If you don't like it, move to Canada!

So, I don't really get the double standard that many people live comfortably with regarding our president.

When George W. Bush was in office there were people screaming for impeachment. Many people felt that he had forced our country into an un-winable war in Iraq, immediately after going into a war in Afghanistan that truly many Americans supported because they were outraged after 9-11. Additionally, many people were angry that the economy was imploding on itself, gas prices were rising, and this country seemed to be, in the eyes of many, collapsing into shambles. There were protest marches and outrage over the abuse of prisoners of war, and citizens proclaiming that they were ashamed to be Americans. Through it all, many staunch Republicans shouted back "He's still your President, you can't change that! Either suck it up, or move to Canada (France, Sweden, etc.)" Alternately, moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats were saying, "Yes, it's a mess, but we can't change the President yet, and that might not even help, so let's vote wisely in other elections and be as involved as we can in the democratic process."

Now, there is outrage at Barak Obama. People are upset that he's not wholly experienced at being a diplomat on the world stage, others are outraged at the chaos that is going on with the bailout money, and some are becoming disenchanted, feeling that all the promises he made on the campaign trail are being thrown to the wayside. Honestly, he's successfully made pretty much every party angry in some way since he took office. He still has some staunch supporters who truly believe is incapable of mistake, and he has staunch opponents who truly believe that he is incapable of doing anything right. These attitudes are typical of any administration, I think, but seem to be more extreme than usual due to the extremes that our country is facing. What strikes me as odd though, is that the people who shouted about needing to support Pres. Bush because he was President, are now just as boisterously shouting "Obama isn't my President! I'm ashamed that he was elected by this country that I love!" Really? Not even a year into this administration you have changed your tune about supporting the President as President? Really?

What frightens me most is that Christians tend to be the ones speaking out the loudest and harshest. We are the ones who are supposed to pray for our leaders, acknowledging that God has placed them in the position of power for a reason. Do we forget so easily that God created the heavens and the Earth? He knows who our President is at all times and is using that person for His glory, whether they are His or not. Does that mean that wars are for His glory? No, but what those wars cause in people's hearts could be. Does that mean the economic collapse brings glory to God? No, but people might be more willing to admit their out ineptness when they realize they have no control in their life. We need to pray for wisdom for our leaders; we wouldn't want their jobs and we wouldn't want to try to figure out this mess. We need to remember that even if we don't like our leaders, or their decisions, we still have to remember the God can use even this present age of our country to shape us into better images of Himself!