Washington Briefing - Interview with Focus Action VP Gary Schneeberger

Gary is the Vice President of Media Relations for Focus On The Family Action and also works with other facets of the organization including Family News in Focus and CitizenLink. You can check out his bio here.

He is also very smart and he agreed to do an interview for my blog. Now how cool is that? … verra cool.

In this interview we talk about the Presidential candidates who spoke at The Washington Briefing, how this is not your father’s pro-family movement any more and Gary shares a personal message to those overcoming homosexuality.

Republicans Stump it Up for Values Voters

Gary shared that for the attendees at the Briefing it was a unique chance to here from the candidates “unfiltered and face to face. There isn’t a media filter and all the candidates had the same amount of time to make their case. ” He continued, “What the candidates said indicate how much they respect Value Voters. I find that very encouraging. We should be encouraged.”

All of the candidates running for President in ‘08 were invited to speak but only the nine Republican candidates showed. I guess the Democrats don’t care to address a huge portion of the American population represented at this assembly.

Going into the conference, I was experiencing personal confusion on who to vote for and was hearing that this confusion was present across the Church in the United States. I asked Schneeberger if this conference would work toward clearing that confusion up. He responds, “It will to the extent that lower tier will get the same exposure as the first tier level. It levels the playing field. This way you strip away the pre-conceived front runners and back leaders. It wall also take away the misconception that only one of the candidates can beat Hillary. All candidates will have a chance to show their charisma, knowledge and passion equally.”

We did this interview before the straw poll results were announced. I asked Schneeberger if he would predict the outcome of the straw poll being conducted at The Washington Briefing. He said he would find it shocking if the winner was not Huckabee because the lines were out of the room to vote after he spoke. The real question would be who comes in 2nd or 3rd. I asked him who he thought might be in those positions and he said either Romney or Thompson depending on his view of the crowd reactions to their delivery and passion.

Since this interview, the announcement of the winners of the straw poll has been made. Romney won in the combined on site and online polling but on site Huckabee won by a ratio of almost five to one.

I asked Schneeberger about Thompson’s decrease in popularity that seemed to happen the moment he announced he was running for President. He astutely responds that “…this is nothing new. Back in the ’90’s people were wanting Colin Powell to be the President. They just absolutely loved him and they still do because he never ran! However, with Dukakis, same thing, before he announced he had a great following but the moment he announced … big decrease in popularity. Once you take a stand, people start falling away. Everybody loves you until you take a stand. The idea is always more alluring than the actual person’s stands.”

When Gary said that I just wanted to stop right there and chew on that for hours. What an amazingly obvious but yet profound thing to say. Christ, the ultimate example, went through something similar as does anyone with strong convictions today.

Now, I am NOT comparing Fred with Jesus! I am just trying to emphasize that Schneeberger’s response actually transcends the context of this interview.

This isn’t your Father’s Pro-Family Movement

I asked Schneeberger about Values Voters and their prioritizing of issues concerning homosexuality. He said that Focus Action always states that we should take our values into the booth with us. When events like in Maine where schools were handing out Birth control to 11 year olds, this is going to become a high priority because it affects the next generation. When liberalism is passed off on kids, you are going to see that it rises to the top of people lives. We are increasingly more aware of this encroachment by the use of “… special events, school assemblies, sex education … it is really indoctrination.” “You will also see, marriage, strangely enough, may come up again - it may rekindle because of the confusion in the states and fighting for the traditional family.”

But one thing Schneeberger insists on is that the Value Voters community must retire … right now … that we are “fighting against gay rights.” “This makes us sound like we don’t believe in rights. Of course we believe in certain rights for every human being. It’s special rights we are against and that is what they are seeking.” “We need to frame it with greater clarity and be consistently clear on what we are talking about. Plus, we have to be for something not simply against something. What we are for is what we believe to be of value to society and future generations. We must be seeking the greater good for society regardless of self interest. This is not your father’s pro-family movement.”

I LOVE that line.

Personal Message to those who struggle with Same Sex Attraction

Now, I should say in the interest of full disclosure that I consider Schneeberger a good friend. I see him quite often around the country for the Love Won Out events. We have had a lot of good (and often very funny) conversations over the past few years. So at this point I will just call him Gary :).

I asked Gary if he would like to say something to the readers of my blog who are struggling to overcome their same sex attraction. Gary shared,

“I only know a sliver of what you go through. As someone who struggled with alcoholism I know what it is like to struggle with compulsion, wanting to have fun and a good time. But eventually that began to be very destructive. It was destructive to myself and to others. Like you, I knew that this needs to change and had to work hard to make it happen.

While I can relate to you also as brothers and sisters in Christ, I can’t relate to the persecution you face. Nobody screamed at me that I was a fraud, liar and a drunk! There isn’t any social stigma toward overcoming alcoholism like there is for trying to live out a Biblical sexual ethic. I know that’s difficult.

In my ten years as a Christian the most authentic people, the people I admire the most, are those who are walking this (overcoming homosexuality) out.

Thank you Gary. Your words are very encouraging.

Conclusion:

So, there was a lot of value to the Republicans who came and spoke but I have to admit, I am still not clear on who to vote for. My heart is in one place and my head is in another. I will be posting an afterthoughts post later. I also like that there is a consistent message coming forward that Gary repeated of change within the pro-family movement on being more humble and positive. Not watered down but more realistic. I also like the fact that the current leadership and up and coming leadership of the pro-family movement know that the redemptive voice and a humble heart is as important as defending Biblical Truth. These elements really must go hand in hand or we are not being balanced.

Technorati Tags: Election ‘08, the Washington Briefing, Thompson, Huckabee, Ex-gay, Homosexuality, Schools, Birth Control, Values Voters, Gary Schneeberger, Focus Action, Citizenlink, Family News In Focus, Next Generation, Children, Alcoholism, Romney

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