"laestadian, apostolic, gay, lgbtq, ex-oalc, ex-llc, llc, oalc, bunner" LEARNING TO LIVE FREE: The Arc of History

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

The Arc of History



May we all be as gracious in defeat as McCain and in victory as Obama this evening. Whatever your views, there is something to celebrate for every one in this, that an individual who could have been bought and sold as a slave just seven generations ago was just elected to lead our nation.

What a country!

11 comments:

  1. I am euphoric knowing we now have the potential to clean up some of the mess we have allowed our country to sink into. We have been on a slippery slope for too long. Now even I have the audacity of hope!

    It's time to pay the piper, taxes-, economy-, and environmental-wise, to move out of our teenage mentality into adulthood, and take responsibility for the condition of the planet we wish to bequeath to our grandchildren. We have believed for too long that we could have something for nothing. I am happy to feel we are finally growing up.

    Blessings to all of us on this journey together. Peace! SISU

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  2. Well said, SISU. It's historic and we're euphoric!

    A personal anecdote: yesterday morning I learned something unusual was in the air, when (after voting) my husband and I showed up to volunteer at Obama HQ. We waited for marching orders with an eclectic crowd, itself a snapshot of America. (It brought tears to my eyes when a young man in cammo, who introduced himself as an Iraq war veteran, was thanked for his service by an older gent in a ponytail.) Soon we got the good/bad news: we were NOT needed. Too many volunteers! Our organizer said she had never seen anything like the overwhelming turnout.

    "Usually we count on only 50% showing up," she said. "In this campaign, we got 150%."

    That spirit was reflected in the record numbers of voters yesterday.

    Let us never forget that Obama ran on hope, not fear, on unity, not division. I am eager to see what we can accomplish with hope and unity in this country.

    Good riddance to the politics of fear!

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  3. Free, I was just on the phone with my son, and we said the same thing: that, as a society, we cannot have both fear and hope simultaneously. We are either fearful or we are hopeful. I, frankly, much prefer hopefulness. As a Finn, I naturally tend toward gloom-and-doom anyway so the current state of affairs should keep me going in the right direction for awhile. SISU

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  4. Obviously, the election results were disappointing to me, albeit not unexpected. W, who I voted for both times, had done a pretty good job of botching up the Republican party, especially in the last four years, and I think has now been demonstrated in the effect it had on many races down to the local levels.

    So congratulations are in order for those of you who did your part, voted your conscience, and can now have your turn in the sun again! While I could not support him, I expected Obama to win, win he has, and now we'll see if his vision of hope is possible. I sincerely hope it is.

    On a local front, I guess I was somewhat surprised by the Democrat's pretty solid win in the gubernatorial race in Washington, considering some of my most liberal friends were very vocal in their support of the GOP candidate.

    The one thing that really did shock and dismay me in Washington was the passage of the "Die with Dignity" issue -- which in my black and white world is assisted suicide -- nothing more, nothing less -- and is a position I cannot approach. I plan on dying when God is done with the work that is me, not when I think I should be done, but I guess many of my fellow Washingtonians disagree with me.

    BTW, just to make something clear, I am NOT moving to Canada or Europe or anywhere else because of the election, nor did I ever entertain those thoughts. In four years, we'll have at it again! :-)

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  5. Jubilant does not begin to describe how I felt, especially since I was so pessimistic that (unlike cvow) I actually expected Obama to lose. That the people of the United States could have pulled off something like this in my lifetime was not something I expected to see. It gave me hope of a kind I have been lacking for a very long time. To me, it does not really even matter how much change he can or cannot effect. The very fact of his election has changed things forever. Now the real work begins, but at least I feel motivated to knuckle down and do my part (and not "emigrate" as I was threatening to do). I no longer feel we are hopeless as a nation, and that is a very welcome change. Hallelujah, and may the Lord be praised!! Many Trails Home
    PS cvow, I may address your "right to die" comment one of these days, as I suspect I agree with you. MTH

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  6. Peace to all, and congratulations to president-elect Obama. I hope that he does well for our country!

