Wednesday, October 10, 2001
|
Wednesday, October 10, 2001 |
|
Live free, or die it's up to us By DAVE HAMRICK Last week, before we started our bombing runs, I was encouraged by faint signs that economic activity may be resuming, at least in this area. Airline people told me traffic is picking up at Hartsfield. I've talked to local business people who depend on the airlines, and they say their business has been picking up as well. Confidence seems to be returning to our advertisers. How our military activities will affect all of this is anybody's guess, but if things go reasonably well, dare we hope that when Delta officials revisit their layoff plans in November, they'll find that the voluntary early retirements were all that was needed and cancel the layoffs? Sure, why not. Let's hope. And let's fly. I'll be flying next week on a vacation trip, and I'm looking forward to it with great anticipation both the chance to get away and relax, and the chance to do my little part toward getting things back to normal. Things will never be "normal" again, you say? Well, that depends on us, we average Americans out here trying to earn a living, raise our families and have a little fun along the way. Sure there will be security hassles we'll have to deal with that we've not had to deal with before. And there will be excesses that we'll have to look at and examine and in some cases we'll decide that we've overreacted, or that the benefit is not worth the cost. But you and I, dear reader, and all the millions of worker bees like us across the nation are going to have to get a grip on our heritage and decide that freedom is still worth dying for, and if we have to give up our freedom in order to have greater security, the quid is not pro quo. In my mind's eye, I see you nodding your heads in agreement, but when push comes to shove, will we have what it takes? Or will we notice that there are Arabs, or Arabic-looking people, getting on an airplane with us and insist that they be left behind for fear that they might be the bad guys? Will we put up with racial profiling? Or will we insist that our security and law enforcement people abide by the Constitution, which guarantees freedom from arrest, search or seizure without probable cause, or without due process? We also have a chance now to take a hard look at past practices and admit that racial profiling is nothing new, and it's something we simply cannot tolerate. My father, John Hamrick, a minister of the gospel who views the world scene with an unusually visionary perspective, recalled the state motto of New Hampshire when praying about the events of Sept. 11 "Live free or die. Here's an excerpt from his excellent message on the subject: "... As we were praying I felt the Lord spoke these words to me: 'Live free, or die.' As I listened to the Lord, he seemed to say that this slogan, (which is the official state slogan of New Hampshire, by the way) had two meanings, both equally important. One was simply that I choose to die, if necessary, in the pursuit of freedom. The other emphasis was that if I choose to live any way other than free, I will die. The choice is mine; I can accept bondage and death, or I can accept freedom, no matter what the penalties may be. "In the present war against terrorism, into which the United States has entered, the temptation is going to be to surrender to fear and sell many of our precious freedoms for safety and the preservation of life. I saw that happen after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and during the long four-year war that followed. There was a difference, however, in the situation then and now. Sure, many freedoms were surrendered for the sake of winning the war. But the survivors of that war were a people who had tasted freedom, lived in it, and cherished it for many years. Consequently, with the cessation of hostilities, they demanded the return of most of those freedoms. "Unfortunately, in the intervening 50 years, we have allowed many of these freedoms to erode, slowly and subtly, but surely, so that we hardly noticed their passing and really didn't miss them too much. Now, with increasing hostilities throughout the world, those who hate freedom are going to seize their golden opportunity to further bind people for the sake of safety and economic well-being." Of course, this was a spiritual message, not just a political one, and I wouldn't be representing it properly if I didn't include some of that as well, so for those who have ears to hear, here it is: "... Remember that our safety and prosperity lie not in a benevolent government, but in the grace of God. As our scripture admonished us, 'Let us have grace, by which we serve God acceptably.' Not bin Laden, Arafat, Hitler, Stalin, Hirohito, Nero, nor any other dictator can enslave those who have heard God's call to 'Live free, or die.' If our kingdom is truly the Kingdom of God, and our king is truly King Jesus, there is no power on earth, nor in the darkness of hell, that can take away the liberty that God gives. A people who are willing to abandon their lives for the sake of a free relationship with God do not have to be told the meaning of New Hampshire's slogan. "Saints, I encourage you, LIVE FREE, OR DIE FREE. The only way to accomplish that is through the true freedom with which Christ has set us free. In the words of Galatians 5:1, 'Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.' When they come saying, 'Only I can protect you, feed you, care for you,' tell them who your protector, feeder and provider really is. And tell them where they can take their fake freedom ... back to the source of it in the nether world."
|
||