"...Love one another..."

Just before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He left what has come to be known as the "11th Commandment" with His disciples.
"Love one another as I have loved you".
He didn't leave any footnotes or exceptions. Why? Because a person's skin color has nothing to do with what is in their heart or what they are capable of. "Christians" that attempt to justify a narrow mind need to remember that Christ was a Jew, Aramaic (The original language for sections of the biblical books of Daniel and Ezra), to be specific.
Jewish contributions to America's greatness? Julius Ochs Adler served as a Major-General in the U.S. Army in World Wars I & II. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, Purple Heart, Silver Star and Croix de Guerre (an award to allies of France and Belgium for acts of heroism involving combat with enemy forces). *Baruch Samuel Blumberg identified and developed the test and vaccine for the Hepatitis B virus *(Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; Wikiproject Biography, supported by the Science and academia work group, cited December 4, 2008).
African-Americans? Well, Benjamin Banneker built a clock completely of wood which ran for 40 years. George Washington Carver encouraged farmers to diversify their crops to sweet potatoes and peas, as heavy reliance on cotton leached vital nutrients from the soil. Through his research, 300 products were derived from the peanut and 118 products were derived from the sweet potato. Charles Drew discovered the modern processes for preserving blood for transfusions. Harriet Tubman's courage, as she ignored the Fugitive Slave Law and had a $40,000 reward being offered for her capture, lead about 300 slaves to freedom. Let's not forget the number of African-Americans that believed in and fought for the South during the Civil War (By the way, did you know that this war was NOT about slavery, but the Confederate states desire to secede from the union due to heavy taxation?).The list of contributions continues and is very impressive.
Arab-Americans? Dr. Michael E. Debakey was a world renowned American heart surgeon and helped develop the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH. Charles Asshur Al-Wadad Elachi was a principal investigator on many projects sponsored by NASA, including the Shuttle Imaging Radar series, the Magellan imaging radar at Venus and the Cassini Titan radar (Titan being Saturn's largest moon).
Without folks of different ethnic and religious origins, America would be a very different place and certainly not the greatest country in the world.
Instead of letting hatred be the burden we carry, it would be much more productive to appreciate the contributions that races and religions from around the world have made to give The United States of America its status. Creationism leads to the conclusion that we're all related by virtue of Adam and Eve, anyway. As a matter of fact, Mr. Darwin never specified that there were white, black, yellow or Arab "ape-like creatures" which evolved into each race. We can't each move to our own planet. So, together, why don't we work on keeping this one livable?

Being a Gentleman.

I think it was Ruth Graham who, when asked why God allowed so many terrible things to happen, said something like- We've asked God to get out of our schools, our public events, our courthouses, etc.. Being the Gentleman He is, our Father is doing as we asked.
Her direct quote is much better, but I can't find it. I guess the real point is that, in pushing God out of our lives, we never thought about the consequences.
Gee! I wonder Who's going to get the blame.
(I'll keep looking for that quote)

A bit o' fear

One of the things that disturbed me most was when I started thinking, "What if they're right?". I've never been one to think like that. God has always been my center point and has done so much for me, even when I was/am a bad boy :). I feel terrible that such a thought would enter my head. I've been praying about that a bunch, though. We both know who's planting such things in my heart. I'm feeling much stronger now, thank goodness. I guess we all have those times when being human gets in the way. But, one day......

Long Division

I have a copy of "The American's Creed" ( http://www.ushistory.org/documents/creed.htm )
from way back yonder in 1979. It was given to us as we graduated high school. There's one portion, "It's my duty to my country to love it...." that is our responsibility. But, the first paragraph speaks of what our government is supposed to do for the people. With the first entry in mind especially, our government has sure dropped the ball.
It would certainly be refreshing if someone would take office with the platform of renewing our faith in our governing body. It would take a great deal of work. But, it would still be nice.
Here's one for ya. Before we continue to butcher it, I challenge folks to actually read The Constitution. Take it in. Don't scan it. It's a very important document that deserves our time, because it defines who we should be as a nation.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html

Letting be.

Why are the folks who've fought us tooth and nail to have God taken out of everything, now trying to force us to believe their way? If I believe in God, that's what has spoken to my heart. Yet, these guys/gals come on TV, Radio, write books that obviously take swings at us believers and attempt to make us look like idiots.
If a person wants to NOT believe, fine. But, if I have faith in a God that loves me, that's my business.