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Growing up my brother Sam and I were avid readers of a children's
book series called "Choose Your Own Adventure." The basic
set up of the books is that you begin your journey on page 1 and
by page 3 or 4 you are faced with a decision. If you choose the
first option (Run away from the four eyed alien monster) you would
turn to page 37. If you choose the second option (poke the alien
in the eyes) you would turn to page 92. On page 37 and 92 respectively
you would find even more tough choices. Followed to the end most
of your decisions would lead to a gruesome death (page 66) or being
frozen in a time warp (page 88). But if you made good decisions
(and were a little lucky) you would defeat the alien scum and save
the world (page 111). Course, my brother and I quickly dissected
the books and figured out how to always win, at which point the
books lost their appeal. Sam figured it out in 7th grade, I came
to the same conclusion when he explained it to me last week.
Unfortunately, the future in real life is not so easy to foresee
and there is no going back when you turn to the wrong page. At this
moment in history we stand on page 40 with two choices, whether
to go to page 66 or 111. Except we don't know for sure which decision
will take us to which page. It is good that we are discussing it
as a democratic society. It is even better that we are praying about
it and committing our path to God, who already dissected the book.
Normally I try to speak in rational and logical ways, and while
I will continue to do that in this article some of what I am going
to say has nothing to do with ration or logic. My spirit (gut) is
telling me some things and I am going to tell them to you. Whether
it is from God as a prophecy, word of wisdom, common sense or just
bad indigestion - I don't know.
But I've felt from election night 2000 and through the coming
months that President Bush's election was a gift from God to America
of "time." I'm not saying everything President Bush does
is perfect or that I agree with everything he does. What I'm saying
is that the election of President Bush was a miracle and was due
to God's intervention and the prayers of people around the world.
Now what does "time" mean? I don't know. What I feel
is that the "time" that God has given us is extra time
for America as a society (all civilizations, by the way, do eventually
crumble and fall) and for the world to hear the gospel. As I read
an article in today's paper (link
to article) I was struck by the possibilities of what could
be if the page we turn to is the right one.
We could be on the cusp of an open window of liberty, democracy
and religious freedom all over the Middle East. This "time"
of openness would not last forever but it could give hope and life
to billions of people who have no hope and are waiting to die.
Or it could backfire and inflame Muslim hatred, European hatred
and generally get everyone ticked off at the USA and Israel (not
that people need a reason to blame everything on Israel) which could
very well lead to World War III or Armagedon or The Postman II.
"Two roads diverged..." I feel that the path of least
resistance that Frost wrote of is the path people around the world
are wanting to take. But my spidey sense tells me that it will end
in a tragedy none of us can imagine. The road less traveled stills
bears the marks of such men as Sir Winston Churchill and President
Roosevelt. These men saw that the path of appeasement would lead
to ruin, warned of it and when the people chose that path anyway
never said "I told you so." Instead they rolled up their
sleeves and lead their nations and the world to victory through
that dark time of World War II.
I feel that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair are men that
follow the tradition of these statesmen.
The reality is that the world is a very dangerous place. It will
only get more dangerous as technology narrows the gap between the
industrial world and the developing world. The only problem is that
the gap that is being narrowed is the gap in the development of
Weapons of Mass Destruction (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical).
For some countries (tyrannies) the other gap (economic) will grow
even further apart and will lead to the age old sins of covetousness,
bitterness and hate. Sprinkle in an unhealthy dose of radical Islam
and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to read the tea leaves.
Which brings us back to our current fork in the road. Iraq is
a problem. Saddam is an evil man. BUT if he were the only evil man,
or leader of the only nation with dubious intentions - then we could
isolate his regime and wait for his demise. (It worked with Castro
... oh, wait. Never mind)
The problem is obvious. There are lots of evil men and there are
many countries with dubious intentions. North Korea, and Iran are
not the only ones but they are the most serious.
What message do we send to them if we back down now? Everyone
knows Saddam is playing a shell game and hunkering down, waiting
for the storm to pass so he can move his con to another bunker.
What about the countries that are fighting rebels and terrorists?
What about the terrorists and rebels themselves? If we back down
then rebels around the world will believe that their cause has hope
and will continue murdering tourists, missionaries, diplomats, women,
and children in The Philipines, Indonesia, Kenya, Egypt, Israel,
Jordan, Turkey, Columbia, Peru, Lebanon, Mexico, the USA, and the
list goes on. And the governments will begin to believe that democracy
will never work and will revert to police states that in turn produce
more terrorists and rebels.
Time. It truly is tickin' away. We are behind, but there can still
be an overtime. We can reset the clock with a democratic and free
Iraq. Sound like a pipe dream?
I remember when there was a Berlin Wall. I can't forget images
of the Holocaust. My eyes are seared with images of starving people
in Africa. I've read of slavery in America. I've watched the slaughter
of innocent people in Bosnia and Kosovo.
America did something. We fought the Cold War and now the wall
is down. We fought the Nazi's and liberated Europe and gave the
Jews a homeland. We sent our grain and food and helped to stop the
starvation. We even fought our own brothers for justice and freed
the slaves. As a matter of fact in 1994 without UN approval President
Clinton sent our soldiers to Bosnia and later bombed the tar out
of Serbia and now Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia have hope and can plan
for the future.
In all of these things I know God also had a hand and if He has
a hand in the coming endeavor people will be freed, liberty will
shine its light on a new shore and there will be a new hope for
billions.
But if we do not act, and if God does not help us, the worse case
scenario will become part of Gibbons next book: "The Decline
and Fall of America."
Right now there is a DMZ that divides Korea and is slowly starving
20 million North Koreans. Next door there is a country that oppresses
over 1.2 billion people and has over the past 50 years been directly
responsible for killing 40-60 million of its own citizens. In Africa
genocide after genocide leaves children as orphans in Rwanda and
Burundi; or without limbs in Congo, Sierre Leone or Nigeria.
America did nothing. We abandoned our ally, Chaing Kai-Shek, and
through appeasement allowed his enemy Mao Zedong to take over China.
Two years later we paid for this mistake with the lives of 52,000
American men as we defended South Korea from North Korean and Chinese
aggressors. In Africa we turned away and didn't get involved. Now
people all over Africa would give us a round of applause if they
had hands.
I'm not saying we can or even should get involved in every crisis.
But historically whenever we do, things turn out better. And whenever
we shirk our role we end up having to assume it later on anyway
and it costs a heck of a lot more.
The cost. By asking the question we reveal our own selfishness,
but it is also unwise not to consider the cost. We will lose soldiers.
With God's help, protection, and wisdom this number may be less
than a hundred. Realistically, if the war becomes a street fight
in Baghdad it will run into the hundred if not thousands. A prolonged
war could cost many more.
President Bush has said that the cost of not doing anything outweighs
the cost of action. And he is right.
If Prime Minister Chamberlain had stood up to Adolf Hitler in
1938 there may very well have been a war in Europe. Thousands would
have died, but most historians agree that it would have been over
quickly, as Germany's army would most likely have deposed Hitler
or refused to follow his orders. If nothing more, the Allies would
have had the one million man army of Czechoslovakia to help fight
the Nazis.
Conclusion: This is not an easy decision and it will cost us,
but not making this decision or hoping it will go away will end
up costing us even more in the future. If we do make this decision
and seek the help of Almighty God this road less traveled will lead
to a world filled with faith, hope and love. And such a path will
make all the difference.
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