Pray for a Positive Outcome in Egypt

Are you praying for a positive outcome in Egypt?

The stakes are high in this most populous Arab nation. As this is written I might also add that the tensions are high as well.

Any person who has seen the televised news has noticed the enormous crowd gathered in the public square in Cairo. Most are young and most are desperate. They desperately desire a new life, with opportunities for personal growth, for jobs that pay decent wages and a brighter future. Many – perhaps most – have set aside their personal differences in the hope for an American style democracy. The United States is regarded as the bastion of liberty. The Christian-based moral code in America has provided a basis for genuine liberty – freedom within the boundary of mutual respect for others and reverence for God. Actually, apart from the aspect of reverence for God, there is no basis for respecting others. It will not occur. Hence it is one boundary.

The scenes of the crowd and the interviews of young adults in Cairo who want hope, jobs and liberty lead me to recall the French Revolution. The French Revolution was a mass movement against an autocratic king, and it had as its motto: “Liberty, Fraternity and Equality.” The masses poured into the streets and gathered in Paris, where eventually the king was guillotined. Celebration occurred for a while – and then, because there was no Christian moral foundation upon which to construct a new government, “might makes right” became the law. The French Revolution became one of the bloodiest and worst in history.

The Christian morality that had established order and security – respect for others was advocated, violence was eschewed, and this even though the king was not liked – had been undermined by “reason.” That is, leading intellectuals had led the French to believe that the Biblical basis for law, the way we treat others, was archaic and obsolete. God was not absolute. Man’s reason was absolute. Man was not a sinner who needed restraint, but inherently good and this goodness should be expressed. This expression would take the form of whatever a person desired. That is, whatever he or she wanted to do, then simply do it. At the start of the French Revolution, a “Festival of Reason” was held, where a prostitute climbed onto the altar at the Notre Dame Cathedral and was proclaimed “goddess of reason”. The deceived masses then declared – someone declared, anyway – that the cathedral was now dedicated to her worship. This was like saying, “anything goes.” Before long, people moved from one indulgence to another, eventually murdering one another. The French were rescued from this fratricide by Napoleon, the ruthless dictator. This little man with the big ego consolidated the French by turning their now violent nature loose not on one another, but on neighboring states.

But back to Egypt. Many of those gathered at Cairo’s Tahrir Square think that American style democracy is waiting in the wings for them – if only they can persuade Hosni Mubarak to resign as President. Perhaps they are right. But they may be wrong. Waiting in the wings may be a despot and unspeakable factional violence.

This is why we pray for Egypt and the Egyptian people.

Pray for a positive outcome in Egypt.