Tuesday, November 02, 2004

THE CITY UPON A HILL

"For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us."
-John Winthrop, aboard the flagship Arbella, en route to America, 1630.

The eyes of all the world turn today toward America. Waiting. Questioning.

Who will win and earn the right to lead the most powerful nation in the world? Will the post-9/11 foreign policy of President Bush be confirmed or denied? Will the election result be clear and definitive or will we see a repeat of the 2000 Florida saga, perhaps extended to other states?

Most of us can do nothing more than watch and wait, because the decision now is up to the American people. This is a point we would do well to remember: That the leadership of the most powerful nation in the world is determined by the great mass of its own citizens. When one considers the long history of human society and even conditions throughout much of the world today, one comes to the realization that this is quite remarkable. Democracy is still quite young and not nearly well enough established across the globe.

But in America, that which was forged in battle on the field in Concord and through compromise in the state house in Philadelphia, lives on today.

The fundamental principle of democracy is that, "governments are instituted amongst men derriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Today the governed of America re-affirm that consent. They exercise their legitimacy as citizens.

America, the world is watching. Don't let us down.

Posted by Matthew @ 3:36 a.m.