Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Empathy Mining

Home
Progressive Christian
On Game Changers and Changers of the Game

On Game Changers and Changers of the Game

Last updated on: May 1, 2017 at 12:04 pm by Shane Phipps

On Game Changers and Changers of the Game 2017-05-01T12:04:49-04:00 Shane Phipps

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Game-Changer-logo2-e1389195541493

The world needs game changers. Game changers bring a new energy to a problem. They tackle it head on. They work with others to advance society. They take what is good in society and build upon it. They construct.

Lately, I’ve been looking for game changers but I am finding only changers of the game.

By way of a couple of examples…

In 2012, one of the races that gained national attention for Indiana in that election was the highly contentious competition for the state’s Superintendent of Public Education. The election for the state’s highest education post is normally not one that demands a lot of attention, but in 2012, it was different. Indiana was embroiled in a huge debate over the direction of public education with a controversial incumbent, Tony Bennett running for reelection and an unheralded newcomer, Glenda Ritz running as the challenger. Teachers across the state helped with a grassroots campaign and Glenda Ritz pulled off a stunning upset victory over a much better funded Bennett campaign. The people spoke loud and clear—so loud and clear that Ritz actually received more total votes than did Mike Pence who won the election for governor that same year. Glenda Ritz was set to be a game changer, then Governor Pence changed the game.

Faced with the challenge of working together with a duly elected education leader with a different agenda than his, Governor Pence went to work. He decided the best way to deal with the challenge was to change the way the game is played. The self-proclaimed champion of small government created another state education board that he could control and gave that second board many of the powers that Glenda Ritz was elected to have. In doing so, Pence essentially stripped Ritz of much of her power right before the eyes of the millions of Hoosier voters who put her in office. In the subsequent years, Ritz had a very difficult time doing what she was elected to do. Then, just this year, the state legislature voted to remove the Superintendent of Public Education position from the ranks of elected offices and will be making it an appointed position. Message sent. If the game gets tough, change the rules.

Now, President Trump is talking about how hard it is to be president. He says he thought it would be much easier. You see, he is used to being a man who gives orders and watching people do his bidding as a business leader. But as POTUS, he finds himself constricted by pesky things like checks and balances and the Constitution. He is now hinting that such things, the very things our nation is built upon, are “archaic rules” and that he would like to consolidate power so that he can work unfettered and become the “closer” he believes he was hired to be.

In essence, he is saying that it is too hard to be a game changer, so he wants to take the easy way out and change the game.

President Trump seemed to appreciate those checks and balances that restrict a president when the Republicans blocked President Obama at nearly every turn during his administration. Remember when President Obama tried to fill a Supreme Court vacancy and the Republicans absolutely would not let it happen? Then, when the Democrats dared filibuster the nomination of Judge Gorsuch, the Republicans changed the game again.

Both sides, admittedly, are guilty of failing to be the type of game changers that find ways to work with the opposition. However, lately, one side seems to be gaining an awful lot of ground by trying to change the game. That concerns me and I think it should concern you, too.

Checks and balances built into our Constitution are the chewing gum and duct tape that have held this grand experiment of a nation together, despite our best efforts to destroy it, for more than 240 years.

God help us if anyone manages to change that game now.

Previous Post

April 13, 2017

How Does it Look to You?

Next Post

May 4, 2017 Matthew 25:40 Jesus' Universal Health Care

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 150 word story 2nd Amendment AARP abortion addiction aging alcoholism Anderson Wigwam Andrew Jackson Appalachia Basketball bias bigotry Black Lives Matter Christianity Christmas, Constitution, Bill of Rights Civil War Clinton cloning confirmation bias Conservation Constitution Controversial Creationism Creepy tales David Bowie depression Dogs Education Election Electoral College Empathy Environmental Evolution exvangelical faith Family Family History Fantasy Genealogy Genesis George Washington Ghetto Global Warming Gun Control health care High School Basketball Hillary History Hockey homosexuality Hoosier Hysteria Hoosiers Hunting immigration income inequality Interview ISTEP Jurassic Park Kaepernick Ken Hamm Kids say the Darndest things LGBTQ Love MAGA Manifest Destiny Merit Pay Mike Pence Muhammad Ali Multiple Perspectives Music Music Review Nashville News media NHL No Child Left Behind NRA Paradox Parenting Pence Perspective Politics POTUS Poverty Predators Race Religion religious freedom Sci Fi Science Secret of Life sexual harrassment Short Stories Slavery Small Town Indiana Smashville Social Commentary social media sports Stress technology Terrorism Thomas Jefferson Trauma Trump Turning 50 Uncategorized war Washington DC White Privilege wooly mammoths words in red Writing Writing Process Writing, Writing Process Young Earth

Select a Month June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What physical affliction did Job suffer?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Leprosy Broken bones Painful boils Blindness

Support this
Column