To conclude this series exploring quotes that make up the foundational ethos of the mission, I want to highlight two, bringing the last two journal entries in this series into one.
Speaking of her time leading the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman said this:
“I never ran my train off the tracks and I never lost a passenger.”
What’s inspiring to me about this statement is that Harriet’s leadership included politics, civil rights, forward progress, the human experience as it should be, severe personal trauma, contemplative faith, leading teams—and physical endurance.
I started Liberatus in 2015 partly because it’s ambiguous what exactly we were fighting for in Congress. While we said we were fighting for freedom, in the words of former Congressman Raul Labrador, Capitol Hill “is a place that just sucks your soul.” But why?
“He’s a principled conservative.”
After working within the conservative movement, it’s not clear to me what this statement means.
But I think it means something like this: There’s a conservative view of things that is the truth, therefore, he stands on that truth no matter the costs, achieves top marks on legislative scorecards, and those who don’t hold to principles might be nice to people but they’ll never be champions.
Today, often the farthest we go with this advice is to say that we should “turn down the heat” when things get too ugly. But to govern the country well, we need constructive parameters for what it means to restrain partisanship, in the same way that Olympic athletes have constructive parameters for how to perform at their best, follow the rules of their sport, and uphold sportsmanship.
Today marks the 100th Liberatus journal entry about bringing truth and beauty to American politics, written by people on the inside. As we look ahead, you can help us create Issue 017: Refuge—a journal series exploring how we welcome refugees. Just $25 a month will enable us to build community, connect our writers with a local refugee community, and publish Issue 017 in November 2017.
How does one pursue healing holistically in American politics? Today we’re outlining seven solutions for work in Congress and American politics Liberatus is offering our writers, subscribers and donors. But we need your help to continue publishing the weekly journal, to expand the writing team for 2017, and to continue building relationships with those working on the inside.
Starting a nonprofit with a vision of healing is in so many ways like training for a marathon. Training raises many questions about the process: you do have to think about hydration choices and energy gels and whether or not sweet potatoes are the best source of carbs. Similarly, on the nonprofit front, today I wanted to outline the next three steps for Liberatus.
Today we’re celebrating another milestone in the life of Liberatus! We launched our site on May 20th, 2015; today marks one year of publishing a weekly journal on how to bring Truth and Beauty to American politics, written by people on the inside. To mark the occasion, here are seven questions whose answers illustrate where we’re headed.
