What does Mubarak and Prayer have in common?

This past year has been an interesting year both in personal growth and in world events. The increasing violent rhetoric of the far right, neoconservative Tea Party and all of the anti-immigrant, anti-muslim xenophobic behavior, the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, the Mosque controversy, the collapse of Lebanon's governenment - and all the twists and turns taking place at this moment, the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia and the ousting of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the student protests in Yemen, and finally the most recent Egyptian protests now covering a significant portion of the U.S.'s larger media outlets. So what is a person to do? How are we to act?

It seems to me that in a world (and if you look hard enough, they are there and these people do care, even if they are unaware of the implications of what they do) where Christian activism is growing, that there is a need for these groups of religiously sympathetic people to inform and reform how the church approaches politics and activism. Do we show solidarity with our Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Athiest brothers and sisters fighting for their right to represent themselves how they best see fit en lieu of American interests. Or do we let dogmatic, divisive politicians and pundits determine how faith is lived out in a world that seems to be fighting more of an economic battle than a ideological one. Is faith alone in God enought to make a difference in this world? Does HE/SHE ask for more?

I wonder these things as the conversation the in the coffee shop is just audible enough for me to hear the discussions taking place about faith and God's grace and the news screen in front of me sends minute by minute updates about how people are taking their fate into their own hands and God only knows how this will end up panning out.

as for all of the frustration that builds in attempting to articulate myself, it should be apparent in the level of incoherency present in this entry.