Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft saluted 1,400 benefactors of the Metro-Maryland Youth for Christ/Campus Life at the 32nd annual banquet on Monday, for shaping the future by transmitting Christian cultural values of forgiveness, hope and love to young people.
“It?s against my religion to impose my religion on others,” said the 79th U.S. attorney general and major architect of America?s post-Sept. 11 response to terrorism, who was often criticized in his 2001-05 term for his overt, on-the-job displays of his religious beliefs. “Some of those who are extremists decided they would try to impose on the United States their view of the world on Sept. 11, 2001.”
He said government can only regulate the “lowest and the least” societal standards, but true leadership inspires the “highest and the best.”
“That?s the difference between governance, which operates on the basis of mandates and impositions, and leadership, which operates on the basis of models and inspirations,” said Ashcroft, 64.
Ashcroft, who now runs a local lobbying firm, told the crowd at the Woodlawn fundraiser that qualities of true leadership include clarity, nobility anda unifying drive.
Remembering his minister father, who died shortly after joining his senator-elect son in a prayer for guidance in 1995, the former Missouri senator also said perseverance and the ability to relate to people as equals are qualities of true leaders.
Ashcroft?s speech was preceded by the testimonies of three youths, who recounted lives of despair that were turned around by Youth for Christ/Campus Life interventions.
The international Christian outreach organization, founded in 1944 by evangelist Billy Graham, conducts biannual “fun and fellowship” middle and high school conferences; student-led Campus Life leadership clubs; and opportunities for service to the needy throughout the world.
