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Jill Dougherty at CNN wrote a story about a Christmas celebration. Children were dressed up and a band played. Santa Claus was waving to the excited crowds while a hot air balloon sporting a large picture of Jesus Christ floated lazily against the backdrop of an almost cloudless sky. Sounds nice... I would like to attend such an event. I'm sure there were protesters. After all, you can't just go around showing pictures of Jesus in America anymore; separation of church and state and all that.
But, I was curious. What dastardly mayor was allowing this obvious violation to go unchecked? Clearly this was not happening in any of our more secular states such as Washington or California. Perhaps it was happening in unruly Oklahoma or Texas; you know how those people are. It could have been the bitter clingers in Pennsylvania or Ohio. But, it was none of those.
Actually, this celebration was occurring in Baghdad... no, not Baghdad, Kansas; this was the first ever Christmas celebration in Baghdad, Iraq. Interestingly, most of the attendants were Muslim, but they were out there celebrating their freedom by celebrating our Savior. Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf, Iraq's Interior Ministry spokesman, was quoted by Mrs. Dougherty as saying, "All Iraqis are Christians today!" He went on to say, "Now that we have crossed that hurdle and destroyed the incubators of terrorism, and the security situation is good, we have to go back and strengthen the community ties."
Some children were singing "We are building Iraq!" While others built a display depicting a terrorist plot to blow up a school being foiled, complete with soldiers, police, a bomb-sniffing dog, and one very dead bad guy. Another display entitled "Baghdad Today", showed a wedding, a market, and a mosque; all free from the fear of a bomb attack.
This is what the exhilaration of freedom looks like! They are excited and looking forward to a rich, prosperous, and terror-free future. I say, "God bless" these freedom-loving people and can't help but recall all the nay-sayers who said this once oppressed country couldn't handle liberty. What a huge difference from the days of Saddam's tyrannical dictatorship.
Who knows, if liberty like this continues to spread, maybe even Americans will one day be able to display public images of Jesus and celebrate Him like the people of Iraq can.
But, I was curious. What dastardly mayor was allowing this obvious violation to go unchecked? Clearly this was not happening in any of our more secular states such as Washington or California. Perhaps it was happening in unruly Oklahoma or Texas; you know how those people are. It could have been the bitter clingers in Pennsylvania or Ohio. But, it was none of those.
Actually, this celebration was occurring in Baghdad... no, not Baghdad, Kansas; this was the first ever Christmas celebration in Baghdad, Iraq. Interestingly, most of the attendants were Muslim, but they were out there celebrating their freedom by celebrating our Savior. Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf, Iraq's Interior Ministry spokesman, was quoted by Mrs. Dougherty as saying, "All Iraqis are Christians today!" He went on to say, "Now that we have crossed that hurdle and destroyed the incubators of terrorism, and the security situation is good, we have to go back and strengthen the community ties."
Some children were singing "We are building Iraq!" While others built a display depicting a terrorist plot to blow up a school being foiled, complete with soldiers, police, a bomb-sniffing dog, and one very dead bad guy. Another display entitled "Baghdad Today", showed a wedding, a market, and a mosque; all free from the fear of a bomb attack.
This is what the exhilaration of freedom looks like! They are excited and looking forward to a rich, prosperous, and terror-free future. I say, "God bless" these freedom-loving people and can't help but recall all the nay-sayers who said this once oppressed country couldn't handle liberty. What a huge difference from the days of Saddam's tyrannical dictatorship.
Who knows, if liberty like this continues to spread, maybe even Americans will one day be able to display public images of Jesus and celebrate Him like the people of Iraq can.
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