A Historic Day

It does not matter whether you hate George W. Bush or you hate Michael Moore. It does not matter whether you think the Iraq war was a good idea or a bad idea. It does not even matter if you are a Calvinist or an Arminian. Today was a historic day.

The purple finger held high has now become synonymous with Arabs who have long been silenced, whose voice is now being heard, even if only very faintly, in this imperfect election. Middle Eastern tyrranies are trembling at the ramifications of this election. Democracy targets the very building blocks upon which their throne is settled; minorities who hold tight reign over their nations are now facing the dilemma--change or be changed.

Natan Sharansky, in his book A Case for Democracy, unashamedly proclaims freedom as the antidote for terror. Sharansky, a former Soviet dissenter jailed for his protests against the Soviet government, compares the autocratic, petroliarchs of the Middle East to Soviet dictators. The battle cry of his book is "no appeasement for tyranny," and Sunday's election shook from palace to mosque with the first few notes of that symphony.

Sadly enough, moveon.org mentioned nothing of it and michaelmoore.com had this as their headline: "British Troops Killed in Plane Crash Near Baghdad"--in small print beneath that: "US Predicts More Violence After 'Great Day'." What a shame that these self-proclaimed truth-seekers cannot see through their own jaded perceptions to a moment that, depite your left or right leaning, marks the beggining of freedom in an area long imprisoned.

  • posted on 31 January 2005
  • by Jesse

InterAction:

31 January 20051. dramaturge:

I don't know about everyone else, but it warmed my heart to see so many Iraqis voting despite the danger that surrounded many polling places. The courage they displayed is worth emulating, and the example of taking pride in democracy is worth applying in our own lives. And I think God blessed yesterday, preventing major violence from disrupting the elections. It is wonderful to see.

31 January 20052. JDG:

I forgot to mention this, but keep in prayer the people of Iraq... the Sunni/Shiite dilemma of secular/religious government is not the biggest issue to settle--it's the salvation of their souls.

8 February 20053. XpressionCCR:

The Iraqi voters are my heroes!

I did think that it was a bit juvenile for those select freshmen republican representatives to sport the purple fingertip at the State-of-the-Union address. Is it just me, but was that in bad taste. I mean, it seems as though they were using it so lightly to support their party agenda and to say...hey look...we told you so. I thought it belittled the courage of those who took that mark upon themselves in the heat of falling bombs. Maybe it's just me though.

Finally...are there really any TRUE Arminians left? I know there are those who do not hold to reforemed theology. But, true Arminianism is not something that I have ever contacted in person.

8 February 20054. JDG:

I see your point with the purple fingertips. I suppose it's our American "fan" mentality. Paint your face, wear the big finger, make big signs and dye your finger purple to root on the winning team.

As for the Arminian, perhaps you're right. Is there any religion (past or present) that incorporates full-fledged Arminianism in its doctrine?

11 February 20055. dramaturge:

what being the definition of "full-fledged" arminianism?

12 February 20056. JDG:

"man-centered-save-yourself-if-you-can-and-devil-take-the-hindmost"

Also, read:

http://www.outsidethecamp.org/gospatone.htm

It's a ways down the page.

YourThoughts?


(Minutia)

This entry was written by Jesse on Monday, January 31, 2005 at 10:16 AM and appears in the World chapter. The previous article was entitled, "Post-Modern Must Reads", and the next entry is called, "The Burning Hut". Bookmark the permalink, save it to del.icio.us or Digg it.

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