John Damoose

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

While I have tremendous compassion for those who are pregnant through rape or incest, and believe we should treat them with the compassion and love of Jesus, adding a death through abortion only compounds the tragedy. I believe that abortion is the killing of an actual human baby created by God, and therefore believe abortion should never be allowed.

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

The government really needs to get back to what it was intended to do - things like "provide for the common defense" and other things that cannot be done by individuals. I would go through the entire budget and eliminate anything that isn't directly within that original purview of promoting the general welfare, etc. We simply cannot afford luxuries, and the fact is, there is much that government has absorbed that should be accomplished by churches and other citizen organizations.

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Yes

It means exactly what it says, that Congress shall make no laws respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. So, we should not have a national church. And other than that, the government should not interfere with the church in any way. People have spent decades saying that the separation means people of faith should somehow be limited in expressing their views and ideas in the public square, which was not remotely the intent. "Separation of church and state" was intended to protect the church - not the other way around.

Strongly Disagree

I have always opposed Obamacare, but the fact is, the system wasn't great before the ACA. As a small business owner, we regularly saw health insurance premiums rise 20% per year - all while benefits were decreasing. Obamacare sought to dramatically increase the power of government and ended up trying to force people of strong faith to help pay for things we may find abhorrent. But we do need to find ways to protect the poorest of the poor among us. To help promote effective and affordable health insurance, I believe we must look honestly at the root causes of our current problems. Medical malpractice insurance because of an out of control legal system has driven the cost for medical care through the roof, for example. Rampant drug use and other criminal activities have put an enormous drain on the system, so we need to help addicts more and ruthlessly pursue drug traffickers. There are many more examples.

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

I believe people genuinely fleeing political and religious persecution should be allowed to enter through proper channels claiming by officially seeking asylum. I also believe that hard working, well intentioned families should be able to apply for immigration through proper channels - that is, after all, the American dream. And, I support student visas for people who will come to America to learn skills, ideas and trades that will benefit their countries when they return home. All of these immigrations should be coordinated by the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and other relevant government organizations. Also, I believe there must be tight scrutiny throughout the process of arriving in the United States through citizenship to ensure those who engage in criminal behaviors are disqualified to stay in the country. Throughout the process, though, we should treat those immigrants with dignity and respect as the Lord would have us do.

Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

I am a follower of Jesus, and believe He is the Lord and only path to salvation. I look to the Lord for guidance and believe the Holy Spirit informs us on a daily basis. I have worked directly for many ministries of many different denominations that are Jesus-centered and Scripturally based - from starting my career producing documentaries at the Christian Broadcasting Network, to co-authoring a book on God's purpose for America with Dr. Bill Bright, Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (the book was called Red Sky in the Morning.) I have made promotional films on church building ministries around the world - throughout India, China, Cambodia, Vietnam and East Africa. I have been a part of a behind-the-scenes Jesus-centered group in Washington, DC, whose only public program is the National Prayer Breakfast, every year in February and attended by every President since Eisenhower. This involvement has put me at the feet of some of the world's great Christian leaders for 3 decades.

Very Conservative

I have always been very conservative, but as Mike Pence said, "I'm not in a bad mood about it." I simply believe this set of principles offers the best approach to government. That said, I believe that we, more than anyone, need to treat others as we would like to be treated and share the Love of Jesus in all situations. Therefore, while I absolutely agree with vigorous efforts to protect our borders, for example, I think we need to be very careful to talk about the people trying to come into our country as children of God. It is a subtle distinction, and the policies I would support are very conservative, but I think as Christians we must exhibit a sense of grace and love. I operate my film production business based on Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

Since my days as the President of the College Republicans at the University of Michigan in the early 1990's, I have been fighting political correctness and secular humanism that is overtaking our society. Shortly afterwards, through my involvement with the Christian Coalition and Christian Broadcasting Network - working on programs designed to uncover God's plan for America, I received a crash course in the kind of leadership our country needs. Co-Authoring a book on the American story with Dr. Bill Bright put me under his mentorship for a long period of time, helping me understand what type of leadership Jesus expects from us. This began a sequence of mentors who introduced me to Godly leadership, most notably Doug Coe, who mentored me intensely over a twenty year period and modeled, through his relationships, the type of selfless leadership we need. And sitting at the feet of leaders for the national television specials I produced prepared me to take a leadership role in government.

No.

I believe that we, as Christians, have the responsibility to lead with grace and civility. The great spiritual mentors I've had like Bill Bright, Harald Bredesen, and Doug Coe invested their time into shaping who I am and what I believe. They modeled this grace and civility every day of their lives. So too my faithful parents, and my amazing wife and kids have inspired me. There will be vigorous conflicts, which is expected since we adhere to a set of principles that is far different from the prevailing trends of the world. But it is on us to attempt to persuade and attract people to the views we hold dear. I always laugh when someone accuses a follower of Jesus of trying to "force their beliefs" on someone else because we know that isn't even possible. If someone says "Jesus is Lord" only out of compulsion, it doesn't count. So, my goal in leading is to celebrate the truth, and invite people to fall in love with the ideas and principles that have driven me since I was young.

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

Yes

I believe in the 2nd Amendment, and importantly, I believe in the Bill of Rights. If any of these rights become subject to prevailing opinions, they are all in danger. Given the current tide, the next right to come under fire will be Freedom of Religion. There is a process in place to change the Constitution, but it is for good reason very difficult to do. That said, violent criminals have willfully given up that right, and we should greatly increase enforcement against them.

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Disagree

1. Develop better solutions to prepare for future crises that both protect health and the livelihood of families. 2. Michigan, like many other states, is finally making some progress on abortion. Yet, last year, our new Governor championed a radical bill to remove all restrictions on abortion - even late term partial birth and dismemberment abortions. The bill failed because we have a Republican legislature. But this will be a fight in the coming years. I want to introduce legislation that echoes some of the progress in Alabama and elsewhere. 3. Michigan has been hit harder by the coronavirus crisis than most states, and workers are struggling to support their families. Small businesses have been decimated. I will work to introduce legislation to help get our economy back on track and streamline government to help grow businesses.

Racism, when it genuinely exists, in antithetical to American principles. I think it may be appropriate to institute a one-time "National Day of Repentance" to help heal our land from the generations of sin from segregation and slavery. My family is multiracial, and based on the different racial background of my wife and me, our four beautiful kids are a veritable United Nations of racial backgrounds. But, I think there is danger in overestimating how much genuine racism there is today, and question what that modern definition of racism has become. Those who have paid the price for serious racism like "whites only" drinking fountains should be offended by some of the claims of racism that exist today. Racism does not extend to lifestyle choices, for example. And, people often use accusations of racism to forward radical social agendas, especially in universities. I believe genuine racism is morally wrong, but many people use the word to advance radical agendas under its guise.