The Johnson Family: We Surround Them!!

So Neil and I frequently listen to and watch Glenn Beck. For about 3 weeks leading up to this day (March 13th) he kept talking about this "We Surround Them" project that he was going to unveil. As many people are, he is tired of all the happenings in Washington and all the "bipartisan" mumbo jumbo that takes place. He talked about how we are a country that is too divided and too focused on parties rather than principles. He asked people three simple questions...

1) Do you watch the direction America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it?
2) Do you believe that your voice isn't loud enough to be heard anymore?
3) Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach...as if you're completely alone?

Well, he wanted people to realize that they're NOT alone. That there ARE things that we can agree upon. That this country was founded upon good principles that many still believe in today.

So he created the 9-12 project.

http://www.the912project.com

It is based on 9 principles, and 12 values - that if you believe in at least 7 of the principles, then you have something in common with the rest of us. It also stands for a date ... 9-12-2001. The day after the terrorist attacks on our country. A day that we all stood together - united in the belief that America would prevail.

9 Principles :

1. America Is Good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” From George Washington’s first Inaugural address

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

Charity “Is it not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worthy of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority of to share my personal opinion.

On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson

So on to the post...

He unveiled the project on his TV show on the Fox News Channel. He asked that people gather in their communities to watch the show together. We went to the gathering at the Noah's building in South Jordan. There were well over 1000 people in attendance - it was incredible! It was nice to know that there were so many like-minded people around us that we could band together with.

We were able to have some nice chats with some local "well-knowns" in the politic world. Mark Shurtleff (Utah's Attorney General) was there, as well as Jason Chaffetz (Utah's newest Congressman.) The whole event was such a morale booster. That there are other people out there who have the same concerns we do. All-in-all, it was a really neat event to be a part of.

God Bless America!!!

(The sign Neil is by is the "Flag," if you will, of the 9-12 project. It is based on a flag that Benjamin Fraklin

's newspaper

the Pennsylvania Gazette printed to warn the colonies that they must band together in order to achieve freedom from England. More info on the original flag can be found HERE.)