I've highlighted certain sentences of the FRC evaluation and especially appreciate the last paragraph:
Of the two enduring themes of Barack Obama's first inauguration, one
remains: change. The "hope" that propelled more than a million and a
half people to Washington four years ago, has dimmed--replaced, as we
watched yesterday, by the promise of more strident and aggressive
liberalism. When the President put his hand on Abraham Lincoln's Bible
and swore to uphold the office, he did so as the leader of a deeply
divided nation. And although his inaugural speech contained several
noble themes--unity was not one of them.
As he launched into his vision for a second term, his premise was not "We, the People," but "We, Some of the People." Gone was the inspirational rhetoric of four years ago--and in its place was a profoundly political and partisan warning. "We have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action."
With every reinvention of the Founder's ideals, President Obama made it clear that he is committed to continuing his push for big, centralized, and expensive government. And paramount to that push is a highly controversial vision that includes everything from unlimited entitlements and gun bans to illegal immigration to special rights based on sexual behavior. "Our journey is not complete," the President said, "until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law--for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." In these instances, a speech that could have built bridges only widened the gaps.
To many, the President's combative tone was a striking contrast to the uplifting vision cast barely two miles away from where the President stood. There, 50 years ago, in the midst of one of the greatest injustices of our time, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke not of division--but of hope. "With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day." Dr. King, whose legacy Americans honored yesterday, sought to "conduct our struggle"--not with hostility--but "on the high plane of dignity and discipline."
As we enter these next four years, let that be our call. The President agrees with you and me on very little. However, that does not absolve us of our duty as Christians to pray for him as Paul instructed I Timothy 2:1. "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." Paul understood that God can use even those who are against Him to accomplish great things. Proverbs says the Lord can turn the hearts of kings like He turns the rivers of waters.
As Christians in America, I think we have an even greater reason to pray. We are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. That means we are the government. Our leaders are not given to us by birth or other means--we elect them. And as Americans, we bear a higher level of responsibility for what they do. Just as God's word compels us to pray for this President, it compels us to actively oppose the policies that run counter to the transcendent truths our country was built upon. Let us be, as Dr. King said, "those creative dissenters who will call our beloved nation to a higher destiny. To a new plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness."
Me: The truth of that last paragraph must never be forgotten. Unlike other nations and their governments, in the United States, it is we the people who are the government! I like the rest of the paragraph as well:
"Our leaders are not given to us by birth or other means -- we elect them. And as Americans, we bear a higher level of responsibility for what they do. Just as God's word compels us to pray for this President, it compels us to actively oppose the policies that run counter to the transcendent truths our country was built upon."
So well said!