Rev. Chuck Currie's Blog

Historic Faith Caucus Meetings Held In Denver

Rev. Chuck Currie — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:22:57 EDT

Two meetings of the “Faith Caucus” were held during the Democratic National Convention. These meetings were historic. It was the first time the Democratic Party had invited religious leaders to their conventions. Panels discussed issues of concern to America’s diverse religious community. I was there and you can read my reflections on the meetings here and here.

It was clearly evident from the gatherings that Barack Obama has developed a coalition of people who want deeply to end the divisions we face in this nation and to seek common ground in addressing our common challenges.

Being there to watch Barack Obama accept the nomination of his party to serve as the next president of the United States was simply awe inspiring. But I was also inspired each of the four days by meeting and hearing from people of faith from across our nation whose deepest beliefs have propelled them into action supporting Senator Obama's agenda of change for the future.

- Rev. Chuck Currie in Portland, Oregon

Faith Outreach In The News

Rev. Chuck Currie — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:25:51 EDT

On this - the day after Senator Obama won the nomination - there are two article about the campaign worth looking at. First, the new issue of Newsweek has an article about religious leaders who gather each week by telephone to pray for Senator Obama and the nation. Here's a quick look at what they write:

The Houston mega-pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell—who presided over Jenna Bush's wedding last month and has offered spiritual counsel to her father—is a Christian VIP, so busy that his cell-phone voicemail says, "Do not leave messages here." But on Friday mornings, whether he's at church, in the car or on the golf course, Caldwell tries to dial into a certain highlevel conference call. At 9:30 Eastern time, a group of religious leaders gathers "telephonically," as Caldwell puts it; for 15 minutes, they pray for Sen. Barack Obama.
"Typically," Caldwell says, "whoever is praying always prays for the senator and his wife. For his safety, surety, soundness of mind, clarity of thought." One person leads the prayer; everyone else listens. The leaders pray that planes land safely and that Secret Service agents keep their eyes open. (When Caldwell does the blessing, "he also prays for Senator Clinton and Senator McCain," says the Rev. Michael Battle, president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.) The number of participants ranges from a handful to 100.

Click here for the full story.

Bloomberg.com also has a new story up about the campaign's outreach to faith communities.

- The Rev. Chuck Currie

Oregonians Show Support For Barack Obama

Rev. Chuck Currie — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:47:29 EDT

Tonight over 80 house parties were held in Oregon to raise support and money for Barack Obama. U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (a supper delegate supporting the campaign) and former U.S. Senator George McGovern (a one-time Clinton supporter who recently endorsed Senator Obama) held a conference call with participants. I was honored to speak at one of those 80 house parties tonight. Allyson Spencer invited family, friends and neighbors over to show their support for the senator. This was the first time Allyson had ever held a house party for a candidate and her house was packed. The people there shared their admiration for Senator Obama’s courage in taking principled and progressive positions. Oregon’s vote-by-mail primary is May 20th. Show your support for Senator Obama’s campaign by making a contribution here. As always, I also urge all my friends in America’s diverse religious communities to make a special show of support by joining People of Faith for Barack.

- Rev. Chuck Currie

"Parishioners surprised by unexpected guest "

Rev. Chuck Currie — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:07:28 EDT

From the Lebanon Daily News:

Kelly Bell sensed something was different when her family arrived for yesterday morning’s worship service at St. Mark’s United Church of Christ.
“When we pulled in, I saw the cones there,” Bell said, referring to orange traffic cones that had been set up to block off parking spaces on the church’s north side along Mifflin Street.
“Then I got the kids out of the van and asked Ginny (Yingst, the church secretary, who was standing outside with a camera) what was going on, and she said, ‘The senator’s coming,’” Bell said.
“The senator” was Barack Obama, who is a member of a United Church of Christ congregation in Chicago....
Zachary Diehm, a sophomore at Cedar Crest High School and a church member, had a tough time finding a word to describe Obama’s visit before settling on “honorable.”
“We talk about it a lot in class,” he said of the presidential race. “It shows a lot of character for him to come to a church and not make a big deal out of it.”

