WHO ARE WE ? WHAT HOLDS US TOGETHER ? (PART 2)
Last year I posted a suggestion that we examine ourselves in order to enhance our sense of purpose and expand our community. I asked:
“What are the essential threads of philosophy that bind us in common cause? What do we believe and how do we make our belief explicit? Can we state our beliefs so clearly and concisely that they function as a beacon to attract and retain conservative patriots in our cause?”
I wanted us to understand what makes us more alike than different. I shared my “beliefs” in the post Who Are We? What Holds Us Together? (Part 1, Nov 2009).
The discussion that followed incorporated those beliefs into a set of Principles which were adopted in Article III of our NCFreedom Charter. As a group we “converge” on Principles. Principles enable us to establish clarity with regard to contemporary issues.
During the development of the Charter, another important aspect of our human nature surfaced. We as individuals hold certain Values. These Values are measures of integrity, attributes of people that are inherently desirable or intrinsically good.
We adopted the Values established by Benjamin Franklin to measure his own personal evolution. However, we did not promote a broad dialog to examine how we embrace and rank Values in our lives and our decision processes. Our failure to fully examine our Values may have been a serious oversight.
As we move from “issues based activism” to the selection and endorsement of candidates this election year, I observe growing discord among individuals and between confederate groups. People who I deeply respect exhibit behaviors I struggle to understand.
In my attempt to find motivation behind behaviors, I was drawn to re-examine the Principles and Values in our Charter. Our “convergence” on Principles does not seem to be at issue, so the Values may hold a clue:
- Industry (persistence, procure wealth)
- Frugality (secure virtue)
- Resolution (personal responsibility)
- Sincerity (reverence, honesty, gratitude)
- Justice (hope)
- Order (consistency)
- Tranquility (patience)
- Moderation
- Temperance
- Humility
- Silence
- Cleanliness
- Chastity
- Courage
Upon reflection, I offer an hypothesis: we each rank Values with different priority.
I personally rank Resolution, Order and Sincerity very highly. I will not support a candidate who shirks responsibility, is inconsistent, or appears to compromise integrity – regardless of strength in other areas.
When I look at candidate endorsements made by others, I infer their selection may be the result of differences in priority among the Values. For example, I believe someone who ranks Industry, Justice and Tranquility among their primary Values would indeed select a different individual as their ideal candidate.
This may be an important insight in our journey of growth and self-knowledge. While we have converged on Principles, we may never fully converge on Values. Therefore we should expect strong differences of opinion on candidates.
We must not, however, fall into a trap of elevating Value generated differences to the point where divisiveness might fracture a remarkable coalition of those who have converged on Principles.
Our Principles will encourage Liberty oriented candidates to present themselves. Use the political primary process to expose the Values of those candidates to voters. Candidates of good character will certainly demonstrate strength and balance among Values. Voters will recognize their strengths, and the primaries will produce good candidates for the election.
Use the list of Values to understand our sometimes perplexing behaviors and coach our candidates during the primaries. Remember the enemy is Progressivism, not other patriots or other patriot organizations.
Do your part to ensure we “hang together” throughout this important election year.
