Poison Oak

This may be a hard pill to swallow - but we're about to talk about politics.

“… I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.” ~~ Thomas Jefferson, 1802

SO very often, faith and politics try so desperately to intermingle, and to be honest - this problem was a component in my drifting away from the church. Christians (and I hate to say it, but especially Catholics) tend to ignore the fact that our country is founded not on the teachings of Christ, but the separation of church and state. The United States of America operate with no official Government. The Church does not get (or, shouldn't) get representatives in the Government.

All of this is creating a problem.

The old saying, united we stand, divided, we fall - it's not wrong.

And we are divided.

Now, I've played this game long enough to know the response I'll get. "Well, if we all just got along and instituted Christian beliefs into the Government, everything would be fine," Here's the thing - and to the best of my knowledge, either the majority of people don't realize it, or don't care. If we had an instituted official religion, it would drastically hurt others. Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, and (god forbid) any non-violent Muslim, all of their views sort of conflict with Christianity in one way or another. Not to mention, thanks to Pope Francis, as well as the actions of the US Government, wee are living in the most progressive times ever - as far as human rights go. Gays can now get married (which really ticks people off) and the Church is (trying) to push for more open reception of them.

If you, the generalized "you," who complain about the Gays ruining the institution of marriage, got your way, and abolished this form of equal rights, you wouldn't be doing yourselves any service, you would only be hurting your fellow people. The Bible teaches to LOVE thy neighbor. This behavior isn't that.

“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” ~~ Thomas Jefferson, 1785

In the United States, people are free to pick their religion. That can be anything. It can even be no religion. What rubs you guys the wrong way - is when people pick the wrong religion. Hell, to me, the only "wrong" religion is one that poses a threat to millions, and there is none that fits that criteria. Of course, there are factions - Radical Islam comes to mind, but that is not representative of the entire group of Islam. We need, no, we HAVE to stop being so narrow minded in our views.

Now - I'm going to try and drift away from that nonsense, and talk about something that SHOULD be the more relevant. We have got to stop hosting popularity contests for the control of our nation. Donald Trump is SADLY the most applicable candidate for the seat right now, and that is an absolute joke. Sure, he has some things going for him. He speaks his mind, he knows his money, and he has the appropriate and different type of experience - and he hasn't spent his life being bought by political interests. The problem, is that too many people see him as a joke. His goofy-factor blinds people from the fact that Hillary Clinton is a criminal. In all truth, when it comes down to casting votes, people are going to go for someone with ACTUAL political experience, because they are sheep.

We need to stop being sheep. We all want to be involved, but we don't want to do the work to be competently involved. So here's what I propose. If you don't have a decent knowledge of what's at stake, don't go vote.

We are on the verge of making irreparable mistakes with our future. We are allowing our elected officials to piss away our relationship with Israel, we are fanning wind into the embers that are ISIS, and we are setting up for a Race War in our streets. We are not the greatest country on earth, we are a Joke.

We need to stand together, and it is clear that, as unfortunate as it may be, Faith will not be that centerpoint. We have to find what that is. Fast

Just some thoughts,