Click here for the full story.

Talking About Barack Obama On NPR's Day-to-Day

Rev. Chuck Currie — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:08:50 EST

Tomorrow (Thursday) I'm scheduled to appear on NPR's "Day to Day" news magazine talking about my personal support for United States Senator Barack Obama.

Since its 2003 launch, Day to Day with hosts Alex Chadwick and Madeleine Brand has redefined the newsmagazine concept to become NPR's fastest-growing new program. Day to Day, produced at NPR West studios in Culver City, California, has nearly two million listeners on 200 stations around the country.

My interview - which also deals with religion and politics in general - was recorded this morning.

Visit their website to find out where you can listen in your area and for the online audio archive.

- Rev. Chuck Currie

On Super Tuesday Barack Obama = Hope

Rev. Chuck Currie — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:14:42 EST

Sitting down last year and reading about each of the candidates running for president it impressed me that I found much to agree with from candidates on both sides of the aisles. For example, conservative evangelicals – represented well by Gov. Huckabee in this race – have been some of the most prominent advocates for actions to end the genocide in Darfur. John McCain has been one of the most important voices on campaign finance reform. On the democratic side, all of the candidates are people voters can be proud of.

Barack Obama, however, stood out above them all. We share a common faith, yes, but we also share a common vision for America. Senator Obama wants to restore this nation and to give hope to all those who feel left out of the American dream. He wants to fight global warming so that our children will not grow up in a world in peril. He wants to create opportunities that lift people out of poverty. He wants to extend health care coverage for all those who have no coverage. And he wants to end the war. No other candidate comes close to his experience and his passion. His campaign is unifying the American people while campaigns waged by old-style politicians are tearing at the fabric of our nation. Barack Obama is a different kind of politician. He is a man of deep values and solid ethics. He’ll make a different kind of president. I’m honored to be a supporter. Join the campaign today.

- The Rev. Chuck Currie

Barack Obama Honors The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rev. Chuck Currie — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:38:21 EST

Sppeaking today at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, Senator Obama marked the Martin Luther King, Jr. hoilday with stirring words:

Unity is the great need of the hour - the great need of this hour. Not because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because it's the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this country.
I'm not talking about a budget deficit. I'm not talking about a trade deficit. I'm not talking about a deficit of good ideas or new plans.
I'm talking about a moral deficit. I'm talking about an empathy deficit. I'm taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother's keeper; we are our sister's keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny.
We have an empathy deficit when we're still sending our children down corridors of shame - schools in the forgotten corners of America where the color of your skin still affects the content of your education.
We have a deficit when CEOs are making more in ten minutes than some workers make in ten months; when families lose their homes so that lenders make a profit; when mothers can't afford a doctor when their children get sick.
We have a deficit in this country when there is Scooter Libby justice for some and Jena justice for others; when our children see nooses hanging from a schoolyard tree today, in the present, in the twenty-first century.
We have a deficit when homeless veterans sleep on the streets of our cities; when innocents are slaughtered in the deserts of Darfur; when young Americans serve tour after tour of duty in a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged.
And we have a deficit when it takes a breach in our levees to reveal a breach in our compassion; when it takes a terrible storm to reveal the hungry that God calls on us to feed; the sick He calls on us to care for; the least of these He commands that we treat as our own.
So we have a deficit to close. We have walls - barriers to justice and equality - that must come down. And to do this, we know that unity is the great need of this hour.

Click here for Senator Obama's full remarks.

- The Rev. Chuck Currie

Support The Campaign Today

Rev. Chuck Currie — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:11:04 EST

Today I made another small contribution to support Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Consider doing the same. Senator Obama’s historic campaign for the White House – a run based on values – is fueled by small-time contributors and not the DC powerbrokers. I want Barack Obama in the White House because of his positions on Iraq, the environment, poverty and health care. Please join me this week as a person of faith supporting Barack Obama.

