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by
Randall Murphree | AFA Journal Editor
Generation Joshua wants to get high school students so involved
in comprehensive civics education that they’ll be eager to
become players in the nation’s political process. Through online
courses, voter registration drives and student action teams, Gen
Joshua motivates teens to learn, and then to put their knowledge
to work.
While the program originated with the Homeschool Legal Defense
Association (HSLDA), a review of the Web site (www.generationjoshua.org)
reveals excellent resources for public school classrooms as well
as other youth organizations which want to get teens involved in
the culture.
Ned Ryun, director of the Gen Joshua program, told AFA Journal,
"The tendency to engage in hands-on involvement in civic activism
is not as great among home-schoolers as it was 10 or 15 years ago.
We want to encourage this rising generation of young Christians
— homeschooled, private schooled and public schooled —
that they can make a difference in America now, and that they can
be leaders for the next generation."
Ryun is no stranger to politics. He is a former writer for President
George W. Bush and son of U.S. Congressman Jim Ryun (R-KS). He also
directs the HSLDA Federal Political Action Committee and is co-author
of Heroes Among Us with his father and twin brother, Drew.
"We got the name Generation Joshua from Mike Farris,"
said Ryun. Farris is president of the board and general counsel
for HSLDA. In 2002, he gave a speech in which he referred to homeschooling
parents as the "Moses generation" and the rising generation
of students as the "Joshua generation" who can take back
the land and play a key role in preserving freedom and liberty in
America.
Citizenship education
Gen Joshua takes to heart the principle from Proverbs 29:18:
"Where there is no vision, the people perish" (KJV). The
online courses are designed to help students grasp the importance
of our history. They include courses on the Founding Fathers, an
introductory Constitutional law class, a campaign school and live
on-line chats with notable conservatives in Congress and the private
sector.
Seventeen-year-old Matthew Johnson said, "I have found the
online instruction to be both informative and inspiring. This organization
is not only providing Christians with civics education, but is also
directing an army of enthusiastic young people determined to make
a difference." Johnson is a Littleton, Colorado, Gen Joshua
member.
The online curriculum provides the basics, and the overall program
moves students to the next level — taking a stand on moral
and social issues, and practical application of the principles they’ve
learned.
Gen Joshua held their first summer camp in July, with speakers
including Congressman Ryun and historian David Barton. The week-long
event included a field trip to Washington, D.C. "Quite frankly,"
said Ned Ryun, "with the hymn ‘Soldiers of Christ, Arise’
running through my head, I want to inspire young Christians to fight
for what is right. There are many issues facing us today that will
impact America for generations, same-sex marriage being a key one."
Ryun is convinced that a key strategy for the future is to get
young Christians involved in the citizenship process even before
they themselves can vote. Through Gen Joshua, he is able to provide
the means to counter the secular humanism and moral relativism rampant
in America today.
Voter registration
According to a 2001 poll by Pew Research, less than 60% of self-proclaimed
evangelical Christians were registered to vote and less than 25%
actually voted. One of Gen Joshua’s main goals is to boost
the number of voting churchgoers in the nation.
In fact, these startling facts are one of the main reasons HSLDA
formed Gen Joshua. The voter registration campaign appears to be
taking off with home-schoolers, many of whom are making it a family
project. Within three weeks after Gen Joshua announced the project,
more than 250 families had signed up to conduct church voter registration
drives. At press time, that number had grown to 450.
The Jim Bittles are one family who took on the project. Jim and
Michele Bittle, of Winchester, Virginia, have been married for 13
years and have four children. "It was a great experience for
everyone," said Jim Bittel. "We’ve registered 30
people over two Sundays, and the kids had fun too."
After signing up at the Web site, those who want to conduct a voter
registration drive at their church will have access to Gen Joshua’s
general and state voter records and other resources. In addition
they will receive step-by-step guidelines and support.
"This is not about politics," said Ryun. "This is
a call to obedience." Gen Joshua students from California to
Virginia to Ohio are conducting non-partisan voter drives in churches,
at conferences, at music festivals and Christian concerts.
Ryun is excited about the potential of the program. He points out
that just a small increase in evangelical voting could make a big
difference in the outcome of any election, especially considering
that in the 2000 presidential election, five states were decided
by 7,000 votes or less.
Gen Joshua cites three Scriptural principles regarding the moral
mandate for Christians to vote. First, God ordained civil government
in Romans 13:1-7. In Exodus 18:21, He called His people to select
godly leaders. And the payoff is, according to Proverbs 29:1, if
His people are obedient in this responsibility, they will be blessed.
Student action teams
HSLDA’s Political Action Committees form the last arm of
the Gen Joshua strategy. This fall, HSLDA PAC will be sending out
15 Student Action Teams, recruited from Gen Joshua, to work for
pro-life, pro-family candidates across the nation.
