"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
~ Theodore Roosevelt~

I was thinking about our sisters who tried to, for want of a better phrase, take over AWARE. Yes, they erred, they didn't do as well. And not forgetting a certain feminist mentor too. :P

But, most of them were gracious all the same, even in the face of certain defeat. And thank God too that the new new exco responded and appreciated the old new exco's graciousness.

And through it all, I think I'm impressed by their willingness to stick their heads and even hearts out, to step out into the frontlines and get shot point-blank. They were the first wave on the beach, and they got the full brunt of the machine-guns.

It's their willingness to stick out their heads for what they believed in that I admire. How many other women... and for that matter, men - are willing to stick their heads out? We criticise... how easy it is, whether you supported the Old Guard or the (ex) New Guard, to say that they could have done this or that better.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better."

And the sisters did achieve something (in a rather unexpected way): the Ministry of Education decided to review.

In the end, I conclude that ultimately it's not effective, nor would it be right to impose our moral viewpoints on others. But we can and should live out our values and convictions consistently and courageously. If that means our values require us to stand up and speak out against what we see to be wrong, then... let's do it (of course, with gentleness and respect, not demonizing the other side).

Hmm. Sticking out our heads. To speak up against injustices. But also to be wise about what really counts. If I'm going to get shot, I want to be sure that what I'm going to get shot for is really worth getting shot for. :) But yes, if it's not worth dying for, then it's not worth living for.

But. To qualify. I don't agree that homosexuality is normal but rather, a lifestyle preference. Still, I believe with all my heart and mind that just because a person is gay, it does NOT means that he/she is therefore extra-worse. On the contrary, he/she matters to God so much that he's worth dying for. He/she is equally valuable and loved in God's eyes - as much as you and me. Just that his/her sexual preferences are not in line with God's intended order... but again then, I think, putting things into perspective - watching pornography, prostitution and looking at others lustfully are also clearly not in line with God's will. That means you and I are equally guilty of sexual immorality. So we're all sinners, and we all need a Saviour. And what a wonderful Saviour we have, He who bore all our sins on the Cross for our sakes. And Jesus himself said to the religious leaders:

Matthew 21:32
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

C'mon. If you think about it, look at the Ten Commandments. I doubt God said anything about homosexuality there, but He did speak very bluntly against adultery. And yet we seem to be more concerned about homosexuality than actual cases of adultery in our society. It doesn't seem to gel properly with God's priorities. He seemed to focus so much more against lovelessness, pride, religious legalism and so on, especially when He walked the face of this earth.

I have met at least one Christian who struggle with liking for the same gender... but the Christian really does sincerely want to do God's will. To love God and love his neighbour as himself. I've heard about prostitutes who desire God more than some Christians I know in church... and that includes me too.

Stunning? Well, Jesus said it's like that. I think we ought to pause for a moment and meditate on who God really, really, really is.

Exodus 34:6
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness...

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But I am still against the lust of homosexuality, just as I'm against premarital sex too. Because from what I understand, both ultimately affect and degrade the human body and soul. Because Christianity has a very high regard for the human body, since we believe that God made our bodies very good, and also that the soul is very tightly integrated with the body.

Of course if you don't believe that we have souls, then yeah, these would be considered as ok. But still, there are consequences that follow from these... the breakdown of the family unit in society, the consequent degeneration that follows and the eventual collapse of kingdoms and nations. Sounds extreme? Hmm. History seems to show otherwise...

But yeah, feel free to rebut me if you disagree... I may have misunderstood some things here.

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Personally, on a side-note, I think God isn't so interested in having us legalize morality in a nation, but to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly before our God. If we really want to have a true revolution, then we need to become the revolution.

If we want to, for example, speak up against racial prejudices, then we could start by speaking no more racist jokes or stereotyping foreign workers. If we want to see the world's hunger problems solved, then we could start by giving money to a food charity or giving food directly to some hungry family. If we really want to see peace break out, then how about becoming a peacemaker, to reconcile disputes and feuds between our families and friends? To practice loving our neighbours as ourselves - by taking the first step to bless our next-door neighbour with some cookies or durians, for example?