Juxtaposition answers all questions. Ann Barnhardt, Victor Lazlo and Li Yi-Ping.
Juxtaposition, noun -- the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.
Rick: Don't you sometimes wonder if it's worth all this? I mean what you're fighting for.
Victor Laszlo: You might as well question why we breathe. If we stop breathing, we'll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.
Rick: Well, what of it? It'll be out of its misery.
Victor Laszlo: You know how you sound, Mr. Blaine? Like a man who's trying to convince himself of something he doesn't believe in his heart.
Many readers forwarded to me this piece by Ann Barnhardt, "Why I’m considering quitting." Most came with comments such as "she's right. . . . We're not going to convince anybody of anything at this late hour." Barnhardt opens:
This is getting to feel more and more each day like trying to run while submerged in liquid cement. Why bother? If people are incapable on what must be a spiritual level of processing the most obvious, simple things; if all of the explanations, if all of the writing and speaking is the equivalent of trying to teach linear algebra to a clump of wet lint, why bother?
Now I have written about the spiritual dimension of the fight we're in and I have been honest when I have admitted my own bouts of discouragement and self pity, the antidote for which has always been the support of you faithful readers. I understand the place where Barnhardt is writing from, but then I juxtapose her complaint with this story about a Chinese liberty activist:
Tiananmen Square massacre: student protester still active 25 years later.
Li says, 25 years later, he has renewed hope for the next generation of pro-democracy activists in China. "We're using the internet tools to build a new network of activists," he says. "This time, it's very promising. We're connecting people, and accumulating our strength."
Twenty five years and still fighting against the collectivist giant of the PRC.
I'm sure Li Yi-Ping has had doubts. I'm sure he's wanted to quit -- probably more desperately than any of us can possibly imagine. But the fact is that if we quit, the evil folks win. Pray for Ann as she struggles with her doubts. Send her messages of support. Then tell her to get her ass back into the fight.
5 comments:
Message received. Lima Charlie
As you once paraphrased, we "fight the long defeat"
Doubt, frustration, boredom, fear--these things are normal. We acknowledge that we feel them. But, having acknowledged them against the purpose of our labors the decision to continue the fight is what matters.
Thins will get messy. Confusion will happen. Anger will happen. But, so will courage, determination and righteousness valor.
I think Barnhardt will suck it up and fight on. God's got something for her to do yet.
Same with you, Mr. V.
She seems at this point to be measuring her success against the involvement of others, and her ability to inspire such. It will never work that way. In my opinion, if a person doesn't KNOW with every fiber of their soul that what they endeavor to accomplish is absolutely necessary, then they are not relying on faith. They are relying on others to be a source of their happiness and success, which is a very fickle existence. The good news is that a change of perspective can set things aright very quickly. If you focus on whether or not you are turning the whole thing around, you'll burn out. If you attack the issue one heart and mind at a time eventually you'll win. Look at how socialism started in this country: one mind at a time. They're in it for the long term, as we need to be.
Seems to me that this was attention seeking behavior on her part and she got it. She wants people to tell her how important she is, how much she means to the cause. Way to play. For someone who denounces narcissism and pride so often, she suffers from it.
Post a Comment