The CHP has been around for 20 years; I have been its leader for 13 years. But apart from the CV Marketing survey we commissioned, we have never been included in a national poll; I have never been interviewed by CBC (except in a mocking “panel” conducted by comedian Ralph benMurghi); our policies have never been reported by CBC.
This exclusion is a repudiation of the CBC’s proud tradition of public service; it smack of either laziness or bias—perhaps even bigotry.
Yes, there may be a bit of left-wing bias at play here, but they didn't report on the Green Party for years, either.
Why?
Because no one in the party gave enough of a damn to do anything noteworthy or to promote their views.
In the age of the Internet, they have done much better.
Why?
Because they are present.
It is extremely aggravating to read this letter when there is a world of opportunity available on the internet for the promotion of CHP policies and for the CHP to make a name for itself.
But what has it done?
It has squandered this opportunity.
How?
By not keeping abreast of changes on the internet.
By not taking advantage of those changes.
By expecting other people to do the work for them. "The liberal media doesn't report on us; Lifesite ignores us; etc etc".
I know the CHP is small party. I know it doesn't have many members. That's why it's even more important for its members to have a sense of initiative. If you want the CHP to develop a following, you have to do the things that create a following: namely, blog; participate in forums; make your presence known at protests; run candidates in every riding; reach out to people; operate an email list-- etc.
Now to give the CHP some credit, there has been a little bit of effort.
But you can't rely on a little bit of effort. Operating a party is an everyday event. If you can't be bothered to blog, tweet, write articles, email to members, score some interviews,make Youtube videos, etc etc every single day, then the media and more importantly the electorate cannot be bothered to pay attention to you.
It is ultimately the CHP's job to reach out to voters and publicize their policies-- it is not the media's job. The media's job is to make a profit and appeal to what interests the audience. If you cannot interest a non-paying audience, how do you expect to appeal to a paying one?
In fairness to Ron Gray, the outreach effort cannot rely solely on one individual. And no, he can't do it by himself. But he could at least blog once a week, tweet every day or issue a press release once a month.
But Christian Heritage Party members must also make the effort to publicize their policies and make their party known. There are only a few blogging CHiPpers on the net. That's patently ridiculous. How do you expect people to take you seriously if there are only a handful of people blogging for you? That sounds like people are not willing to give it a serious effort to get elected.
If Christian Heritage Party members did the things to attract people to their message, then they would have a following, an audience, a bunch of people eager to see what the CHP leader has to say.
I know the excuses: I'm not paid for this. I'm busy with my job, busy with my kids. As the mother of three kids, I am conscious of the challenges. But the truth is: if you're too busy to put any effort in promoting the party and being a little more partisan, then you're too busy to get elected. That is the cold hard truth. How badly do you want this party to gain attention? How badly do you want the electorate to take your issues seriously?
The reason I am taking the time to make these statements is that these lessons apply for all social conservatives. There are still pockets of social conservatives who blame the media for all their ills, and it annoys the heck out of me, because in this day and age we're perfectly capable of by-passing the media and draw a following. The age of "it's the liberal media's fault" is over. If you are not blogging, writing letters, participating in forums, emailing articles, and doing something every day to advance your issue you are part of the problem.
We know that there are a lot of apathetic social conservatives in the world. Then there are social conservatives who are interested but waiting for someone to tell them what to do.
They are not helping us very much.
If you want to advance the social conservative cause, then you must take the initiative. Find some "thing" you'd want to do each and every single day, and do it. You don't have to do a lot, you just have to do it on a daily basis, and intelligently. Reach out and network with other social conservatives-- get on their email lists, make friends on facebook, get a twitter account, go to Free Dominion.
And if you don't know how to do these things, then find out!. If you can operate the internet, you can find out how to do anything you need to do to advance the cause of social conservatism.
Never accept "I can't do it, I don't know how".
How badly do you want to save the unborn?
If your own family members were on the verge of death, and you had to learn how to blog, email, network, etc, would you learn how to do it, or would you helplessly say "I don't know how".
You'd get on the internet and learn how it's done.
Every social conservative must develop that same sense of urgency.
If we do not develop that same technological, media, cultural and political savvy of the liberal elites, we will not advance our causes.
Those are the cold hard facts.
If you refuse to do so, then you are behaving in a self-defeating manner.
If there are not enough people ready to dedicate their lives to promoting the CHP,and by analogy, social conservatism, then we're doomed. The question remains: how badly do social conservatives want to advance their agenda? If you'd rather have a comfy life and not be bothered, and let someone else do the politcking, then we have your answer. If you are burning for the day when traditional values are restored in Canada, then you must take the initiative and promote your views.
It's as simple as that.
The age of learned helplessness is over. The age of demanding the media be fair is over.
And most importantly, the age of not having an outlet is over.
So what are you going to do about it?
