Honest politics

Monday, October 15th, 2012, 9:00pm EDT

The thrill of participating in the political process can quickly lose its luster when we’re faced with campaign attack ads, news stories about politicians’ gaffes and indiscretions, and that friend at a party who is more than eager to let you know what you should think about a particular candidate or issue. This Time4Thinkers live chat will focus on staying alert to a truer, more inspired sense of government and removing feelings of frustration, impatience and anxiety often associated with the political process.

The chat will highlight the harmony and desire for good that unites all men – regardless of political ideologies or personalities – and can help us approach decision-making with clear vision of the highest sense of right (and hopefully keep us from throwing a remote at the TV the next time a campaign ad airs!).

Lane Brown is the social media manager for The Christian Science Monitor. She initiates and manages conversations about top news headlines and newsmakers over popular social networks on behalf of the Monitor, which has more than 400K fans across the web on sites including Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. She has devoted most of the first decade of her career to working in public relations and social media endeavors, working with consumer brands, non-profits and sports and entertainment clients to connect with audiences worldwide. As a young voter, she is eagerly watching the current election cycle and praying to understand better how she can support civil and productive conversations around politics across all party lines. Lane is our guest host for this live chat. Find politics and election news from The Christian Science Monitor online through the Politics, Elections, and DC Decoder pages on www.CSMonitor.com.

Alan Wiersba learned the value of unbiased discussion as a member of the first debate team (where you have to argue on both sides of an issue) from his high school to go to the Ohio State finals. Those skills have served him well. Alan feels strongly that government will only work “for the people” when we have reduced the effects of special interest money in politics, and that it is the number one problem in the country. Since 1987, he has been involved with Common Cause, a forty-year-old nonpartisan national “Citizen’s Lobby.” In 2008, he was instrumental in helping Common Cause minimize voter disenfranchisement in the presidential election. In 2010, he was elected to the National Governing Board of Common Cause.
A life-long Christian Scientist, Alan graduated from MIT with a Computer Science degree. He has been a product manager, development manager, sales engineer, release manager, escalation manager for many products, focusing on document sharing technology, and he co-wrote with Larry Ellison the runner-up Best Computer Manual in country in 1986. Alan maintains an active involvement in his church community.

Jan Holden is a Christian Science Practitioner. When Alan Wiersba was invited to join the governing board of Common Cause, he accepted on the condition that his wife, Jan, be included in the meetings to focus on spiritual solutions through prayer for the issues they would be dealing with. The board accepted and now some members even proactively reach out to Jan for metaphysical support for Common Cause issues, and personal issues too! Jan served as a Christian Science nurse for twenty-two years in many capacities: private duty nurse, visiting nurse, camp nurse, baby nurse, supervisor, nursing school registrar, and nursing instructor. In 1999 she went into the full-time practice of Christian Science and relocated to Sacramento, California. Over the years, she has served in many capacities in church work and she and Alan currently live in Redwood Shores, California (near San Francisco).

Robin Hoagland is a Christian Science practitioner, lecturer, and teacher. While she had stints working in public radio, publishing, and as a freelance writer, she realized her true love was helping others through Christian Science. Being a part of the larger community has always been important to Robin. After Hurricane Katrina, her family took their hand tools and work clothes down to a hard-hit area and rolled up their sleeves for brush-clearing and salvage work. A few months later and a continent away, she sang hymns and prayed with a thriving congregation in the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo. Robin has a Christian Science talk titled Change the discourse - establishing harmony in health, home, and community and currently adapts this talk to help spiritualize thought about the elections and politics in general.