INSPIRATION FOR AMERICAN UNITY

We all want leaders who make our country stronger. And we want our voices and values to guide them. Liberatus offers inspiration for American unity to help you choose unity, build endurance, and become a leader who makes our country more just and free for the next generation.

Scroll below to take a deeper look at Volume One.

A deeper look at Volume One

You’re a voter looking for an inclusive, deeper, and creative approach to solving problems. Or you’re a Hill staffer writing vote recs and news releases and speeches for the House Floor. You’re managing a campaign or writing policy briefs. You’re a candidate running for election, or you’re thinking about running some day, or you’re a Member of Congress. And regardless of your role, you’re inspired by the generations that came before us and our servicemembers to be effective, to lead wisely, to inspire American unity—to make the world around you a better place for your kids, grandkids, nieces, and nephews.

But every creative journey to do good meets resistance, setbacks, and our own insecurities and self-rejection. Division happens when we give in to our compulsive emotional responses, when we willfully ignore the full truth, and going darker, when we strategically use it to raise money and win votes. In all cases, division happens when we reject the voice of the Spirit of God that calls us beloved children of God and empowers us to reflect our Creator. To overcome division, love as Christ loved us, and build endurance to do good, we need a faith-rooted, artistic ethos to renew our minds—inspiration to keep going, because having the mind of Christ takes constant, careful attention.

What Volume One offers

Five and a half years in the making, Liberatus Volume One offers a deeper perspective to see the human experience holistically, through the eyes of our Creator. It’s a groundbreaking, foundational, transformative, and timeless approach to American self-governance to strengthen the American mind. From a community of writers with frsthand professional experience in American politics, it’s our hope that the deeper journey brought to life in the stories, interviews, photos, congressional-level research, and contemplative spirituality illustrated in its 224 pages will inspire and empower all of us to live true to our values as people who are free. When we live as people who are free, we can heal the world around us, too.

The stories inside

A congressional staffer receives a phone call from a Nicaraguan asylum-seeker headed for the US-Mexico border. An Olympic bronze medalist runs laps around a humanitarian camp in the DRC with a vision to right injustice out of love for humanity. Survivors of El Salvador’s Civil War commit to return as peacemakers. A government contractor discovers the meaning of sisterhood in a Victorian house in Syracuse, New York. A coffee truck in Atlanta becomes a vehicle of welcome and jobs for the displaced. A Washington, DC-based USAID worker learns to truly see her neighbors—after working with the Rohingya people sheltering in Bangladesh. Former congressional staffers write about excellence in politics, how to define your values, asking better questions, and community building in politics after bipartisan efforts are thwarted. A military translator from Afghanistan voices his desire to see peace, human rights, and good governance in his home country—two years before the Taliban retake control. Two brothers from South Texas travel the entire length of the US-Mexico border to better understand it and themselves—and found a new calling.

These are the stories, interviews, and firsthand perspectives that will inpsire your imagination to lead for American unity, wherever you live and work.

Why The Refuge Theme

We chose Volume One’s theme of Refuge, advocating for refugees, the displaced, and the marginalized, because we believe there are no divisive issues. As humans and as political professionals, we often choose division intentionally in order to raise money, win votes, and stay relevant.

But freedom in Christ means that we are not condemned, and can see our shared humanity in the stories of the displaced. When we do, we are opened to nuance and paradox wich leads us to wisdom and makes unity possible.

When we choose unity, we make our country more just and free for the next generation.

inspiration for american unity, brought to life by a team of creators

20% to partner orgs

Every time you make a $55 donation for a copy of Volume One or Volume Two here on our website, we give 20% to partner organizations, Border Perspective and Refuge Coffee Co. You can read about both and their work to care for people who have been displaced in Volume One through the stories of their founders and the people they serve.

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About Liberatus

Liberatus was founded in 2015 by Caleb Paxton, David Paxton, and a team of colleagues and donors. The vision of healing or American unity was born out of the contrast between the values of the kingdom of God and what day-to-day firsthand professional work in grassroots organizing, campaigns, and the United States Congress was like. Liberatus serves professionals in American politics by giving them a creative outlet to write about healing or unity, with a foundation to reimagine how the peace of Christ can remake politics in The Values of Freedom and Philosophy of Freedom in Political Engagement. We then compile their works into illustrated journals that any American can read, keep on their coffee tables, and share with friends to be inspired towards unity. Finally, we give 20% of the funds contributed for each copy on our website to partner organizations who are creating a culture of American unity across the United States.

Today, more than 200 people have participated in the mission in some form, including 126 donors in 20 states, with a heavier concentration in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Greenville, South Carolina. 60 contributors have been part of content creation including 19 writers. The people who share the mission to inspire American unity represent the entire range of political perspectives, from left to right. We are united in creativity first because of the love that God has for us, and we believe a meaningful life happens when we choose to take on challenges out of love, and build endurance. To be part of the mission to inspire American unity, get your copy of Volume One, apply to join the Leadership Council, or write to us using the form at the bottom of this page. Peace be with you!