Matthew5
08-26-2011, 10:31 AM
Hello everyone, my name is Jonathan and I'm from Paris, Texas. I'm 25 years old, I attend Arizona State (online), and I'm married. We have a beautiful three year old daughter named Josephine. I work as a Public Relations/Development Coordinator for a non-profit residential campus that specializes in helping impoverished children with learning disabilities. I love history, blues music, BBQ, cooking, muscle cars (especially Mustangs), and photography.
I'm currently seeking my bachelor's degree in Political Science. I've always had a love for politics, even getting involved before I could vote! My political history is actually a quite different one. Growing up in a small town in Texas, it was automatically required that you be a Republican. Ironically, our state rep was a Democrat, but definitely a DINO. My parents were life long Republicans, faithfully voting for the Republican candidate each election cycle. They were fairly engaged voters. They watched most of the debates, voted in every election (local, state, and national), and loved being upset during the 90's. So this engaged citizenry concept was certainly not lost on me.
Bush v. Kerry was the first campaign I was eligible to vote in. I watched every debate with glee, bored my uninterested friends to tears, and converted one Democrat to vote for Bush. I couldn't have made my parents prouder. Yet, after two years into Bush's second term, I went through a crisis of belief. One day, I had stumbled upon a preacher who talked about questioning and self discovery. So I made a commitment right then and there to wipe away everything I had been taught, and investigate whether I had been taught the truth. Obviously this pertained to spiritual matters, but especially to my political view.
So I began to research fervently. I poured over blogs, newspapers, history books, scholastic journals, anything I could get my hands on to verify what I believed. What I had found was that I voted for an "(R)" beside someone's name, because that was a man I was raised to vote for. I realized that I had lost my connection to morality and principle. Yet, as I began to seek the truth, it angered many of my family. I was chipping away at their stalwarts, their demigods. I was ousted by many in my own family who called me horrible names. Everyone, except for my parents. They stood by my side, even though it pained them to see me going through such a transformation. They understood it was the journey I had to take as a young man.
In late 2006, my religion and politics crashed into each other. I finally got around to the question that many Christians have to struggle with: how would Jesus vote? I say this with a bit of humor, but it was something I pondered. I read in Acts where the early Christians lived communally and shared all things in common. Maybe this was the answer? Although I did not realize it at the time, I was flirting heavily with socialism as the answer to the question. What made it worse was that I had been getting involved with a Liberal sect of a certain denomination. They were so cool and trendy with their radical Christian views and their acceptance and advancement of socialism. I was convinced that I could blend my conservative foundation with this radical (it was new to me, anyway) way of thinking. This is what a Christian should be like, I convinced myself.
The next year had me sitting in an older woman's home, deep in a part of town I'd never tread, as a regional representative from the Obama campaign struggled to use her GPS to find the place. I spoke briefly with the people encircled around the small, wooden television. They seemed friendly and well intentioned. The regional campaign manager finally made it to the house party and gave her rally speech. She was young, confident, witty, charming, and a recent graduate from an Ivy League college. Needless to say, I was hooked. She was part of the Liberal, Ivy League crowd that I desperately wanted approval from. Their approval would surely be the perfect retaliation to those "backwards, small minded" conservatives in my family. So I signed up for the Obama campaign. I made phone calls, stayed in contact with the regional manager, wrote editorials, and even attended a delegate event for the primaries. I was convinced that I was making the right decision, heck, I was having a blast!
But what changed? How did I come to the point of today? Well, it's rather complex and perhaps best saved for an autobiography slightly longer than this post. After the dust and excitement of the campaign had settled, all those cool Liberals didn't want anything to do with me. They loathed my upbringing and wanted me to reject my parents and the past twenty something years of my life. I refused to do it and I was subsequently shut out. I was now politically homeless. I was too Liberal for my Republicans friends and family, yet too conservative for my new found Liberal clique. I began to watch what Obama was doing to this nation and how utterly destructive his policies were. No matter where I lined him up in my mind, he was was offensive to both sides.
So I took a weekend last year for isolation and quiet reflection. I had struck out twice and I was determined to find what God had in store for me. Instead of tearing off into the Bible and reading it through the prism of my reason, I prayed this simple prayer: "Lord, I've lost my way. Show me what is true. How should I believe?" I stumbled upon the passage about forgiveness. Where God has told us to forgive others as He had forgiven us. I cross referenced it to more Scriptures, where Christ is talking over and over again about freedom. He was talking about liberty, true and absolute. This was it! This was the life that God wanted us to live, not only spiritually, but morally and politically.
I dove deep into the subject of freedom. I turned off the mainstream media and I opened a book. Friedman, Locke, Jefferson, Hayek, Orwell: they all pointed me to the truth. In that time, I had started a family. It was all the inspiration I needed to focus on my new-found love for freedom. I realized that my daughter is one generation away from bondage if I don't protect it for her. That's when I discovered Ron Paul.