- The Rev. Chuck Currie

Senator Barack Obama's Statement On Donnie McClurkin Controversy

Rev. Chuck Currie — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:03:25 EDT

A controversy has erupted over the scheduled appearance of a gospel singer at a concert event for Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Donnie McClurkin, a well know gospel star, reportedly has views that run counter to the Senator's on the issue of gay rights. Senator Obama restated his views on the subject in a statement issued yesterday:

"I have clearly stated my belief that gays and lesbians are our brothers and sisters and should be provided the respect, dignity, and rights of all other citizens. I have consistently spoken directly to African-American religious leaders about the need to overcome the homophobia that persists in some parts our community so that we can confront issues like HIV/AIDS and broaden the reach of equal rights in this country.
I strongly believe that African Americans and the LGBT community must stand together in the fight for equal rights. And so I strongly disagree with Reverend McClurkin's views and will continue to fight for these rights as President of the United States to ensure that America is a country that spreads tolerance instead of division."

Senator Obama has a strong record of support for the GLBT community. America needs leaders who will confront these issues head-on and who also keep lines of communication open to others who might disagree. I'm confident that Barack Obama is that kind of leader.

Reinhold Niebuhr: The Barack Obama Connection

Rev. Chuck Currie — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 03:13:06 EDT

Reinhold Niebuhr was the leading American theologian of the last century. His views shaped the opinions of world leaders and inspired figures such as The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Religion News Service reports this week that his views even today are shaping American politics - starting with the campaign being waged by Barack Obama:

Niebuhr is widely regarded as one of the most significant Christian intellectuals of the 20th century. Born in 1892 in Missouri to German parents, Niebuhr was ordained in the German Evangelical Church, then later had standing in the United Church of Christ, and taught for more than three decades at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was a founder of the liberal anticommunist lobbying group Americans for Democratic Action, and in 1948, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine....
Niebuhr's unrelenting gaze inward -- at a United States he refused to herald as the world's unquestioned savior -- runs counter to the renewed sense of American exceptionalism that followed the 9/11 attacks.
Niebuhr's Christian realism -- his recognition of the persistence of sin, self-interest, and self-righteousness in social conflicts -- highlights the distinction between the acknowledgment of evil's existence and America's own involvement in that evil.
"As Niebuhr famously said, we always use evil to prevent greater evil," said Peter Beinart, who advocated a Niebuhr-inflected American humility in his recent book "The Good Fight: Why Liberals -- and Only Liberals -- Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again."
"The recognition that America is capable of evil has been brought home to a new generation, in things like Abu Ghraib, in the most topical way since Vietnam."
As the 2008 election heats up, Obama has emerged as perhaps the most visibly Niebuhrian candidate. At a June forum on faith for Democratic candidates, he spoke of the peril inherent in seeing America's actions as always virtuous and in drawing battle lines too neatly between good and evil.
In his keynote address to the UCC's General Synod that same month, he called the challenges of poverty, racism, war, and unemployment "moral problems rooted in societal indifference and individual callousness, in the imperfections of man, the cruelties of man towards man" -- in other words, the inescapable fact of sin.
But his UCC speech also captured Niebuhr's insistence that neither sin's inevitability, nor the idea that worldly justice can only ever approximate divine justice, should give rise to a "Christian pessimism which becomes an irresponsibility."
University of Virginia religious studies professor Charles Mathewes suggests Niebuhr "is the best theologian to think about things if you want to think about sin without being cynical." Mathewes said he sees in Obama "the complexity of the Niebuhrian outlook," but he also believes Hillary Clinton possesses "theological depth I think people don't pick up on."

Click here to read the full story.

Niebuhr attended Eden Theological Seminary, a fact that as an Eden graduate myself I would be remiss in not pointing out.

- The Rev. Chuck Currie

Hanging Out With Barack In Portland

Rev. Chuck Currie — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 23:48:35 EDT

This weekend Liz and I were invited to a small reception to meet Senator Barack Obama before he spoke at a fund raiser / rally here in Portland. We had a brief moment to talk about our churches and homelessness in Oregon. Around 4,000 people attend the fund raiser.

Click here for more photos.

