As you all know, Jimmy Carter was the 39th President of the United States from 1976-1980. I was born in 1978 so I have no recollection of his presidency. From what I hear, from every single person who has volunteered the information, Jimmy Carter was perceived to be an ineffective president. Some called him naïve others called him incompetent. One person said, “He tried to run this country with his Christian values and you just can’t do that successfully.” This person wasn’t saying that Jimmy Carter proselytized or even favored Christianity during his term. What this person was getting at was that he felt that President Carter valued peace over national security. I didn’t know enough to agree or disagree. Other than very little knowledge about an oil shortage and a hostage crisis in Iran, I don’t know much about his presidency at all. He is not my hero because he was president, just as Ronald Reagan isn’t a hero to many people because he was an actor. What is important to me is what Jimmy Carter has done after his presidency.
First of all, Jimmy Carter is one of my heroes because he is a man of deep Christian faith. He has shared this faith with others for decades through writing faith-based books and daily devotionals. I read his words every day for a year and I have a deeper faith because of it. Jimmy Carter shows me that it is possible to have Christian faith, even an Evangelical faith, yet not to be affiliated or aligned with the political far right. His faith has led him to tirelessly work for peace through The Carter Center, which he founded for the purposes of “waging peace, fighting disease, and building hope.” In 2002, Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” You can learn about the Carter Center and their work by clicking on The Carter Center.
Jimmy Carter has spent his life serving God in Jesus Christ through trying to bring people together to settle their conflicts in peaceful rather than violent ways. That is why he is one of my heroes. Here are some quotes from him:
“I think always to tell the truth in a sometimes blatant way, even though it might be temporarily unpopular, is the best approach.”
“A fundamentalist can’t bring himself or herself to negotiate with people who disagree with them because the negotiating process itself is an indication of implied equality.”
“I separated from the Southern Baptists when they adopted the discriminatory attitude towards women, because I believe what Paul taught in Galatians that there is no distinction in God's eyes between men and women, slaves and masters, Jews and non-Jews - everybody is created equally in the eyes of God.”
“I am a nuclear physicist by training and a deeply committed Christian. I don't have any doubt in my own mind about God who created the entire universe. But I don't adhere to passages that so and so was created 4,000 years before Christ, and things of that kind.”
“My position has always been, along with many other people, that any differences can be resolved in a nonviolent way.”
“There should be an honest attempt at the reconciliation of differences before resorting to combat.”
“Too many of us now tend to worship self indulgence and consumption.”
“War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other's children.”
“We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes—and we must.”