So sorry for the rambling, but I feel that it's important that people know where I'm coming from. As a young man, I've made mistakes. But I realize now that they were necessary for my journey. I would have never discovered the gift of freedom if it wasn't for my upbringing, the failed socialist experiment, and the ultimate rejection by both mainstream ideas. Yet, advancing the causes of liberty is my life's goal. I've found a purpose, and it doesn't require anyone else's approval. I've finally found my home.
I'm currently seeking my bachelor's degree in Political Science. I've always had a love for politics, even getting involved before I could vote! My political history is actually a quite different one. Growing up in a small town in Texas, it was automatically required that you be a Republican. Ironically, our state rep was a Democrat, but definitely a DINO. My parents were life long Republicans, faithfully voting for the Republican candidate each election cycle. They were fairly engaged voters. They watched most of the debates, voted in every election (local, state, and national), and loved being upset during the 90's. So this engaged citizenry concept was certainly not lost on me.
Bush v. Kerry was the first campaign I was eligible to vote in. I watched every debate with glee, bored my uninterested friends to tears, and converted one Democrat to vote for Bush. I couldn't have made my parents prouder. Yet, after two years into Bush's second term, I went through a crisis of belief. One day, I had stumbled upon a preacher who talked about questioning and self discovery. So I made a commitment right then and there to wipe away everything I had been taught, and investigate whether I had been taught the truth. Obviously this pertained to spiritual matters, but especially to my political view.
So I began to research fervently. I poured over blogs, newspapers, history books, scholastic journals, anything I could get my hands on to verify what I believed. What I had found was that I voted for an "(R)" beside someone's name, because that was a man I was raised to vote for. I realized that I had lost my connection to morality and principle. Yet, as I began to seek the truth, it angered many of my family. I was chipping away at their stalwarts, their demigods. I was ousted by many in my own family who called me horrible names. Everyone, except for my parents. They stood by my side, even though it pained them to see me going through such a transformation. They understood it was the journey I had to take as a young man.
In late 2006, my religion and politics crashed into each other. I finally got around to the question that many Christians have to struggle with: how would Jesus vote? I say this with a bit of humor, but it was something I pondered. I read in Acts where the early Christians lived communally and shared all things in common. Maybe this was the answer? Although I did not realize it at the time, I was flirting heavily with socialism as the answer to the question. What made it worse was that I had been getting involved with a Liberal sect of a certain denomination. They were so cool and trendy with their radical Christian views and their acceptance and advancement of socialism. I was convinced that I could blend my conservative foundation with this radical (it was new to me, anyway) way of thinking. This is what a Christian should be like, I convinced myself.
The next year had me sitting in an older woman's home, deep in a part of town I'd never tread, as a regional representative from the Obama campaign struggled to use her GPS to find the place. I spoke briefly with the people encircled around the small, wooden television. They seemed friendly and well intentioned. The regional campaign manager finally made it to the house party and gave her rally speech. She was young, confident, witty, charming, and a recent graduate from an Ivy League college. Needless to say, I was hooked. She was part of the Liberal, Ivy League crowd that I desperately wanted approval from. Their approval would surely be the perfect retaliation to those "backwards, small minded" conservatives in my family. So I signed up for the Obama campaign. I made phone calls, stayed in contact with the regional manager, wrote editorials, and even attended a delegate event for the primaries. I was convinced that I was making the right decision, heck, I was having a blast!
But what changed? How did I come to the point of today? Well, it's rather complex and perhaps best saved for an autobiography slightly longer than this post. After the dust and excitement of the campaign had settled, all those cool Liberals didn't want anything to do with me. They loathed my upbringing and wanted me to reject my parents and the past twenty something years of my life. I refused to do it and I was subsequently shut out. I was now politically homeless. I was too Liberal for my Republicans friends and family, yet too conservative for my new found Liberal clique. I began to watch what Obama was doing to this nation and how utterly destructive his policies were. No matter where I lined him up in my mind, he was was offensive to both sides.
So I took a weekend last year for isolation and quiet reflection. I had struck out twice and I was determined to find what God had in store for me. Instead of tearing off into the Bible and reading it through the prism of my reason, I prayed this simple prayer: "Lord, I've lost my way. Show me what is true. How should I believe?" I stumbled upon the passage about forgiveness. Where God has told us to forgive others as He had forgiven us. I cross referenced it to more Scriptures, where Christ is talking over and over again about freedom. He was talking about liberty, true and absolute. This was it! This was the life that God wanted us to live, not only spiritually, but morally and politically.
I dove deep into the subject of freedom. I turned off the mainstream media and I opened a book. Friedman, Locke, Jefferson, Hayek, Orwell: they all pointed me to the truth. In that time, I had started a family. It was all the inspiration I needed to focus on my new-found love for freedom. I realized that my daughter is one generation away from bondage if I don't protect it for her. That's when I discovered Ron Paul.
So sorry for the rambling, but I feel that it's important that people know where I'm coming from. As a young man, I've made mistakes. But I realize now that they were necessary for my journey. I would have never discovered the gift of freedom if it wasn't for my upbringing, the failed socialist experiment, and the ultimate rejection by both mainstream ideas. Yet, advancing the causes of liberty is my life's goal. I've found a purpose, and it doesn't require anyone else's approval. I've finally found my home.