Barack Obama: Putting The Health Care Needs Of Kids First

Rev. Chuck Currie — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:09:16 EDT

Frances and Katherine, our twin daughters, turned three this summer! They are without question the cutest and smartest little kids to walk the earth (says their extra proud and totally in love dad). We are fortunate that my position as a minister in the United Church of Christ comes with benefits that include health care for our daughters. Not everyone is so lucky.

In fact, millions of children go without health insurance and that impacts their overall well-being. That is why it is so important that Congress is advancing toward the enactment of legislation that will expand health care for children in America and why it is so deeply disappointing that House Republicans and the White House are fighting this expansion because it is paid for by an increase in the cigarette tax. Big tobacco before the health of our children seems to be the motto of President Bush.

Barack Obama said this week on the floor of the Senate that:

“To most Americans, we seem completely disconnected from the reality that they’re living every day. Especially when we have a President who actually said, ‘I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.’”
“That’s what passes for universal health care in the greatest, wealthiest country on Earth – overcrowded, understaffed Emergency Rooms that raise everyone’s premiums and cost taxpayers more money.”
“It’s shameful. And what’s even more shameful is that nine million of the Americans who are forced to wait in Emergency Rooms when they get sick – who have no health insurance at all – are children.”
“Children who did not choose where they were born or how much money their parents have. Children whose development depends on the care and nourishment they receive in those early years. Children who any parent, anywhere, should want to protect at any cost.”
“Now, we can shade the truth and pretend there are only one million uninsured like the President says. We can make excuses for this neglect or we can just ignore it altogether, but as long as there are nine million children in the United States of America with no health insurance, it is a betrayal of the ideals we hold as Americans.”
“It’s not who we are, and today is our chance to prove it.” “We know that CHIP works. Because of CHIP, 6 million children who’d otherwise be uninsured have health care today. Because of CHIP, millions of children are protected when their parents lose their health care.”
“Because of CHIP, individual states like my home state of Illinois are building on its success to expand health coverage even further. And because of CHIP, millions of children with asthma, traumatic injuries, and mental health conditions, are able to see a doctor and get the treatment they need.”
“Even though the uninsured rate among low-income children fell by more than one-third in the years after CHIP was enacted, the trend reversed two years ago. And since then, we’ve seen growing numbers of uninsured children.”
“Uninsured children are twice as likely as insured children to miss out on needed medical care, including doctor visits and checkups.”
“One quarter of uninsured children don’t get any medical care at all. And those who do, get lower quality care. Even with the same illnesses and conditions, whether it’s an ear infection or appendicitis, studies have found that uninsured children get different treatment, and often suffer more as a result. One study even found that uninsured children who are admitted to a hospital with injuries are twice as likely to die there as children who do have insurance.”
“And to put this problem in the larger context, we know that when a child gets sick and can’t get treated – or receives inadequate treatment – he misses more days of school. And when he misses more school days, he begins to do worse relative to his peers. And that can have long-term consequences on his chances in life. That’s not something I’d want for either of my two young daughters or for any other American child.”
“So let’s get serious and solve this problem. Let’s reauthorize CHIP. Let’s make sure that the 6 million children who are now covered through the program continue to be covered – and let’s extend coverage to an additional 3.2 million uninsured children.”

Amen to that.

You can learn more about this issue by visiting the Children’s Defense Fund web site.

- The Rev. Chuck Currie

Together We Can Address Poverty in America

Rev. Chuck Currie — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:09:59 EDT

Most of my adult life has been spent fighting poverty and homelessness. So you can imagine my dismay as over the past seven years we have watched poverty and hunger rates increase in the United States as the Bush Administration has pursued economic policies that benefit the wealthiest and most powerful Americans at the expense of “the least of these” in our society – the poor, the elderly, children.

Barack Obama understands these issues as well as anyone. As a community organizer in Chicago, as a member of the Illinois legislature and as a United States Senator, he has fought for policies that help lift people out of poverty.

Senator Obama said recently in Spartanburg:

"...at the dawn of the 21st century we also have a collective responsibility to recommit ourselves to the dream; to strengthen that safety net, put the rungs back on that ladder to the middle-class, and give every family the chance that so many of our parents and grandparents had. This responsibility is one that's been missing from Washington for far too long -- a responsibility I intend to take very seriously as President."

