Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)
The Cost of Freedom
You may have heard the recent news about the political protests in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). Buddhist monks are leading thousands of civilian protesters demanding that the military regime allow democratic reforms. Some reports say that hundreds of monks have been beaten, some have been killed, and their monasteries have been closed by government troops. These monks understand the danger of leading the protests. A similar pro-democracy protest by Buddhist monks in Myanmar in 1988 was stopped when the military opened fire on peaceful protesters and killed about three thousand people. The monks are leading the protest because they believe that they are the social conscience of the nation. This is not the first time Buddhist monks have led protests as their nations "social conscience". Similar protests have taken place in Thailand, Tibet, Malaysia, and Viet Nam. If you're old enough to remember--at the beginning of the U.S. involvement in Viet Nam, Buddhist monks protested government sponsored persecution. The most widely publicized protest was on June 16, 1963 when a Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc poured gasoline on himself and burned himself alive in the middle of the street in downtown Saigon. The heroic efforts of these monks should remind all of us that freedom comes at a price. Power-hungry dictators want to control our lives and use us for their own evil intent. Even in our own so-called "democratic" country, some politicians are slowly chipping away at our freedoms. Political speech is being curtailed.1 Prayer is being prohibited from public speech.2 Preachers can't preach against homosexuality without fear of being prosecuted for a hate crime.3 Maybe Christians should take a lesson from the Buddhist monks and begin to view themselves as the social conscience of the U.S. We should not just sit by while our freedoms are being taken away. We should be active in expressing our views and hold our politicians accountable when they attempt to legislate against the freedom of religion. The first amendment of the Bill of Rights says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech . . ." May God give each of us the courage to stand for freedom and stand against tyranny. Pastor Steve September 28, 2007Footnotes 1Liberate political speech, Editorial, latimes.com [web-page] available at: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-campaign30jan30,0,5278812.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials. Los Angles Times. Internet accessed September 28, 2007. 2The Elimination of Public Prayer, [web-page] Alliance Defense Fund available at:
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/issues/religiousfreedom/default.aspx?cid=4178. Internet accessed September 28, 2007. Protecting our heritage of prayer, [web-page] Alliance Defense Fund available at: http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?cid=4217. Internet accessed September 28, 2007. 3 Note: Chuck Colson, who was a top aid to President Richard Nixon until he was imprisoned for the Watergate scandal but who is now a devout Christian and founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries says concerning proposed hate crime legislation: "The bill is not about crime prevention or even civil rights. It's about outlawing peaceful speech -- speech that asserts that homosexual behavior is morally wrong". See: 'Hate Crimes' Fears Run High Before Senate Vote, [web-page] The Christian Post available at: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070805/28764_%27Hate_Crimes%27_Fears_Run_High_Before_Senate_Vote.htm and Pro-Gay Legislation Fuels Concerns Over England's Anti-Faith Trend [web-page] The Christian Post available at: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070909/29237_Pro-Gay_Legislation_Fuels_Concerns_Over_England's_Anti-Faith_Trend.htm.
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