“Europe will never be like America. Europe is a product of history. America is a product of philosophy.” Margaret Thatcher
Man, woman and child set out leaving all that was familiar to them to come to a land that was untamed and filled with many unknowns. There are those that hate the fact that the white man came to what is now known as the United States to colonize and develop, but we have become a place where people aspire to be like. When I say “like” I mean similar. The United States is like no other nation on God’s green earth.
Through the times of human history we have seen similar stories. One that comes to mind is when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt which you can read for yourself in the Book of Exodus chapters 5-13. Living under the hands of a tyrant was not living at all and that is what we are witnessing in today’s events. We Americans did it during the Revolutionary War 1775. The colonist had a yearning that is in all men, a yearning to be free.
Many nations around the globe today find that element of freedom a foreign concept. I will allude to the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan a bit for my analogy. Think of freedom being a foreign food or candy. At first taste you don’t like or afraid to admit you like in fear of being ridiculed over becoming to much like those that offered the treat, but over time after being exposed to this foreign treat you begin to like the taste of it. You begin to notice all the flavors of culture and heritage that went into producing this treat called freedom. Not wanting this experience to end you want to have some for yourself so you can share with others knowing that they will respond like you once did, unsure.
Freedom is mans every desire. We saw this reaction in 2009 with the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The people felt that their voices were not properly considered, so they took to the streets to voice their outrage with the results. The people felt they were cheated by this tyrant, dictator and now wanted the free countries around the world to stand with them in protest, well where was the United States in matter? Obama chose not to get involved even after Ahmadinejad turned off all internet connections and TV broadcasting showing the riots in the streets.
We are seeing people wanting to be free. With the continual development and unfolding of events in Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Syria following suit, Americans need to support Democracy. President Obama did take an admirable approach to the issue, but his lack of American foreign policy experience left him in a bad position due to his past comments when he gave a speech in Cairo before winning the election in 2008.
Allow me to use an example I learned when taking a class in world perspectives. When serving in the missions’ field you must allow those that give their lives over to Christ to worship the way they are lead to worship. We can not expect people in the Amazon to worship Christ like those in a Baptist church located in the Heartland of America. Freedom in Christ is what these believers in the Amazon are living out, so must democracy.
All America can and should do is encourage the people of Egypt to demand fair elections this September. If they want democracy then they should practice it now. Prospective leaders or candidates should be groomed and vetted to ensure the peoples desires are met and free of any pressure made from terror groups that see an opportunity to capitalize on the situation. Egypt needs to hold elections that will elect a man or woman that best represents Egypt.
How President Hosni Mubarak stayed in power this long, 30 years, is beyond me. Who elected him in the last 30 years? Mubarak needs to be a man of his word and not run for re-election, on the other hand appointing a president because he is a face in the crowd could also be equally bad for Egypt.
Mohamed ElBaradei may be a Nobel Peace Prize winner, but does that make him president material? If he truly believes in a free democratic Egypt then he needs to show a degree of tolerance to Israel and that he is willing to allow the sitting president to finish out his term, which ends in September. Then and only then if the electing body of Egypt concludes that he is what they want, then the throne of the presidency is his for the time being.
Freedom takes responsibility from all that enjoy it. Freedom can come at a cost that many do not want to put up. Freedom is still a foreign substance in many regions around the globe and America needs to be that model of freedom. My prayers go out to those that want freedom, but don’t know how to get it. My prayers go out to those that find themselves in leadership positions that require them to protect freedom. Man was created to be free, not enslaved or repressed.
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