I started blogging a little over four years ago in outrage over Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence's attempt to reduce Christianity to a prop for a political campaign. I intended the blog to be a model and a workspace for Christian engagement with community and politics. I am sure that I have not done that perfectly, but I do feel that I have been pretty fair to both main parties. (I even criticized former President Obama for doing something similar to what Pence did to earn condemnation.) I have also tried with some success to give balanced and sympathetic coverage to causes in private and public life.
I now feel that it is time for me to move on to other projects. I will be making changes to my brand as a result. Rather than having one venue devoted to both political and civil society issues, I plan to start a venue dedicated specifically to politics. I still expect to publish information and opinion about civil society matters at times, but I intend to keep it separate from my next platform (whether it's a blog, vlog, podcast or whatever I end up deciding on.)
Another difference in my next project is that it will be focused on western Washington politics. It will naturally also look at statewide elections (including presidential elections) but it will cover those with an emphasis on the views and interests of western Washington. This shift in focus is a direct response to the most recent developments in the federal government and in the Republican Party. I feel that it is time to heighten our emphasis on state and local politics as political coalitions begin to realign.
The reason I am focusing on the western part of the state is that that is where I live. The geographical, cultural, and political features of east and west are so different that some have actually been making noise about splitting the state into two states. I am by no means endorsing this campaign: I am merely trying to take politics and society as I find them rather than as I wish they were. I live in the most populous, urban, and metropolitan part of the state. Although conservative and even centrist politics face great challenges in such an environment, I feel the appropriate response is to view those challenges as a gift and not a burden.
I hope that in this new project, I will be a model for others as I have already been trying to do. I would like to see others write about and get involved in their own state and local politics. Citizens of California and Nevada may want to imitate my approach and zero in on a particular region of the state they live in. Even if the division of the states into smaller states is not the hope or expectation, this type of focus may make party politics more responsive and more effective.
I will continue to write and think about faith and biblical doctrine in this new endeavor. I invite you to pray for me that I will be faithful and that my work would be excellent even above and beyond my ability.
During the coming year, I hope to do a lot of work offline. You will hear about that, as well. I hope you will join me in this journey. Please let me know if you have any advice or suggestions as I begin this new chapter. Thank you for reading and listening.
No comments:
Post a Comment