What Makes America Exceptional? Austin Ramirez Shares His View with Christian Business Leaders.
Austin Ramirez, president and CEO of HUSCO International, had the honor to serve as keynote speaker at the Christian Business Leaders Summit, held at the Wisconsin Lutheran College on October 17, 2017. The one-day annual event attracts leaders from the Milwaukee area and is sponsored by the Center for Christian Leadership.
During the speech, Austin shared lessons learned during his year in Washington, D.C., as a White House Fellow. He described how his faith was tested while working with elected politicians. But he also explained how he walked away from the experience with a stronger perspective on what makes the United States of America exceptional.
Below are excerpts from his speech.
What Makes America Exceptional
There is nothing inherently exceptional about America. America is exceptional when we strive for the principles set forth in our Declaration of Independence: unalienable rights for all human beings, and limited government that exists for the purpose of protecting those rights. We have repeatedly failed to live up to these ideals throughout our history, but the arc of our trajectory is towards justice.
The Prescription for Keeping America Exceptional
I believe we need to stop focusing so much on criticizing our politicians and start investing more of our energy trying to model the behavior of Christ. My prescription is two-fold:
- Focus as much on the character of our elected representatives as we do on their policy positions. Character eats policy for lunch!
- Invest our energy into modeling Christ’s character in our own lives, in our own families, in our businesses, and in our communities.
Please see the video at https://vimeo.com/245439997
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