Moving the Cause of Liberty [Thomas Paine] - 5.12.11

We, the people, are living in an American Crisis, as wicked and powerful leaders begin to rise up against us, we must stand up for the cause of liberty, no matter what it costs us. While these corrupt leaders begin a crisis that will change our lives, we must realize that, “these are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” We cannot be summer soldiers or sunshine patriots, who will only serve our country when it is easy. We must have the will to sacrifice all worldly things for an ultimate, eternal goal. This is what Thomas Paine did. Firstly, he had the courage to stand up for his country in the face of tyrannical leaders, no matter what the expense. And secondly, due to Paine's ambition to finally step forward and voice his opinion, he created a ripple effect that influenced many people to fight for the cause of liberty in addition. Let me take you back and show you examples from history that reveal to us how he was able to move the cause of liberty in these two ways.

    Even before his work in the fight for the cause of liberty in America, he was fighting for liberty and just behavior of the government while living in Britain. During his time there, Paine was beginning to start movements in an effort to abolish unjust acts of the Parliament. Once, excise men (tax collectors) complained to Paine that they felt that they were being paid too little for their job. Paine, as a fellow excise man, felt the same way. He then proceeded to take the time to write a pamphlet entitled, The Case of the Officers of Excise, in which he argued that it was unjust to pay the tax collectors so little. In order to print this pamphlet, nearly all of the three thousand excise men donated money to Paine. Still, it was not enough. Paine had to pay for most of the printing costs, and sadly, the pamphlet failed to change Parliament's opinion. Because he had stood up against something he felt was unjust, Paine lost his job as an excise man. Without income from his job, Paine went bankrupt, and he was forced to sell nearly everything he owned. Elizabeth, his wife, felt that she had had too much by this point, and they chose to separate from each other that summer and go their separate ways. These events are just a few ways that Paine had to sacrifice. They are but a few things that he lost because of his work for liberty. But even through all of this, Paine was not discouraged. Lost, without work, deprived of money, and parted from his companion, he then left his home in England and sailed across the sea, to begin a new life in America. This is where he would begin his great work that helped our nation grow to become the greatest nation in the world.

    During his life in America, in 1774, Paine heard of the attacked towns of Lexington and Concord. Both Colonists and British fell during the battle, and the more that Paine learned about this battle, the more irate he became towards the British government. They had first begun to tax the people of America a troublesome amount, and now they were killing their own people. Paine then decided that someone must stand up and do something about the violence.

    Paine began to write articles that criticized Britain and upheld the American colonies as a land of bounty and liberty. “In Paine's view, Britain was giving the colonists no choice but to fight for their independence.” The cause of American freedom had inspired Paine, and “he felt sure that a free America could be different from any other nation in the world.” He felt that America was destined to become the world's first democratic republic, and his suspicion was true. Paine was selfless in his work to free the American people. All the money that was made from sales of Common Sense was given to the colonist army, due to their lack of supplies. He did not seek for praise because of his great work. He had made a commitment, and he did not let things of the world hold him back from reaching his eternal goal. Paine believed that “the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” But I do not think that he was seeking for glory or fame. His glory was the accomplishment of a goal. It was the achievement of a dream.

    Paine truly had the ambition and fire in his heart to achieve that dream of a free, independent America. And he worked hard to do just that, albeit in a different way. He was able to influence many people and move the cause of liberty by using written persuasion, a skill that he had developed throughout his life. Paine wrote and published Common Sense regardless of the fact that he knew it would be dangerous to publicly sell. It was a call for war against Britain, but he was willing to take the risk for his country. He was willing to pay the price. Paine was ready to change the world. And he did, starting with Thomas Jefferson and George Washington – two heroes of the Revolution and two truly great leaders – were both greatly influenced to move the cause of liberty because of Paine's impact and inspiration that was received through his writing. This affected the cause of liberty in America to a huge extent.

    For example, Washington had looked for compromise rather than independence for America. Because of Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense, Washington began to acknowledge the possibility of independence. Four days after January 31^st, 1776, he told Congress to notify Great Britain that “if nothing else could satisfy a tyrant and his diabolical ministry, we are determined to shake off all connections with a state so unjust and unnatural.” Washington continued on to show us more about how he was influenced through Paine's writing. Even though Washington may not have expressed his political views in writing, “Washington had almost certainly entertained thoughts of separation before he read Common Sense. It was what he called the 'sound doctrine and unanswerable reasoning' of Paine's pamphlet that solidified his belief in the righteousness and the practicability of independence.”

    Jefferson adopted many of Paine's ideas and concepts that are in Common Sense. Many people believe that if Paine hadn't written Common Sense, the Declaration of Independence would not be the same as it is today. It is obvious that..

“The ideas of Common Sense echo throughout Jefferson's Declaration, not merely in defense of independence, but also in support of a new system of government. Without predicting the imminent establishment of an American Republic as Paine did, Jefferson nonetheless conveyed the promise of a new era in human liberty The true genius of Jefferson's document equals that of Paine's pamphlet. They both represented not merely a defiant break with the past but also an audacious and hopeful vision of the future.”

But it did not end there. John Adams, our second President, spoke of how Paine's influence continued to ripple through the hearts of all people, saying, “I know not whether any man in the world has had more influence on its inhabitants or affairs for the last thirty years than Tom Paine.”

    Thomas Paine was not only a man who, sacrificed his time, his effort, and even his physical possessions for the liberty and freedom of his country, but a man who did not shrink from the service of his country in the face of adversity. He utilized his skills and abilities to effectively inspire and influence others to fight for independence just as he was. We must have the same ambition and courage. Will you stand up for your country, and let your example ripple on to the fellow citizens of your nation?

