The Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, Part 38

If the Israelites Had Livestock in the Wilderness, Why Did They Need the Manna and Quails?

Good question. I don't have an answer.

Thankfully, I'm not the only one who can say that. But, here are some interesting thoughts on the subject.

"The Promise and the Perils of Democracy"

That's the title of a series of pieces I wrote six years ago. On this day when we celebrate the resignation of Hosni Mubarak as president of Egypt and a hoped-for transition to democracy in that country, the series seems appropriate again.

"Democracy is the worst form of government," Winston Churchill said, "except for all those other forms that have been tried." Democracy holds great promise. But it has its perils, especially when it lulls us into selling out for less than the complete freedom God wants all people to experience.

The Promise and the Perils of Democracy (Part 1, March 2, 2005)
The Promise and the Perils of Democracy (Part 2, March 11, 2005)
The Promise and the Perils of Democracy (Part 3, March 15, 2005)

Friedman: Egyptian Situation Creates Perilous Time for Israel

But also, he believes, one presenting a window of opportunity to make a deal with the Palestinians and ensure peace:

To put it bluntly, if Israelis tell themselves that Egypt’s unrest proves why Israel cannot make peace with the Palestinian Authority, then they will be talking themselves into becoming an apartheid state — they will be talking themselves into permanently absorbing the West Bank and thereby laying the seeds for an Arab majority ruled by a Jewish minority between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

There's a window of opportunity also for President Obama, he believes:

I had given up on Netanyahu’s cabinet and urged the U.S. to walk away. But that was B.E. — Before Egypt. Today, I believe President Obama should put his own peace plan on the table, bridging the Israeli and Palestinian positions, and demand that the two sides negotiate on it without any preconditions. It is vital for Israel’s future — at a time when there is already a global campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state — that it disentangle itself from the Arabs’ story as much as possible. There is a huge storm coming, Israel. Get out of the way.

Read the whole thing and then tell me what you think.