“The Search For Freedom” is usually committed to the discussion of conservative political ideals, but for once, I’m going to stray away from that.
This weekend, I am attending The Voice Of The Martyrs annual conference in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The Voice Of The Martyrs is a organization that supports the persecuted Christian Church worldwide. I feel compelled to write about this because the plight of those who are not “allowed” by their governments to worship freely is truly an absence of freedom.
Last night, I heard an Iranian Christian gentleman named Mr. Hoosh speak. Mr. Hoosh began by speaking “through a translator” about his work for the persecuted church in Iran. However, after he finished with all of his inspiring and amazing stories, he said something that I will never forget.
Mr. Hoosh began to break down in tears when he spoke of the secrecy in which Iranian Christians are forced to worship in. As he continued to weep before the audience, his translator began to have a harder time getting his words out. At one point, he simply said, “You all just sit there.”
This really made an impact on me. I think I understand what Mr. Hoosh was trying to get across. Mr. Hoosh was simply in awe of the freedom that we had, as a religious group, to gather in one place together. Considering that it is a crime to convert to convert to Christianity under sharia law, our freedom must seem amazingly sweet.
I realize now that we as Americans to often treat freedom as if we deserve it, while the truth is, that we don’t deserve it at all. I want to see our freedom in the same way that Mr. Hoosh sees our freedom. Freedom is precious, in every way possible. We don’t need to forget what God has given to us.
As you have probably noticed, I have been missing from “The Search For Freedom” for quite some time. This is because I have been very busy. For starters, I graduated from high school in early June and have been working almost constantly since then. As anyone who has a blog knows, it is very hard to keep it up to date and relevant, especially when you are splitting your time and energy into multiple places.
Unfortunately, for the rest of the summer, I don’t expect the commotion to stop. I’m sorry to say that my posts will probably be only sporadic at best. However, when I enter college in the early fall, I am planning to “relaunch” the site and to add posts at least a couple of times a week. Sorry for keeping you guys in the dark.
A lot of people seem to think that Louisiana’s Governor, Bobby Jindal, would be the best option as John McCain’s vice-president. I’m going to have to disagree with this, but it isn’t because I don’t like Gov. Jindal. Advocates of a potential vice-president Jindal are right to be excited about this guy, he’s articulate, intelligent, and he represents change, but I think that associating Gov. Jindal with an old fogey’s campaign like McCain’s will surely hurt his political future.
Instead of advocating Jindal for vice president, those who are truly excited about this guy should try and help him where he’s at. He’s only 36, and he already has a good bit of experience. In 1995, at the ripe old age of 24, Jindal was appointed Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. During his tenure at that position, Louisiana’s Medicare program went from bankruptcy to having a surplus of 220 million dollars. He has also already been a Congressman for three years, and he was elected Governor of Louisiana just last year. Instead of nominating Gov. Jindal for vice president, I think that it would be better to give him the keynote address at the Republican National Convention this summer in Minneapolis, so he can introduce himself on a national level, much like Barack Obama did at the DNC back in 2004 .
If Gov. Jindal continues doing as well in Louisiana as he is doing right now, and he doesn’t change any of his conservative positions, we could be seeing this guy as a future presidential candidate. It doesn’t really matter if he runs in 2012, or 2016, either way, he still will be younger than Barack Obama is now, and he seems pretty fresh, doesn’t he?
“The Search For Freedom” is usually committed to the discussion of conservative political ideals, but for once, I’m going to stray away from that.
