In the end...it will be by a dramatic, miraculous spirit of revival in morality, patriotism and consitituional thought...or it will be through the most dreadful of circumstances that literally drives us to our knees and purges society of the malcontents by its natural selection.
...and, IMHO, God in Heaven will be the dispenser.
We must educate, communicate, defend, reason and have great faith in either case. On the first hand to bring about the former if it can be brought about (and I believe it can!)...on the other hand to have a faithful remnant to get through the latter and come out the other side with a nation, a constitution and a people intact.
Hard work and perhaps decades before it breaks one way or the other. But with moral issues at the forefront like abortion, open-unabashed homsexuality, and with the dangerous worldwide geo-political situation...its going to come unless we see that revival spirit first.
II Chron 7:14
I'm a Republican-American, but I Love You Anyway
An attempt, possibly in vain, to turn the tide.
I encourage those of good will to turn from this hopeless, bottomless well of defeat and embrace a new paradigm. Because, we need you.
You see, we Republican-Americans are not the stereotypes you have formulated in your minds. When you realize that, you might begin heading back to the surface.
Barack Obama, newly minted Senator from Illinois, realizes that. "We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and I have gay friends in the red states." I love this line, and the sentiment it represents. Remember it?
Continuing on this theme...
I am a Republican-American, but I drive a hybrid-engine Toyota Prius. Not because I'm green, but because I cannot see a future where our security is mortgaged to the mullahs of Iran. I have listened to you.
I am a Republican-American, but I have been privileged to have gay friends. One is a woman whose smile brightens many a day, and whose courage and strength of spirit compares to that of the Green Berets (and I have known a few of them, too). Another was a man who, knowing that I was "soooo straight," made it a point to make me laugh every time he saw me. The laughter ended when he died of a vicious, wasting disease that he contracted from a man to whom he had dedicated his life, and who had dedicated to him, as well. I try to be worthy of him by supporting those seeking to end that disease and its hold on mankind. I have listened to you.
I am a Republican-American, but I am saddened when those who seem so certain of God's judgment are unwilling to wait for it. If a woman chooses abortion, I believe she has killed a child. But I am sufficiently empathetic to permit God to work His will and lead her back from the Pit. I don't want her jailed. I can wait for Him to judge, and I have listened to you.
But, can you listen to me?
Can you hear this Republican-American when he supports George W. Bush? Are you tolerant enough to listen when I say that Dubya, faced with unprecedented crises and his own doubts, responded to that monstrous attack the only way he could? He didn't nuke anyone, as the evil tyrant you condemn would have, surely. No, he solemnly and resolutely made decisions and issued orders that, to date, have cost the lives of untold thousands. But those decisions have liberated millions, and help secure millions more. We have saved far more than we have destroyed.
Can you hear this Republican-American when he says that Bush's economic policies have provided a stimulant to the economy? That everyone who pays taxes got a tax cut? Or are you so blinded by ideology that you just want to scream "TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH!!!"?
Can you hear this Republican-American when he says that he is certain Bush is not an evil, stupid, wanna-be dictator, but an imperfect man trying to do an impossible job perfectly, because imperfection at this point invites devastation? Or do the voices of your allies yelling "BUSH LIED!!!! KIDS DIED!!!!" drown me out?
Well, if so, here's a bulletin: November 2nd showed you that you live in an echo chamber, and the walls of that chamber are closing in on you. As the walls get closer, the echoes will get louder, and you will be unable to hear me, until it is too late.
Until we are so enfeebled by partisan rancor that we will not notice that there are some moving across the Mexican border into our country that do not speak Spanish, and are not here looking for work. So we will do nothing to help the desperate migrant workers and in our inaction, do nothing to stop those with another, darker purpose.
Until we are so busy yelling at each other that we stop funding research and that evil disease finds new life as an airborne strain. It is ticking and purring away, right now, inside the bodies of millions of the afflicted. Mutating, hundreds of thousands of times, faster than influenza, until it finds a way out. When it does, it will not care if you live in a red state or a blue state. It will waste us both away into God's hands.
Until we are so irrelevant, so pointless, so comic that the rest of the world laughs at our fading skills and addled minds and gains the upper technological hand. When they do, they will economically avenge themselves upon us without regard to who voted for Kerry. Your job will be on the same ash heap as mine.
Until the Islamic fascists, emboldened by our uncertainty and division, achieve their weapon. They will use it without reflection, just as they use young women as slaves and young men as bombs. When they do, the effects of that weapon will surely disregard what paper you read, what web site you log on to, what blog you follow.
We cannot continue hating each other. We cannot continue defeating each other. We cannot, a house divided, stand. We need you, and you need us. Surely, there are soldiers in the Army that are yours, and there are poor, sick people that are ours. We must care for them. We must support them.
I am a Republican-American, but I have listened to you. I am a Republican-American, but I love you anyway. You are Americans, and we need you.
It is possible to turn the tide. If only you can still listen to me.
But can you even hear me?