This year’s teams will follow the pattern established in 2002,
when seven teams of homeschool and Christian college youth went
on the campaign trail for pro-life, pro-family candidates. These
teams focused on the ‘get-out-the-vote’ effort, making
phone calls and going door-to-door to boost voter turnout. Of those
seven races, six were victories, and in many areas where these young
people were active, voter turnout rose by 15%.
One final component of Gen Joshua is the Benjamin Rush Awards Program.
Rush was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, established
the first Bible society in America and helped found five colleges.
There’s nothing like the challenge of a little competition
to motivate teens, and the awards program offers scholarships to
Patrick Henry College.
Teen members accumulate points by recruiting new members, registering
new voters, taking quizzes online, writing letters to the editor
and volunteering for political campaigns.
The times can certainly be discouraging, and many an individual
with an activist’s heart has grown discouraged when there seemed
to be no like-minded patriots. It’s easy to fall victim to
doubt, thinking, "I’m only one person. What can one person
do?" The fact is, one person can do a lot. Generation Joshua
is proof that activism starts with an individual who wants to have
a positive impact on our culture.
What
can I do about my grandchild’s future?
Wayne and Pattie
Leeper with granaddaughter Sydney Shields
Like many other senior citizens, Wayne Leeper is concerned
about the direction of our nation, especially regarding the kind
of world he’ll be leaving to his granddaughter. Unlike most
others, however, Leeper decided to do something about it.
The Lebanon, Tennessee, accountant wrote a stirring essay titled
"The Role of Religion in the American Political System."
Then he prefaced it with selected quotes from George Washington
and published the result in a 19-page pamphlet (referenced below).
Leeper’s sole motivation is to see American Christian voters
"go to the polls in droves this November." He believes
it is a critical election for the future of a moral America. His
pamphlet is right on target — communicating simple truths and
profound principles in eloquent prose.
At his Web site (www.nationalmorality.com),
Leeper posts his essays and articles addressing a wide variety of
moral issues. His story and his heart for America are best communicated
in his own words, written earlier this year in a letter to various
ministries and groups he believed would share his sentiments. AFA
Journal is pleased to commend this patriot’s message:
I am a man who has enjoyed the blessings of being an American
for many years. I was a teenager in the ’50s, served in the
military in the ’60s, then returned to marry my sweetheart
and with her raise our children. Together we worked hard, worshiped
our God, and grew old. Today I look at my grandchild and ask myself,
"What will her world be like?" and, "What can I
do to make it a little better?" I guess that is the real
reason I have written this pamphlet.
I am not a talking head, not a leader of any organization, not
a mover and shaker among men, nor have I ever done anything deserving
of special notoriety. My name will never be seen on marquees or
in the history books. I am just a very ordinary citizen of the
United States who has loved this nation, fought for it and believed
in all it has stood for over the past 227 years.
Today we are divided, moreso than at any other time since the
Civil War, and, like then, the division is over moral issues.
There are those who, in the name of tolerance, are seeking to
promote every form of licentiousness and ungodliness ever conceived
in the hearts of men, and, if given the opportunity, they will
turn our nation into a jungle of unrighteousness, greed and moral
decadence unparalleled since the fall of the Roman Empire. Furthermore,
I believe that as a nation we stand in serious jeopardy of losing
the protection and blessings that God has provided since our founding
fathers penned the Declaration of Independence.
Therefore, I believe that the election to be held in November
may well be the most important decision this nation has ever,
or will ever, be called upon to make. Our choice is not between
two national political parties, but between two conflicting ideals
for our national existence. As voters we will make the choice,
but it is not our future we will be voting on; it is the future
of our children and grandchildren, because they will be the ones
who have to live with our choice for generations to come.
Those of us who believe in a power greater than ourselves have
an obligation. Either we will stand and vote for that which will
lift this nation to greater morality in the eyes of our Creator,
or stand before Him in eternity to explain why we disregarded
His teaching, His commands, and His design, by electing persons
who would advocate, and vote to support, that which is worldly,
ungodly, and profane.
This copy is coming to you in the hope that you will use your
ability, your connections, and your mailing list to help reach
as many voters as possible. This is NOT a solicitation for funds.
If you are in a position to put this pamphlet in the hands of
people who feel the same, please use your resources to do so.
You may purchase additional copies at my cost, which is .75 per
copy plus postage and handling, or, if you are in a position to
print it yourself, you have full permission to do so. For orders
over 1,000 copies quantity discounts are available from the printer.
My aim is not to make money but to reach voters. The only restrictions
to printing this pamphlet yourself are outlined in the last paragraph
of the Foreword. I do ask that you let me know the number of copies
you are printing so I may have an idea of the total number being
distributed.
It is my humble prayer that, while this pamphlet may not change
any minds, it will cause those of us who, for the sake of our
children and grandchildren, want to see this nation return to
its moral roots to go to the polls in droves this November and
tell the world that this is still America, one nation under
God, both now and until he returns.
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To order The Role of Religion in the American Political
System, contact:
Wayne D. Leeper
769 Cedar Grove Road
Lebanon, TN 37087
Phone: 615-443-4214
www.nationalmorality.com
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