shamed in silence...

Ok now I know why all the hype about the movie, "Lincoln".  I was blown away at how incredibly it not only portrayed that era, but my era.  For it wisely portrayed human behaviour at its very best and very worst.  At one point Lincoln says, "Euclid's first common notion is this: Things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other...  That is essentially the premise of the movie, equality for all.  Of course on this side of the13th amendment to the proclamation of emancipation, abolishing slavery for all the states, we all heartily agree.  But what rang so clear to me in the movie was human behaviour.   Not just Lincoln, but men who were willing to stand and do the right thing in the face of great opposition from their fellow man.  The vote was 119 for, and 56 against.  119 men stood for what was right.  In the movie one who had been in opposition, stood for what was right and loudly proclaimed I vote yes.  I love the "guts" to be able to do that even though it was counterintuitive in the face of his colleagues and party to do so, but it was right.  Others said no and did it with fervency even though wrong.  56 men in fact went down in history as standing for what was and is wrong.  But what stood out to me was those who abstained.  One man stood and said, "shoot me dead but I vote yes, but then said no I change that to an abstaining vote.  Then he laid his head on his desk, and put his hands over his head and hid his face... ashamed.  Why because even though he knew what was right, he did not have the "guts" to stand for what was right and he knew it.  Paul the apostle said, " Pray.. for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.  He is saying pray I will have the "guts" to stand for the good news of Jesus, who came to proclaim freedom for the oppressed.  English philosopher Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".   Far to many sit in silence when one is maligned/oppressed.  Human behaviour is the same in Lincoln's era, Paul's era, Burke's era, and my era, as it was then, it is now! Will we stand for right, or for what is wrong, or be silent which is equally wrong or worse...