Scott Freeman

Or, Blog On

When I began this blog on January 26, 2005, I had no fully-developed idea why.  I thought it would be a place to put my bulletin articles, a few insights on life and scripture, family stories, and entertainment recommendations.

I figured a few people from church would read it, along with some family and friends.

One vow that I made early on was that I would not be political or controversial.  This would be a neutral site on all of those matters.

By June, I couldn’t take it anymore:  I blogged about Darfur and the risk that we face of repeating the Rwanda catastrophe.  Afterwards, I began to write out more of my feelings on poverty and being Christ-like.  Comments began to trickle in.

Then I wrote about my opposition to the Iraq war.  Crickets began to chirp.  No comments.  Not a one.  But people began to read.
The direction of my blog had changed.  I began to blog more and more about my struggles with the issues of the day.

The benefit of this was that I began to think more about where I stood.  By journaling my journey I began to force myself to reflect more, to go deeper in my understanding.

This blog became the avenue through which I processed God’s leading me.  It is where I grappled with God’s answering of my prayer to love more.

For example, when I began this series two weeks ago, I envisioned a 2 or 3 part summary of how I got here.  But sitting down and writing it out, I realized the story was bigger than that.  Even now, I could add 10 more chapters. I’m even considering drafting a book proposal from this.
Therefore, this blog is the final piece that got me to where I am today.  I imagine it will be an integral part of where I am going.  It has disciplined me to write and to reflect more than I would typically do.

Where do I stand right now?

• Completely alienated from my Republican past.
• Completely unwilling to embrace a Democratic “solution”
• No longer will politics determine my faith.  Faith will determine my politics.
• No longer will I be guided by one or two “issues.”
• At the core, I will be directed by two “laws:”  How I love Him, and how I love His.
• Knowing that I must not ultimately seek political solutions but that I must be the in-breaking of the Kingdom of the world I inhabit.
• My nation is that Kingdom.  It knows no borders or secular entity.  It is neither slave nor free, male nor female, American nor Iraqi.
• I must be a voice for the voiceless, hope for the hopeless and a reminder to seek the forgotten.
• I must be a “red-letter” Christian.  No longer will I be content to embrace “Jesus Excepted”
• I love Jesus Christ more now than I ever have, although I understand Him a whole lot less.

This series ends now.  Replacing it will be a semi-regular series entitled “Where I Am At Right Now.”  It will be a look at where I stand on current issues that stand before us.

The title acknowledges both the journey and the struggle. It understands that, although the journey to this point is finished, the journey to where God is calling me is just beginning.

I look forward to the next chapters. I hope you will continue to walk with me.

It was the subject of Darfur that prompted me to revoke my policy of not discussing political matters on this blog. June 2nd of last year, I wrote:

Yesterday, after a 6 month silence on the issue, President Bush acknowledged that there is genocide taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan.
400,000 people are dead.
2.5 million people are without homes.
Now we must make sure that we stand up. That our government is not once again silent to genocide in a nation that has no money to give us, no precious resources that we covet.
We must make sure that this time we value human life not just what human life can give us.
This is not a Republican issue.
This is not a Democrat issue.
The blame does not go solely to Bill Clinton for our un-involvement in Rwanda.
The blame will not go solely to George W. Bush for our un-involvement in Darfur.
We must stand up and make our voices heard.
For this is a Christian issue.
It smacks at the heart of who we are called to be.
To be hope for the hopeless.
Provide homes for the homeless.
Salvation for the lost and downtrodden.
And a voice for those whose voices have been muted by the cacophony of war.

Read the rest of the post here.

Almost a year later, the atrocities persist in this region. Read this from Sojourners:

Sojourners is teaming up with our good friends at the Save Darfur Coalition and nearly 100 organizations to gather 1 million signatures on postcards. These postcards and their messages will be sent to President Bush, urging him to take action. After you’re done signing, you will have the opportunity to spread the word to your friends. Gathering 1 million signatures is as simple as you passing the alert to 10 people, who each send to 10 people, and so on.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Darfur, an estimated 400,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million people have been displaced. The world has watched silently. Paul Rusesabagina, whose life and experience with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda was portrayed in the movie Hotel Rwanda, put it this way: “A detachment of well-equipped peacekeepers, made up of less than one-twentieth of the American troops now stationed in Iraq, could have easily stopped the killings without risk” (emphasis added). In short, we are asking President Bush to give real meaning to the words, “Never Again.”

Will you consider signing a postcard, just as I have done? It is high time that the Christian community develop a consistent ethic of human life–even for those who are unable to help us. Every death, every misplaced individual represents a precious child of God–how can we be silent?

Sign the postcard here.