    That said, there is the question for some of us: why did McCain and many other Republicans lose. And I'll agree with Rush Limbaugh when he says that appeasement does not work. McCain's graciousness lost him the election. Rush had a great opening today, and this speaks only to conservatives reading here who might be interested.. where do we stand, and where do we go. If you're interested, here's the link: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_110508/content/01125106.guest.html

    And for conservative Christians, here is a link that was posted on a conservative blog last night: http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/3114.htm

    This is not to try and convince Obama supporters, Democrats, progressives, or liberals who might read here.. but those who might be interested, perhaps worried.. Take heart.

    My house is going to be extremely clean, Christmas is coming and I've got gifts to make, and there'll be time for prayers and Bible study again! So GLAD the election is Over!! :-)

    Peace again to all!

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  7. Norah, I am both a conservative Christian (a practicing Laestadian) and a political liberal. The terms are not mutually exclusive, as some people may think. I belong to the IALC, and I would conservatively estimate at leat 65% of IALC'ers consider themselves mostly democrat. I know some IALC'ers consider themselves far left, and on the flip side, there are a few who consider themselves on the far right, with most people somewhere left of center. The problem with the religious right is they put so much concentration on issues like birth (abortion) and death, they forget there is a lot of LIFE in between. If we're going to outlaw abortion, what will we do to help the single mothers? Christ of all people would be standing with them. I know what it is like to be a single mother as I have been there for 8 years when my ex-husband walked out on me and my special-needs child. Compared to most, I have been priviledged, as I have a good job with the state and a liberal-arts education; I cannot imagine doing it with less. I would prefer a world where people waited to have sex untl marriage and dads stayed with the families they created and people behaved morally and responsibly, however as I have found, the only thing I have in my power to control is my own actions, not those of others. I give thanks to God who has helped me overcome many (but not all) temptations of this world, but I must act compassionately toward others, even if their behavior does not meet my "laestadian" standards.

    Same sex marriage. What is the big problem? Does allowing it take away any of my freedom to live how I choose and to practice my faith or endanger my way of life in any way? Absolutely not! We can call it a same-sex-domestic partnership, but it all boils down to one thing: how can we define marriage Biblically, when we live in a secular world? The minute that churches are FORCED to marry gay and lesbian counples against their wills I will object, but that is not what the GLBT community has ever asked for.

    --Stranger in a Strange Land

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  8. Stranger, I understand what you're saying, and I realize that many conservative Christians such as those in the IALC do not necessarily consider themselves politically conservative - in fact, that's probably a stereotype that needs to be tossed! There are many facets to conservatism, not just the social issues you mentioned. We haven't seen true conservatism for several years, and it has hurt the Republican party. Conservatives, in effect, have nowhere to go except perhaps the libertarian or independent parties.. those are the issues that Rush speaks to. Conservatism is at a 'building from the ground up' stage right now.

    A question, though not wanting to get into an argument, but do you think that conservatism does not care about single moms...? I do. I believe that true conservatism builds a country that's stable enough to have the money available to help those in need. Just my thoughts.

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  9. Stranger, do you think the majority of IALC members approve of same-sex marriage? I would be surprised to find that to be so. That's how difficult it is to pin down how a certain group might think, there is so much variation out there. Might be 'conservative' in some areas, and quite 'liberal' in others. And that's okay!

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  10. Norah, I am not saying that I PERSONALLY APPROVE of gay marriage. Whether or not I "approve" of homosexuality has nothing to do with the fact that I politically SUPPORT gay marriage. My boss, who I consider a friend, is gay, and I know he'd marry his life partner if he could. I support his right to do so. If Minnesota called a vote to sanction same-sex marriage, at this point I would vote to allow it. I have no idea how very many others in my church would vote this way--the only people with whom I have discussed this matter are my parents. When they lived in Wisconsin, they were given an opportunity to vote for a ban on same-sex marriage and they voted NO, they didn't think that government should have the right to define marriage either. Like the words of Rudy Guliani (who said this regarding abortion rights) at least for me and my immediate family we are "personally opposed" to homosexuality but "strongly supportive of a person's right to choose for themselves" and this right should extend to same-sex civil unions i.e. gay marriage.

    --Stranger in a Strange Land

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  11. Hi again,

    Okay, I had to read your last post a couple of times before I understood your position .. but I see what you mean now. Thanks :)

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