Inspiring Greatness [Michael Behunin] - 3.20.11

    Inspiring greatness in others is a characteristic of Statesmen, and in order to be an effective leader, you must be able to inspire not only yourself, but others. Whether you are mentally limited, socially challenged, or have many emotional problems, you can inspire yourself and others by demanding and expecting responsibility, strength, and empowerment of self and those that you associate with. Stephen Covey said, "Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves ... To communicate the worth and potential of others so clearly, so powerfully, and so consistently that they really come to see it in themselves is to set in motion the process of seeing, doing, and becoming." In order for me to become an inspiring leader, I must be able to see the great potential in others. If I am unable to see their potential, how will I ever be able to communicate it to them in a powerful, clear, and consistent way that inspires them to see it themselves, do something great, and become a more effective person? When we entrust someone with responsibility, that person is naturally inspired to take that responsibility and do their best. We all have greatness within us, we simply need to see that greatness, do something with it, and become great through our actions.

    Michael Behunin is a leader and statesman that has truly realized how to inspire. He expects everyone to take responsibility, and to have the strength to do something great. Every time that I've spoken to him, or listened to him teach a lesson, I feel like he has inspired me to do something great,   whether it be to serve others, read the scriptures and ponder them more, or even have the passion to go ahead and do something that I had been feeling uneasy about. So, how does he do it? I sat down to interview him, and he told me about something that he created, called "The Strong Model." It is a model that he uses in every setting and relationship in which he is involved. "It is a model of faith and belief in others, and in their potential. It is the awareness and implementation of the model's concepts that allows him to demand strength of himself and others in the form of empowerment.

    The model itself implies that no matter what disciplinary group you are in (authority, peer group, and self,) you can achieve a value-based performance (or empowered performance) through caring and helpful intent. An empowered performance goes beyond simple obedience. Simple obedience only requires adherence to whatever the authority dictates, whether the performance is established upon an extrinsic reward or threatened punishment. In order to achieve a value-based performance, you must have a base value. A base value is like a moral code that you live by, and that guides your actions. In Behunin's case, the value-based system that he uses in every relationship is established upon the following three principles: "(1) Do no harm to yourself, (2) Do no harm to others, (3) Be a positive (value-based) contributor to your world." By using this value-based system, we can empower ourselves and others through love and example.

    During my interview with him, Behunin told me how he was able to empower a student, which led the student to inspire those around him. This student that he spoke of had a form of autism, called Aspergers Syndrome. Because of his disability, he had many difficulties while interacting with his peers in the previous schools he had attended. He wanted to find a way to cope with his disability, and learn how to communicate with others in a more effective manner. He applied for Behunin's Top Flight Academy, an organization for troubled teens which provides flight school as a part of the student's curriculum, so that they may work on becoming actual, licensed pilots. Because Behunin expected his students to be strong enough to accept responsibility and to demand strength of themselves, this student was able to literally soar. Behunin said,

“...not only was this student able to begin interacting in a more 'empowered' manner with his peers, he was also able to excel in his flight skills. He ended up becoming one of the best pilots ever to have gone through Top Flight. An amazing side-benefit to the Strong Model in this school is that his entire peer group (consisting of students with ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, etc..) evolved to a level of amazing strength and caring, in the face of often extremely irritating issues associated with their Asperger's peer. They rallied around him, sought to help him, strengthened one another in being sure not to bully or 'trigger' him to explode. They became a stronger, amazingly unified and powerful, caring, value-driven, empowered group of young people ... In other words, the group became stronger because the individuals became stronger."

    This is but one of the many examples that Behunin shared with me, in which he was able to empower someone, who then inspired themselves and others to great strength and love for their peers. Another story that he related to me was about a student who had an extremely violent history in other schools and was deeply involved in gang activities. His mother had pleaded with Behunin to accept the teen into his Top Flight Academy, after all the many "troubled teen" centers that the child had been to before. The student had beat up staff members and fellow students on a daily basis. Behunin finally interviewed the teen, and presented the Strong Model to him before accepting him into the school. Behunin said,

"I challenged him to discover that bringing harm to others, lacking empathy for their issues, problems, and responsibilities was a sign of weakness, not strength... We did not (and would not) seek to control our students ... We demanded that they control themselves. He took the challenge. Interestingly, by the time he left the program he was genuinely and deeply loved and respected by all of the other students, as well as the staff members. He became a protector, and an advocate for the weakest of the students. He became openly the person his mother always believed was within himself. He left the school empowered with a completely different perspective on life. He is, perhaps, the most amazing student I ever worked with."

Reflecting upon these examples, it is obvious that we just have to encourage strength and responsibility in ourselves so that we can inspire others to do the same. When you inspire someone, you are asking them to do something great, and you are showing them that they can do it! It is truly impossible to achieve greatness by holding out a prize for accomplishment, or threatening someone with a punishment if they don't do what you asked. The only way that someone can reach their full potential and influence everyone in their peer group is if you make it known to them that they have the strength, they have the power, and they have the responsibility to take care of what you have asked of them. Gordon B. Hinckley said,

"No system can long command the loyalties of men and woman which does not expect of them certain measures of discipline, and particularly self-discipline ... Permissiveness never produced greatness. Integrity, loyalty, and strength are virtues whose sinews are developed through the struggles that go on within as we practice self-discipline under the demands of divinely spoken truth."

So, will you do what Behunin has done, empowering yourself, by accepting responsibility and being strong enough to do what you need to do? Will you love those around you, and trust them with responsibility, and let them know that they have the strength to overcome anything that's holding them back from a goal? And will you demand and expect empowerment of self, in order to become a leader that truly inspires others to greatness?