Addressing poverty is not a new issue for Senator Obama. He didn’t just discover this issue as he planned to run for president. Fighting poverty has been a lifelong commitment for Barack Obama and he has offered a detailed agenda to lift wages and build housing, to provide health care and to change the tax system, to increase educational opportunities, and to rebuild the Gulf Coast.

That’s the kind of leadership we need in America.

For more on poverty in America visit Poverty USA: The Catholic Campaign for Human Development and Let Justice Roll: Faith and Community Voices Against Poverty.

- The Rev. Chuck Currie

Together We Can Address Climate Change

Rev. Chuck Currie — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:19:16 EDT

Here on the West Coast we’re in the midst of a heat wave. In Portland it reached over a 100 a couple of days ago and has remained near that since. The reality of global warming hits us all as we watch temperatures rise in every part of the world.

Last year a group of prominent evangelical Christians released a statement on climate change that said in part:

Christians must care about climate change because we love God the Creator and Jesus our Lord, through whom and for whom the creation was made. This is God's world, and any damage that we do to God's world is an offense against God Himself (Gen. 1; Ps. 24; Col. 1:16).
Christians must care about climate change because we are called to love our neighbors, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, and to protect and care for the least of these as though each was Jesus Christ himself (Mt. 22:34-40; Mt. 7:12; Mt. 25:31-46).
Christians, noting the fact that most of the climate change problem is human induced, are reminded that when God made humanity he commissioned us to exercise stewardship over the earth and its creatures. Climate change is the latest evidence of our failure to exercise proper stewardship, and constitutes a critical opportunity for us to do better (Gen. 1:26-28).
Love of God, love of neighbor, and the demands of stewardship are more than enough reason for evangelical Christians to respond to the climate change problem with moral passion and concrete action.

Mainline Christian leaders under the umbrella of the National Council of Churches, along with other prominent religious groups from other faith traditions, have also argued that climate change is one (if not the) most pressing moral issue of our day.

As Senator Barack Obama has said:

If we do not act, the consequences will be devastating for future generations, especially for the poorest global populations.

During this election season we need to demand that all politicians address climate change head on.

Learn more about ways you can help the environment by visiting the National Religious Partnership for the Environment.

- The Rev. Chuck Currie

Together We Can End The War

Rev. Chuck Currie — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:44:02 EDT

It was striking this week to hear that Richard Lugar, the U.S. Senator from Indiana, was breaking with the Bush Administration over Iraq. Support for the war in both parties has crumbled.

As you may know, nearly every Christian body across the globe has opposed the Iraq conflict since the beginning. From the Vatican to the World Council of Churches the message has been clear and consistent: invading Iraq has been a tragic mistake.

Barack Obama has been with us every step of the way.

This past weekend Senator Obama told the General Synod of the United Church of Christ that we:

…know our conscience cannot rest so long as the war goes on in Iraq. It's a war I'm proud I opposed from the start - a war that should never have been authorized and never been waged. I have a plan that would have already begun redeploying our troops with the goal of bringing all our combat brigades home by March 31st of next year. The President vetoed a similar plan, but he doesn't have the last word, and we're going to keep at it, until we bring this war to an end. Because the Iraq war is not just a security problem, it's a moral problem.

Elections do have moral consequences and in this campaign it will be important for us all to follow Senator Obama’s lead in addressing the most critical issues we face as a people.

If you haven't done so yet add your name to the list of those joining this campaign. Together we can end the war and create a safer world.

- The Rev. Chuck Currie

Bigotry Is Ungodly

Rev. Chuck Currie — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 21:38:30 EDT

Check out this news from The Washington Post:

Mitt Romney's Mormonism isn't something his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination talk much about in public, but his faith appears to have stoked a whisper campaign, engineered by an Iowa staffer for Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.).
In an e-mail obtained by The Fix, former state representative Emma Nemecek, the southeastern Iowa field director for Brownback's presidential campaign, asked a group of Iowa Republican leaders to help her fact-check a series of statements about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including one that says: "Theologically, the only thing Christianity and the LDS church has in common is the name of Jesus Christ, and the LDS Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith."
The e-mail appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to push negative talking points on Mormonism to influence power brokers in Iowa, where Brownback and Romney are engaged in a struggle for socially conservative voters in advance of the state's Jan. 14, 2008, caucuses.

