If You Don’t Value Your Values, What are They Worth?

Can't we all agree that we agree that values and morals are something we can agree on?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “values.” Not so much the values of my baseball card collection, but what I stand for. My morals. The reasons I’m running for Governor in the first place. I look at the current leadership and think: where have all their basic human values gone?

It’s strikes me that if we zoom out from this polarized environment we’re in, we really all share a similar goal. Whether we think of them as traditional Christian values, or my secular-but-strong moral values, they’re the same: be a good person and look out for others and strive for the best life for me, my family, my friends, and my community both near and far.

So in this campaign, I do not want to lead with what party I’m running under, because that doesn’t define who I am, and it’s too easy to put up a wall if you don’t like the one I say. Instead, let’s talk about a vision for the state. Let’s discard our resignation that another rich, corporate sycophant is inevitably going to take the reigns in order to self-profit at our expense, and instead break the cycle and try something new: leadership that shares our basic human values.

I recently sat down for a discussion with a good friend, Jason Broyles, who earned his Masters in Theological Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School. I wanted to see if my values align with Christian values, since many of my fellow Tennesseans are Christian and therefore hold Christian values.

I was fascinated to hear Jason give solid examples of Jesus’s teachings that so closely match my vision for Tennessee. When I say “we” in the next few sentences I am in no way comparing myself to Jesus, John-Lennon-style. We both want to feed the hungry and heal the sick, and provide for those who need protection, like vulnerable communities, and children and the elderly. We value immigrants. We prefer wine to water.

“Love Thy Neighbor.”

Do we just carelessly repeat those words or do we dive in and think about what they mean? To me, loving your neighbor is looking out for the people of your community, through programs that can help kids get food if needed, and investing in education so all our neighbors can learn vector calculus which is helpful any time you go to the super market. It means treating anyone you run into with warmth and kindness. Waving at passing cars while walking your dog. It means making sure everyone has a chance to succeed, not just the already-rich.

You respect others. “Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You.”

“I haven’t lost my faith in the Golden Rule” (to quote the song Golden Rule by Sophie Gault).

Ask yourself, would you want to be handcuffed and arrested for the color of your skin and brutally thrown into a dirty prison with no way to contact your family? Of course not. So we have to stop doing that. Can you believe in 2025 in our great state of Tennessee and elsewhere in the Land of the Free we are doing this? It’s sickening.

If I am well-fed, I want others to be well-fed. If someone struggling eats a sandwich that Tennessee pays for, it doesn’t mean I am down one sandwich. I can still get the Hot Italian at Duke’s, I don’t care if I already had dinner, I’m still getting one, don’t at me.

There are endless examples of how my principles align with basic American principles and those of the Christian faith, too.

For those interested, we filmed the conversation so you’ll get some highlights for your eyes and tiny screens at some point.

I see no aisle in my life, so I don’t think about reaching across it - I think more about talking to people, human to human, because we really are on the same page even when it doesn’t feel like. Most of us know big companies are rigging the system against us - telling us that if we raise the minimum wage we’d hate it, trust me, you really wouldn’t like it, and most of us just want to have a good life, healthy, with good food (if you know me you know I’m talking about Buffalo Wings), and safe, affordable communities.

Let’s look at our values first and foremost. They hold a lot of value! I’m not asking anyone to change their political party. I’m asking you to consider your values, and my values as a candidate, and realize how much common ground we stand on. If we overlook where we agree, than our values will be worth the same as my Ryne Sandberg rookie cards. To be clear, they ain’t worth nothin’.