I’m riveted by what’s going on in Egypt. Democracy is being born right before my eyes! But it’s also sobering to consider what comes afterwards, if/when President Mubarak steps down or is overthrown. Will conservative or radical Islamists come to power? I remember when the Marcos regime ended in the Philippines. I was listening to a live radio report as Benigno Aquino returned to Manila and was gunned down at the airport. The Philippines are better off without Marcos, as Nicaragua is better off without Somoza, but the transition periods to new forms of government were very rocky.
And while America is often criticized for meddling with the internal affairs of other nations, there’s an Egyptian chorus calling on President Obama to tell Mubarak to step down. And while I don’t feel sorry for him, Mubarak has been a good little foot-soldier for America all these years — making nice with Israel, maintaining a secular (i.e., not Islamic) government, etc. — and now we are telling him to get out.
What’s more confusing and confounding: politics or religion?
I found this quote which might answer an earlier query:
Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when he shows no mercy to what is under him?
