founding Fathers and write a book review of The Little Prince as if through that person’s eyes, using principles included in the U.S. Constitution.