Religious bigotry has no place in American politics but tragically candidates have learned that you can sometimes win votes by dividing people based on fear and hate. Many conservatives have also attacked Senator Barack Obama’s church by suggesting that where he worships, the mainline Trinity United Church of Christ, is in someway radical because the gospel message preached there is one of inclusion and hope (inclusion and hope are Christian ideals, no question, but they don’t appear to be cherished concepts by many conservative activists and bloggers).

Let’s debate the issues and forgo the politics of personal destruction. Let’s debate Brownback’s opposition to a women’s right to choose, let’s debate Romney’s always changing positions on social issues, and let’s debate Obama’s position on the Iraq War and his call for more help for American families. Issues are fair game.

But let’s stay out of the bigotry game. America is better than that.

People of Faith For Barack On Air America's State of Belief

Rev. Chuck Currie — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 01:14:21 EDT

The Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, host of Air America’s State of Belief, taped his weekly program from Portland on Thursday and was good enough to invite me back on the show to discuss the recent “Presidential Forum on Faith, Values, and Poverty” and my own endorsement of Barack Obama.

It was a terrific chance for me to talk about the new website faith.barackobama.com.

You can now download the program on ITunes or right here:

Download StateofBeliefPortland.m4a

(click with the RIGHT mouse button on the hyperlink and choose “Save Target As” and save to your desktop or other folder – once downloaded click on the file to listen).

Together We Can Change The Nation

Rev. Chuck Currie — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 03:30:30 EDT

Hello from Portland, Oregon. My name is The Rev. Chuck Currie. I’m an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, a husband and a father, and a supporter of Barack Obama. Not long ago I told readers on my blog why I supported Senator Obama’s candidacy. Here’s what I said:

Today I want to share with you that I am declaring my support for Barack Obama’s candidacy for the presidency of the United States of America and will join his campaign as a writer on the new official campaign site “People of Faith for Barack.”
All of the candidates running for president in 2008 bring different gifts to the debate over our nation’s future and my endorsement of Senator Obama is not a reflection on any of them but rather because of my faith in the senator’s leadership and ideas. I believe in Barack Obama.
As a minister in the United Church of Christ, I trust deeply in the Constitutional principle of separation of church and state and my endorsement is therefore a personal one and does not reflect on the church I serve or my denomination. But as a citizen I believe that all Americans must engage in the political process as individuals for democracy to thrive. So I choose to add my voice today with millions of other Americans concerned about the direction of this nation.
Barack Obama has shown leadership on the most pressing moral issues of our day – such as the war in Iraq and the global AIDS crisis. During his time in the Illinois Legislature and in the United States Senate he has demonstrated that his values cannot be compromised by prevailing political winds.
Christians, Jews, Muslims – all people of faith in America – share in a deep and abiding love for this nation. But many of us, as William Sloane Coffin would have said, have a “lover’s quarrel” with America. We know things can be better. We know all Americans need health care. We know that no one should be homeless in the world’s richest nation. We know that global warming threatens God’s own earth and that as the stewards of creation we are called forth to protect this planet. We are also called to be peacemakers in times of conflict.
Barack Obama shares these values and when elected president will embody them as he makes decisions in the Oval Office. When that day comes we will be a better nation.
Listen to the podcast of this statement:
Download CurrieObama.m4a
(click with the RIGHT mouse button on the hyperlink and choose “Save Target As” and save to your desktop or other folder – once downloaded click on the file to listen).

I’ve been invited to be a regular contributor to faith.barackobama.com and look forward to learning more about the issues that concern you most. So leave a message in the comment section introducing yourself and sharing your hopes for the future. Together we can change the nation.