POLITICS OF HATE:

Currently our country is in turmoil, the parties are sniping at each other and many people are refusing to talk to one another, refusing to hear the other side.
At times like this I worry that we have not learned the lessons of history, and we are doomed to repeat them.
We just had an election year go past and I was shocked at the anger so many showed, people were arguing about things that really ought not to have been argued about.
We are seeing some amazing, and frightening, upheavals lately, both at home and abroad. Rioting, and violence are reaching unprecedented levels, people are more worried about our environment and society than ever before.
Between the gang violence the drug issues, (several states had legalizing marijuana on their ballots this year) and we all know what we have seen going on in the news regarding the illegal aliens issues; (all our family in Arizona are on the front lines in this) we don’t know what to do.
People are angry WITH REASON. Some are frightened some are scornful but there is no one listening to anyone else.

Now that I am raising a family of my own I know what these mean to me in a different way than I ever did before. I worry (some say too much) about what my children will have in their future/s.
I want to give them the chance to have, well, a chance! A chance to prosper! A chance to love, a chance to live and a chance, like the one Martin Luther King Jr. was looking for in his “I have a dream speech”, to be free and equal, TRULY equal; Not just a reversal of the status quo.

We need to start from a common point! I think that common point is found in our declaration of independence, All men are created equal and we all have certain inalienable rights and among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I feel I need to point out that these are the guarantees given to AMERICAN’S by AMERICAN documents. They say so themselves. We are a people group that is very diverse but we are ALL American’s first and foremost. Not “Irish Americans”, or “Hispanic Americans” or “African Americans”. we are all A M E R I C A N S! period no hyphenations no descriptive words necessary. We are all Americans. We have an obligation as Americans to maintain our nation’s sovereignty and to participate in our political system.

Beyond that, I think in order to have true equality we need to seek for all people, everyone to have the same chance/s not for any one people group to get something another group doesn’t have; and not an attempt to get even with a group that you think has oppressed yours.
And I think everyone needs to be ready to sit down and listen, REALLY listen to what the other group has to say.
Weigh the facts, study the truth/s and listen to the opinion/s.

I often have heard people tell me how “open minded” they are, but when push came to shove they had their beliefs and opinions well set and they would not hear the opposing viewpoint. That is not open-mindedness!
To listen only to a viewpoint you believe and not hear the other side is Close - minded. And to not even accept defeat when the opposing side presents an infallible argument, instead clinging irrationally to beliefs that have been drummed into you… well that is obstinate.

I find it alarming, in this day and age to see these things coming to pass again, yes I said again.
I believe that before each of the few major wars fought on our land/s (here in America that is) we saw either a refusal to have a true two way conversation, or the needs/ desires/ frustrations of one side were ignored.

The American colonies had grievances which weren’t being heard and the revolutionary war happened, people in both the south and the north didn’t listen and the Civil war happened.
So where will this current road lead us? I fear to find out.

I hope that this year will find you peace, joy and prosperity. I hope that things start getting better and that people wake up before it is too late, and I hope that we all may live out our lives (the children too) in happiness and contentment seeing nothing but improvement throughout this year and all the future years.

Anyway, I hope that my fears don’t materialize and so I say a prayer for all of you now And I wish you the best of Christmases and the greatest of New Years.

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

In a recent debate a couple of candidates got into an argument over the issue of the 1st Amendment. Most people cite the amendment as the “separation of church and state” amendment. The problem is that the amendment in question NEVER says separation of church and state and there is a good reason for that.

First let’s look at what the amendment does say and why.
“congress shall make no laws regarding the establishment of a religion.” that is the PRECISE wording, and the reason they put that in place was because they had seen the problem/s associated with a government sponsored religion. Now most people try to say that what this means is that we all ought to make sure that our elected officials do not do anything that could cause someone to choose one religion over another.
But if you REALLY look at all the facts you see otherwise.

The founding fathers would have been very aware of the horrors and travesties placed on people when Government tells them who what or where to worship. Even the bible warns about the folly of Government interfering with worship. (just look at the biblical stories of Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.) But they were also all devout followers of God. The wording in the constitution makes it clear that What they intended was that the government, namely the part of government that makes the laws, would not FORCE people to join any religion, and neither could the government DENY anyone of following their religious beliefs.
And that ruling applies to ALL Americans, not just the noisy ones.
Even the Police Officer, the President, the teachers, the senators we all see and deal with every day have the right to worship HOWEVER THEIR RELIGION TELLS THEM!!!
It does not matter if they are Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Taoist or even Wiccan.
The ONLY possible exception to the right for anyone to worship as they see fit is when that worship deprives someone of their basic right/s. so if you practice human sacrifice then you cannot do it here because the “sacrifice” has the inalienable right to life, and so on.

The founding fathers CERTAINLY never meant for people to use this amendment to bully people away from their faith like it is used today. We are as bad now of the heinous crime of denying people their right to worship as they see fit as the church of England was in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

People back then were condemned to prison because they disagreed with the church of England and worshipped how they wanted, today they are facing THE EXACT SAME PUNISHMENT, FOR THE EXACT SAME REASON.
So I say it is time to wake up people! Face the facts, Know your history And READ the constitution.