Like many other Americans, I became increasingly concerned about the direction our country was headed during the 2008 election year. We could all see the change happening. It was a movement away from the Judeo-Christian values our nation had been founded on. I knew that those values were what made America so great. Liberty and freedom are a God given right to all people declares our Constitution. Not only were we free to worship and live and speak by our own convictions, we had become a defender of freedom around the world. I believed that an American on the decline would be disastrous not only for ourselves but for everyone. I prayed. I asked for forgiveness for our collective sinfulness as a nation. We had become too worldly, too much like everyone else, and that is not God’s calling for His people. He asks us to be holy, set aside for His purpose and His plan, but many of us had become so focused on the so-called “American dream” that we had forgotten our true calling and place in the world. Of this, I repented and prayed according to 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
It was about that time that I met Gary Palmer, President of the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative think-tank here in Birmingham. He felt strongly that women could play a vital role in turning America on it heals back toward its noble heritage. It was from this idea that a Political Action Committee was formed called Allied Women. I was one of the founding members of that group, and it was Gary Palmer who mentored us and brought us up to speed on some pressing issues. He believed we needed to start at home, focusing on the Alabama State Legislature, uprooting the old and putting in some new, fresh faces we believed would stand up for ethical laws and standards that were more fitting with Alabama’s highly conservative and Christian constituency. We did, and the Alabama State Legislature was overturned in 2010 for the first time in more than 100 years. With the new Republican legislature it was easy for then Governor Bob Riley to push through an ethics package he had been hoping to pass for years. We were in full support of more ethical standards in politics and legislation in Alabama, so this was a wonderful victory and step in the right direction. During this whole process, one of the big issues facing our state at the time was gambling. Interested parties had targeted our state to push for legalized gambling in Alabama. We also fought against this and won. I have since left the board of Allied Women to focus more closely on other callings from the Lord on my life. However, I know Gary Palmer to be a man of conviction, passion, heart, character, and knowledge, a man who loves America deeply, the true America, the one George Washington led to victory in the Revolutionary War because he knew it was right, the one who hates tyranny and loves freedom, the America who defends the weak and the oppressed, the America that is "a city set on a hill" shining the light of Christ to all points of the compass. That is why I will cast my vote tomorrow, June 3, to send Gary Palmer to Washington to represent Alabama’s Congressional District 6. I will vote for him because I know he believes what I believe and that he knows how to make a difference. He’s not really a politician. Gary is an American, a patriot, one who really cares and who has the fortitude to fight for America and for "freedom loving people everywhere."
I will also cast my vote tomorrow for Arnold Mooney in the Republican primary for Alabama State House District 43. I will vote for Arnold Mooney because I believe he is running for the right reason, to give back. So many people go into politics to make a name for themselves. That is not the case with Arnold Mooney. He has been a businessman for much of his life. He has raised his family and is now a grandfather. He feels called by God in this season of life to serve publicly, not for himself but for the good of the people of Alabama. He knows that career politicians were never called for but that ordinary citizens like you and me should offer themselves as public servants when God calls them to that. And that’s where he is. I believe him to also be a man of character who can be trusted to make wise decisions concerning Alabama. So I hope you will join me in voting tomorrow, wherever you are, for men and women who are getting in the race to serve not themselves but God. “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Rom. 13:1b) Let’s do our part in bringing about change in the right direction for our state, our nation, and our world.
It was about that time that I met Gary Palmer, President of the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative think-tank here in Birmingham. He felt strongly that women could play a vital role in turning America on it heals back toward its noble heritage. It was from this idea that a Political Action Committee was formed called Allied Women. I was one of the founding members of that group, and it was Gary Palmer who mentored us and brought us up to speed on some pressing issues. He believed we needed to start at home, focusing on the Alabama State Legislature, uprooting the old and putting in some new, fresh faces we believed would stand up for ethical laws and standards that were more fitting with Alabama’s highly conservative and Christian constituency. We did, and the Alabama State Legislature was overturned in 2010 for the first time in more than 100 years. With the new Republican legislature it was easy for then Governor Bob Riley to push through an ethics package he had been hoping to pass for years. We were in full support of more ethical standards in politics and legislation in Alabama, so this was a wonderful victory and step in the right direction. During this whole process, one of the big issues facing our state at the time was gambling. Interested parties had targeted our state to push for legalized gambling in Alabama. We also fought against this and won. I have since left the board of Allied Women to focus more closely on other callings from the Lord on my life. However, I know Gary Palmer to be a man of conviction, passion, heart, character, and knowledge, a man who loves America deeply, the true America, the one George Washington led to victory in the Revolutionary War because he knew it was right, the one who hates tyranny and loves freedom, the America who defends the weak and the oppressed, the America that is "a city set on a hill" shining the light of Christ to all points of the compass. That is why I will cast my vote tomorrow, June 3, to send Gary Palmer to Washington to represent Alabama’s Congressional District 6. I will vote for him because I know he believes what I believe and that he knows how to make a difference. He’s not really a politician. Gary is an American, a patriot, one who really cares and who has the fortitude to fight for America and for "freedom loving people everywhere."
I will also cast my vote tomorrow for Arnold Mooney in the Republican primary for Alabama State House District 43. I will vote for Arnold Mooney because I believe he is running for the right reason, to give back. So many people go into politics to make a name for themselves. That is not the case with Arnold Mooney. He has been a businessman for much of his life. He has raised his family and is now a grandfather. He feels called by God in this season of life to serve publicly, not for himself but for the good of the people of Alabama. He knows that career politicians were never called for but that ordinary citizens like you and me should offer themselves as public servants when God calls them to that. And that’s where he is. I believe him to also be a man of character who can be trusted to make wise decisions concerning Alabama. So I hope you will join me in voting tomorrow, wherever you are, for men and women who are getting in the race to serve not themselves but God. “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Rom. 13:1b) Let’s do our part in bringing about change in the right direction for our state, our nation, and our world.
