The Cause of Liberty

Finding New Heroes, Forging America’s New Future

What, or who will save America? How will America be saved? Can she be saved at all?

I recently found profound answers to these consequential questions from “Whale Rider,” the powerful movie about a young girl’s struggle to “confront the past, change the present and determine the future.”

From the website; “In a small New Zealand coastal village, Maori claim descent from Paikea, the Whale Rider. In every generation for more than 1000 years, a male heir born to the Chief succeeds to the title. The time is now. The Chief’s eldest son, Porourangi, fathers twins - a boy and a girl. But the boy and his mother die in childbirth. The surviving girl is named Pai.

“Grief-stricken, her father leaves her to be raised by her grandparents. Koro, her grandfather who is the Chief, refuses to acknowledge Pai as the inheritor of the tradition and claims she is of no use to him. But her grandmother, Flowers, sees more than a broken line–she sees a child in desperate need of love.

“When Pai’s father, Porourangi, returns home after twelve years, Koro hopes everything is resolved and Porourangi will accept destiny and become his successor. But Porourangi has no intention of becoming Chief. He has moved away from his people both physically and emotionally.

“Koro is blinded by prejudice and even Flowers cannot convince him that Pai is the natural heir. The old Chief is convinced that the tribe’s misfortunes began at Pai’s birth and calls for his people to bring their 12-year-old boys to him for training. He is certain that through a grueling process of teaching the ancient chants, tribal lore and warrior techniques, the future leader of their tribe will be revealed to him.

“Meanwhile, deep within the ocean, a massive herd of whales is responding, drawn towards Pai and their twin destinies. When the whales become stranded on the beach, Koro is sure this signals an apocalyptic end to his tribe. Until one person prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the people. Pai, the Whale Rider.”

Pai, young and female in a tribe that values age and male leadership, rises to the occasion against all odds, finds and fills a critical need that she appears to be unqualified for, and instills courage, dignity, and vision to a struggling people. She is an unlikely heroine, the one seemingly least likely to be able to create change and have lasting impact. But she ignores the limited perceptions around her, stays true to her heart and intuition, and quietly, humbly, yet persistently takes the daunting path of leadership.

Pai is an example of precisely what and who will save America. Leadership needs a new story. If America wants to be saved from our various and urgent problems, we need fresh, new ways of viewing, approaching, and dealing with them. The old stories, the old leadership models, have proven to be ineffective at best, and destructive at worst.

The new story is that ordinary, common Americans will rise up from the trenches of daily living and become the heroes and heroines our culture has been waiting for. The silent majority will be silent no longer. The good-hearted will become the great-hearted. Earthly beings will rise up to their divinity. The weak and the simple will cut through layers of complex bureaucracy to find empowering principles, liberating natural laws, and transcendent truths. Then, through diligence and sincerity, they will become a beacon in the darkness, a foundation of strength in seas of change and corruption.

Americans will stop looking outward to blame others and upward to wait for the government to save them. They will instead start looking inward to themselves and downward to the People for solutions. Where before they relied upon force and institutions, they will rely upon voluntarism, charity, individuals, and families. Where before they waited for politicians to hash out solutions, they will act immediately and self-reliantly. Where before they depended upon “command and control” to get things done, they will now trust in the goodness of citizenship.

What will save America? Common citizens becoming the change they wish to see in the world. Common citizens doing uncommon things. Common citizens revolutionizing themselves, their minds, and their hearts, and in the process revolutionizing the nation at large.

Who are these citizens? You and I.

Can America be saved? Yes. That is if you and I put our privileges in proper perspective, rise to our duties as free citizens, and be examples to follow, voices to heed, and rocks to rely upon. Like Pai transcended her limitations of birth, age, and prejudice, we must transcend our own limitations to be 21st Century “Whale Riders.” As Pai’s ancestors called upon her, so do ours call upon us. The government will not save us. Politicians cannot save us. We must save ourselves.

Recommending Reading:

A Renaissance of Kings by Dr. Andrew Groft
A Separate Peace by Peggy Noonan
Finding Our Way: Leadership For An Uncertain Time by Margaret Wheatley

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Written By Stephen Palmer. Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

We waste so much time and energy lamenting our flaws and weaknesses. If only I was taller, we think. If only I could sing better. If only I was a faster reader. If only I was a more persuasive public speaker. If only I didn’t have to wear glasses. If only I could run faster and jump higher. If only…

If only we could realize that our weaknesses are hidden pearls, possible goldmines of opportunity and success. Then we could fully submit to God, accept–rather than resist–our current state, embrace our weaknesses, and unleash our potential. Our weaknesses, far from being annoying obstacles, can be precious keys that open the doors to our success, wealth, and happiness.

It was precisely the weakness of the American army during the Revolutionary War that led Washington to be creative, to innovate and beat the British the only way that they could have been beaten. Thomas Jefferson was shy and considered himself a poor public speaker. Is it any wonder, then, that he found his voice through writing, and produced one of the most powerful political documents in all of history? Louis L’Amour began as a second-rate writer, and his numerous rejection slips propelled him to travel the world and work various jobs to gain the experience and insight that led his treasured tales of adventure.

Jacques Lusseyran, a leader in the French Resistance to the Nazis, also found his greatest strength because of a weakness.

