Rescind EO 12333; send Fidel a pointed 200 grain message.
Posted on 05/02/2003 10:25:00 PM PDT by Luis Gonzalez
I had an epiphany yesterday.
I awoke the same man that I have always been, well, the man that I have been since Good Friday three years past, but laid in restless slumber someone else, well into the wee hours of the night.
Several things...
The newspaper headlines read like some absurd black comedy, and my nightmare sustained life even in my wakefulness.
In the aftermath of the most hideous and offensive display of oppression and absolute disregard for human rights, the Cuban government, unrepentant in their maliciousness, reveling in the putrid chest-beating of it’s surely disease-ridden Head-of-State, openly asserted their right to murder, and incarcerate their citizenry, laughing in the face of any country where men have a semblance of conscience, with no regard for international law, international pressure, or common, human decency.
For these actions, and the many, many more similar actions of savagery, murder, and repression, the Cuban government was awarded with another three-year term in the United Nation’s Commission on Human Rights; the crackdown on Cuba’s dissidents having begun as the Cuban attaché arrived in Geneva to attend the annual meeting of the panel, the panel's proclamation punctuated by the sounds of the firing squads in Havana.
Then, I saw the following in an article on the May Day celebration in Havana:
"Addressing the May Day crowd, the Rev. Lucius Walker Jr., an American pastor who has long backed Castro's government, said that Cuba is "loved, respected, appreciated and supported by millions of U.S. citizens.""Cuba: you are a world leader in human rights and respect for human life," said Walker, pastor of Salvation Baptist Church in Brooklyn and executive director of New York-based Pastors for Peace."
My mind reeled at the thought, and at the bizarre, surreal quality to the news.
Then I received an e-mail.
I’ve translated the text below, text that did something to me.
It’s a sermon, delivered by a simple man of God, from the pulpit of a small Church in a country where religion is considered sin.
It’s bravery at its purest form, heroism in its humblest manifestation; it’s love and courage, and undaunted determination in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.
It is the essence of the heart of the many who ran into the flames as others ran out, or that rushed the cockpit with little more than the hope of dying as they had lived…proud, and free.
It’s courage, raw and vibrant, it's belief in the ultimate triumph of good over evil, and in the awesome power of freedom.
My dear brothers:
The Gospel we have just finished listening to shows us Christ giving life to His friend Lazarus. Christ, whom we saw this past Sunday as the "light of the world" giving to him who had been blind from birth the ability to see, shows Himself to us now as "the way, the truth, and the life", saying "he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live", returning life to His friend Lazarus.
We know that in returning life to Lazarus, Jesus signed His own death sentence, and so giving life,--which in respect to Lazarus was recovering life--to Jesus this meant giving His life.
Every covenant we make with Truth and Justice signifies that one is willing to sacrifice ourselves so that others may live, and this can only be a labor of love. Which is why Lazarus is, a friend of Jesus, and why Jesus demonstrates being his as well by giving him life.
To fight so that those around us have the right to life, signifies that we are ready to sacrifice ourselves so that others have access to those things that grant dignity to human life, things that are not solely eating and drinking, even though these things are necessary to sustain life, but rather consist of the ability to live free, with justice, in truth, and in peace. It is the spiritual goods that make a rich and rewarding life possible, and to promote life signifies promoting those values that give it dignity and values, which brings it closer to the plan that God has had in reserve for His children since the creation of the world.
Every one has a right to that life. A right to liberty and security in their person; a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, a right to freedom of opinion and expression, which includes not being harassed as a cause of his opinions. A right to research and to investigate, to receive information and opinions, to distribute them, with no limits set by frontiers, by any means of expression available, a right to gather and of free and peaceful association, and a right to participate in the government of his nation, because the will of the people is the only base for the State’s authority.
Each and every person has rights, unconditionally and equally, to be heard publicly and with justice by a fair and impartial tribunal, to determine his rights and obligations, or to have any manner of accusation against them examined against the weight of material proof. These are some of our rights. No one, no person or institution grants them to us, nor can they take them from us. God granted these rights to all His children so that they may live in freedom and brotherhood, knowing ourselves to be equal in dignity.
This is why, to struggle so that these rights are respected and can be fulfilled, is the obligation of each and every human being, even more so of those who believe in Christ!
The Universal Declaration where these rights are detailed, states in article #30: "Nothing in this Declaration can be interpreted to mean that in confers rights to any State, to any group, or to an individual, to apprehend or carry out activities or actions whose goals are the suppression of any one of the rights and freedoms proclaimed by this Declaration."
My beloved brethren, in the week just past, across the length and breadth of this country, peaceful defenders of human rights were tried. They have stood accused, and prison sentences of incredible duration have been asked for them, including even life in prison.
Only four blocks from our Church, in the Provincial Court of Santiago de Cuba, one of these trials is taking place. If these men and women are condemned to prison for the crime of defending human rights of others, this situation can only have one meaning to me: in Cuba today, Christ is being crucified anew, in the persons of our brothers.
How can we forget the dialogue between Jesus and Paul on the road to Damascus, when he directed himself at the persecution of Christians?
"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"
And he said, "Who art thou, Lord?"
"And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom thou persecutest'".
We cannot remain indifferent to this new "passion of Our Lord."
Each and everyone of us need to make a choice, and take our place, at the foot of the Cross, accompanying Christ, helping Him carry the Cross, or with the band of violators and accusers who are always disposed to engage their violent swords.
There are no options; they have left us no options.
With Christ, or against Him!
Add me to that list Luis. I'm praying hard for the people of Cuba. You did good last night.
The sooner the better...for the need is great...and the time is getting shorter.
The time is past for hoping that Castro will change.
Castro needs to be eliminated.....and Cuba restored to being a Nation of Free men and women....who can decide their own fate.
redrock
Keep the rubber on the road, ya' hear?
Freedom Advocacy Promoting freedom and human rights around the world, beginning with Cuba.Most see Castro in a clearer light
Soon, your people will be free.
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