I received an invitiation on facebook this morning to join a group called “If Obama wins, I’m moving to Canada.” (interesting tangent: Stuff White People Like: Threatening to Move to Canada) And I’m outraged. (Yes, I know the “move to Canada” thing isn’t real. But it’s a passive-aggressive idea and it upsets me that we even joke about it.)
Despite my previous post on what might be best for the country as a whole, I do have some strong qualms about the direction this country may take with so many liberal Democrats now in office. Nonetheless, I believe in this country, and I believe in the God who blesses her. I believe that we bow to the authorities given to us, and we pray for them. I believe in changing things, in taking action, in participating in government. I believe in not giving up. I’m an American, for goodness’s sake! And I certainly don’t think we change things or rebuild them by denoucing our leaders and giving up on them.
One of the most impressive things I’ve ever heard was when Jack Nicholson, a close personal friend of the Clinton family (and a person about whom I generally have mixed feelings), was interviewed about his political views. The interviewer tried to goad Nicholson into saying something negative about the Bush administration, and Nicholson shot him down point-blank: “I support every president. Period.”
That’s my stance. Period. I believe in this country, and I believe in our leaders. I believe that those leaders lead best when we cooperate with and for them. I also believe that our leaders are given to us by a Higher Authority. I have no doubt that the Lord’s hand worked in this election, and I hope and pray it will continue to work in the upcoming years.
So, yes, I am still Republican, and I still hope for a stronger GOP in the near future. I have some strong concerns about the nation’s moral direction, and there’s no chance I will be chanting “Yes we can” around town today. But I will not be fleeing anywhere either — and certainly not to Canada. I won’t be a part of any anti-Obama bandwagons. I will not join you in a self-righteous “I told you so” of Obama when he makes, as any president does, mistakes. I support every president. And Obama is mine for the next four years.
Last night, in his acceptance speech, Obama made several comments that touched me. He said: “So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other… In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.”
And then Obama reminded us that, “Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.”
Disparaging the Democrats, threatening to leave the country, predicting Obama’s dire failure and waiting eagerly for that failure will not do anything for America. It will not do anything for the world we live in. United we stand.
God bless America. Guide the ones leading us. Your name be sanctified. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
