Copyright 2017 by Jim Brown
Cover Design by Brian DeMoss
Cover Copyright 2017 by Agape Publishing LLC
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other except for brief quotations in critical reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Agape Publishing LLC
Edited by Chris Clancy
All photographs are property of Jim Brown, except where otherwise noted.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017913996
Brown, Jim
Ending our uncivil war.
ISBN: 978-0-9993999-0-3
ISBN: 978-0-9993999-1-0
ISBN: 978-0-9993999-2-7
Printed in the United States of America
Table of Contents
PREFACE: My Life and The Why
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: SERVICE COMMITMENT
Recognition: The Call to Serve
Role Models
Scout or Soldier?
CHAPTER 2: SPIRITUAL RENEWAL
The Path to AgapeLoving Your Enemy
Countering Certitude and Fear
The TruthAnd Mythof Separation of Church and State
Cognitive & PositiveRewiring Our Minds
Mind Over Media
CHAPTER 3: SCHOLASTIC INDEPENDENCE
The Assault on Free Speech
Settled or Not, Here It Comes
Triggered: The Growing Problem of Safe Spaces, Cultural Appropriation, Victimization and Diversity Statements
CHAPTER 4: SYSTEMIC GOVERNMENT REFORMS
Why We Need Government Guardrails
One Bill At a TimeThe Single-Subject Requirement
DebtA Greater Threat Than Any Terrorist
Breaking the Regulatory Tsunami
Term LimitsSo You Want to Drain the Swamp?
Redistricting Reform
Issues to Keep on Our Radar
EPILOGUE: Next Steps
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ENDNOTES
PREFACE
My Life and The Why
I wanted to write this book for at least 20 years. Finally, I did.
Since graduating college, Ive had the writing bug. Initially, writing was mostly for fun or a release, like when I was in the Navy sending letters home. In 2000, it became a profession. I was hired as the business editor and a reporter for a start-up newspaper, The City Paper , in Nashville. I loved going to work, chasing stories in my hometown.
About that time, I began to write a book about reforming government, but, after a few months, I abandoned ship. There were too many holes below the waterline to count. There was much to learn about literary compartmentalization before any book could be seaworthy. My composition skills needed work.
A few years ago, I reread my old draft and recognized another problem. My presentation was quite firm. The book read like a recital, not unlike what youd find in one of the many echo chambers on social media. Few sections presented multiple sides. It was clear Id made the right decision to return to port. Then I heard a voice, Hey, given whats happening in our country, and what youve learned since, maybe now is the time to go back to the Book Shipyard.
For at least 20 years, I also wanted to run a marathon. Every so often, Id have a good race, maybe a 10-miler when I was in the Navy, or a 10K after I left. But a marathon was all talk, and deep down I knew it. I doubted myself and did little research how to train properly for a half-marathon or marathon, much like my first attempt at a book.
I was missing focus. Then, focus came, but not the way I wanted.
My wife Dori was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007. We were devastated. Life went off cruise control. All hell broke loose, frankly. I needed a way to cope, so I started running more, a lot more. Over the next eight years, I ran a dozen half marathons and two full marathons. No more talk, no more tryjust prepare properly and do it.
I started writing more, too. Another coping mechanism was my blog, Run for Dori . This was my space to share the journey of cancer as a spouse, caretaker and father. I began to write with more feeling and less judging. Mysticism began to overtake certitude. Dori invited paradox, and so did I. Our faith grew, and our trust deepened.
After her second relapse, Dori heard that the chemo didnt work. She accepted it with uncommon strength and grace. Before she died, she told our children, When you say the Lords Prayer, and those words Thy Will Be Done, you either are saying them or you mean them.
Her love was agape, love at its deepest level. A few years ago, I felt compelled to write about agape, in a world that seems to have less of it at the moment. One reason Ive written this book is in honor of her and what we learned together. The life she led continues to inspire.
The same year as Doris diagnosis, I was promoted to state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), an association representing thousands of small business owners. My role since has been to advocate on general interest issues for small business, such as workers compensation, unemployment, tax, regulatory, healthcare, labor, tort and environmental. Its been an eye-opening education of how complex these matters are, unlike what were reading in many social media feeds.
Ive seen the good, bad and ugly in politics and policymaking. Some of what you will read, and especially in the last chapter, is how government functions better when power is divided among the political parties and three branches of government. Healthy friction may appear counterintuitive to some, which is another reason Ive left the dock of unpublished authors.
Lastly, the preceding 10 years have been enlightening in another way. I made many new friendships once I left my old comfort zone. I believe becoming uncomfortable and changing routines is one of the most important things we can do to end our uncivil war. Before this transformation, I dont ever remember listening to a lesbian couple talk about being judged by family members, or how a black legislator feels about a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest a few yards from her chair as a lawmaker.
Im not seeking your agreement or consent when I share that. I am saying I hope you understand that I have more information than I used to have, and a better place from which to have a conversation.
I want to thank the leaders at NFIB for allowing me to pursue writing this book. Everything written is my opinion and perspective, and not NFIBs.
I appreciate the opportunity to engage a large audience on the importance of having fewer verbal takedowns, and instead take on issues that need our attention. Theres a fine line between writing something constructively critical about someones actions and something overly unfavorable about that person.
Its been a healthy exercise to live and breathe one of the main themes in my own book. I did my best, and appreciate their trust.
