OF OR PERTAINING TO CITIZENS

QUAKE-HAITI/Can you believe that the title of this post is the sixth definition listed for the word Political on dictionary.com? I asked my wife what her top three priorities would be if she was the leader of a regime in the Third World? She said agriculture (food), safety (including structural soundness of buildings/roads) and education. Then I asked her which two of the three are the most important to which she responded, “Agriculture and safety because you can’t get an education if you’re hungry and feel physically unsafe.” I agreed.

My questions were motivated by the utter helplessness I feel as I watch horrific footage of a small country destitute following a major earthquake. It’s become regular to see substantial loss of life in the event of a natural disaster in small countries like Haiti. The loss of life is estimated in the hundreds of thousands. Let that ruminate. Hundreds of thousands of people? About 100,000 people fit into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. I can’t imagine that many lifeless bodies strewn throughout the streets among children and average citizens who aren’t even accustomed to seeing death. No one is used to that. It’s abysmal.

And every time a Tsunami, earthquake, mud slide, etc. occurs in what many consider “the less important parts of the world,” I’m reminded that character is of the utmost importance. The reason? Character is necessary because there’s truth in the axiom that Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely. Integrity, selflessness and the ability to begin leadership with a proper end in mind are the types of traits government officials need across the globe for political efficacy to be realized.

When the buildings collapse, there’s no food and water and the darkness of night is filled with horror  you can rest assured the future starts now. The dilemma the world must face is that both crisis and prevention demand our attention. Katrina’s debacle was exacerbated by poor responsiveness. Haiti’s situation is no different and while many downplay a need to point fingers, I don’t. Internationally, presidents/premiers/prime ministers share in common the responsibility of acting solely in the interests of the countrymen they represent. It’s hard to imagine that in 2010, there is ever an acceptable reason for large scale decimation due to natural disaster. Forget the palaces and money spent on balls and galas. Ideally, politicians are akin to gospel ministers. Both the atheist and the parishioner expect the Christian leader to be above reproach and focused on the immaterial (i.e. souls, helping the poor, leading people toward personal transformation). Why don’t we expect the same from our leaders? Maybe if we did, our world’s culture would truly champion the notion that privilege and power a civil servant does not make.

Share this:

Posted: by

Category: Bigger than Me

2 Comments on “OF OR PERTAINING TO CITIZENS”

  1. I 100% agree with you! In nations where people are not given the ability to make choices (like vote for or against fixing levy’s or building stadiums) The government that takes power from the people has a primary responsibility to those people. And they will be judged accordingly. It hurts my heart when cynical Americans say we are not generous. They do not understand what happens between our humanitarian efforts or money and the government of the country that needs it. Our generosity is why we are blessed as a country…not because we are greedy. We always step up!

  2. Well said brother. You ever notice that those who are in the front lines of these places are the believers. There are christian organizations already stationed there. Some may have even been among the dead. Yet we as believers are looked at by the world as one of the major problems of the world. “Those religious folks, biggots, etc…” But have you ever looked at where some of the greatest institutions have come from. ie. the universities were first founded by christians(now taken over by the liberal culture), don’t let the ACLU find out that the universal medical symbol is biblical(the staff of Aarons, with the snake around it) they’ll probably try and remove it because we can’t endorse religion in public hospitals. Who were the founders of the first hospitals? O yeah thats right christians. It is tragic to see the leaders of the world especially the US, continue to remove God from the public. When that happens our collapse as a culture is inevitable. Look at the continual decline of the European countries who have removed God from their lives. Norman, why don’t we expect the same from our leaders? Because to expect that would mean we must endorse the God of the Bible, and champion to live up to the standards and the values that HE has set forth. The world doesn’t want that……