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What stories will your great-grandchildren tell about you?

I once stood in the cemetery where several of my ancestors have been laid. In a deeply sentimental mood I thought to myself, “How many stories cry from the ground here? How many hopes and dreams, joys and sorrows do these cold headstones represent? Can we even begin to comprehend all that these people went through for us to enjoy our freedom today?”

I quietly listened to my father as he told fascinating stories of these mysterious people I had never met. I began to feel an intimate bond with these faceless Pioneers.

The realization sank deep into my soul that we stand on the shoulders of Those Who Have Gone Before. But have we become Those Who Have Forgotten? It is critical that we remember our heritage; the future of our nation depends on it.

Allow me to help us remember by…

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Live For the Cause of Freedom

One of the best examples of public virtue in the Revolutionary War period was John Hart. He was a farmer, known throughout his state as “Honest John Hart.” He served with distinction in the pre-Revolutionary legislatures of New Jersey, and was one of the first to recognize the tyranny of the Stamp Act. During the enemy invasion of New Jersey, Hart was besieged in his farmhouse. His wife lay dying at the time, and he refused to leave her. After her death he managed to make his escape at the age of 65, and for a year was hunted through the woods, where he existed as an exile and fugitive, eluding every effort of his pursuers, hiding in caves. Hessian mercenaries destroyed his farm, livestock, mills, and property. An old man, he never lost his spirit, and joined Washington’s army as a private after the battle of Princeton. He died at the age of 68, having given his life, liberty, wife, and property to the cause of freedom.

Unlike the John Hart, most of us will probably not have to suffer so much and die defending freedom. However, our duty is perhaps more difficult: to live a life of virtue, courage, and contribution in the midst of relative ease and prosperity. There are many who claim that they would die for their freedom, yet they fail to live for it on a consistent basis. Our average voting percentage for presidential elections is barely over 50%, and between 1960 and 1990, America saw a 560% increase in violent crime, a 419% increase in illegitimate births, a quadrupling of divorce rates, a tripling of the percentage of children living in single-parent homes, more than a 200% increase in teenage suicides, and a drop of almost 80 points in SAT scores (see full report here).

Many of our ancestors displayed their virtue by dying for the cause of freedom; we must show ours by living the cause daily.

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Written By Stephen Palmer. Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

All change involves both gains and losses; change is essentially the process of one exchanging with themselves. A person is constantly making decisions regarding this personal exchange, and through this process they can either degenerate or grow. One can choose to give up happiness, health, and wealth in order to gain laziness, fear, and bad habits and therefore degenerate, or one can give up laziness and fear in order to gain greater happiness, and therefore grow. There is no decision that does not carry both a gain and a loss.

The question you must answer is: What is it that you really, deeply want to gain and what are you willing to give up to get it?

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Are you taking an active part in creating that story, or is passivity leaving you subject to the winds of fortune?

Daniel Taylor wrote, “Freedom is useless if we don’t exercise it as characters making choices…We are free to change the stories by which we live. Because we are genuine characters, and not mere puppets, we can choose our defining stories. We can do so because we actively participate in the creation of our stories. We are co-authors as well as characters. Few things are so encouraging as the realization that things can be different and that we have a role in making them so.”

In the story of your life, be a creator and a writer, not a mere actor playing a scripted part.

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This attitude is a mockery of God and the gifts He has given us. In the Bible, in the book of Romans, chapter nine verse twenty, we read, “…O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why has thou made me thus?” In other words, Paul is telling us that we have no right or authority to question the wisdom of God, and our task, rather than questioning God, is to accept His will and to find the reasons why we have been blessed with our particular challenges.

For example, soon after Helen Keller was born, she lost her sight, hearing and speech. The victim way to view this is as an unfortunate tragedy; heroes look for the blessings inherent in such a challenge. By thinking and living as a heroine, Helen was able to bless the lives of millions through her amazing example. God was able to teach us the power of the human spirit through her.

What challenges are in your life? How are you facing them–as a victim or as a hero? What are you teaching others through your example?

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Without a revolution in the minds and hearts of individuals within a society, revolutions actually do more harm than good (i.e. the French Revolution). The real American Revolution happened long before the Revolutionary War; the war was an effect, not a cause.

As John Adams wrote, “What do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations…This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.”

America needs another revolution, not a bloody revolution of anger, hatred, and conflict, but a quiet, peaceful, and bloodless revolution enacted by honest individuals who turn inward and humbly revolutionize themselves. What are you willing to do to effect a revolution in your own life?

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Many people don’t try to accomplish their dreams for fear of failing. Yet the irony is that by not trying at all, they’ve automatically subjected themselves to the single biggest risk of failure. Try and you might fail; never try and you are assured of failure. As William Shakespeare wrote, “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”

The most successful people are the people who have failed the most–at least on a temporary basis. In fact, to leaders, the word failure is a misnomer; failures are but stepping-stones to success, when handled appropriately. Our lives are the sum total of all the failures that we push past. Act with the assurance that perfection in any endeavor will only come after repeated attempts.

Suggested reading: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

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Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. Under the worst circumstances imaginable, he found that he still had a fundamental freedom.

He wrote, “The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Do we who live in the freest nation in the history of the world have any excuse for not being heroes?

Suggested reading: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

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