Separation of Church and State

I have been thinking a lot lately about debating, whether in person or online, and the many themes that seem to come up. There is definitely a life-cycle to a debate. First you have your general arguments made for both sides. As this goes on it segues into the sharing of links to other sources to support your argument or to disprove the opposing side. This then leads to the trashing of any and all sources as either lies, completely biased, or just plain stupid. Then there's the section of the debate when both sides assure the other that Jesus is on their side. Were he still alive, he'd totally be out fighting for the cause of which we are fighting as well. And then it slips down to the level of name-calling and then of course the death knell of any debate: Godwin's Law. The first person who compares the other side to Hitler, loses. And ends the debate. And there you have, the life-cycle of the debate.

But what I am focusing on at the moment, is the part where people try to say that Jesus would have been on their side. I am a strong supporter of the separation of church and state, and I had the realization that this should trickle into my debating as well. Maybe it's time to leave Jesus out of it all. He was pretty non-political, really. He was more about stirring things up with religion, so maybe I need to try and leave Him to those types of debates instead. It might be difficult because it's such an easy thing to do. I will probably continue to fail miserably and continue to disappoint myself, but at least I am aware of it.

It's too bad we have to debate and argue sides in politics anyway. Instead of tearing each other down and trying to make others feel bad for their beliefs, it would be wonderful if we could all learn to see where each other comes from, and to find the good parts of each side, and combine them together into something strong and unbreakable. Maybe that was ultimately what Jeuse was about: If we could all learn to get along better and to live spiritually strong lives, maybe we wouldn't need politics at all?

The Power of Words

The written word, specifically.

After becoming embroiled in a discussion I hadn't planned on entering on Facebook this morning, I am yet again reminded of the power of words. The scenario: a person passes along an email they received that uses a Bible passage to "prove" that liberals are fools and conservatives are wise people. The email is passed on with only the message "I felt compelled to share this." Naturally this ruffled feathers between the poster and their liberal friends, myself among them. What stands out the most to me about this is that the words used for this shared email were hurtful, and done so in a truly passive aggressive manner designed to be hurtful. And even had the audacity to try and imply that God approved of such hurtfulness, because it's in the Bible, after all... The person who posted this by not stating their outrage or disbelief of the email is by default agreeing with it even if they later claim they don't. This is why we must choose our words so carefully. Particularly in a non-verbal setting when we can't see body language, or hear tone of voice.

I wish people could understand this before they write things or share other people's things that they wrote. I think some people have a natural way with words, and some people do not. This isn't to say that they cannot learn and improve with time, but they must first see that this is perhaps not a gift given to them and that they will have to always think harder and first before writing or sharing anything, particularly in an online situation. Thinking before writing is always a good rule of thumb.

What I also wish that people who claim to be Christians and people who wish to bring people together in Christ, could realize that they can do so much damage with their words. As a person who is liberal in politics and her spiritual stance, hearing insulting words passed on as though they come from God Himself certainly doesn't make me want to visit a church again any time soon. Not if I'll be surrounded by haters like that who judge me silently, or not-so silently, for my beliefs that clearly differ from theirs. So, by passing along a message without really thinking about the implications and consequences, this person has actually managed to anger and continue to distance from God, the very people they wish to win over for God. And this is why we must all choose and use our words so carefully, especially online. You never know who else will be reading them and what message you might be passing on to them.

A Christmas Equation

John 14:6-"Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Last night at church I had a bit of an epiphany during the sermon. Involving the above passage from the Bible. So, in honor of Christmas, I present to you, my Christmas equation. Don't worry, it's not scary math, it's cool math!

Jesus = God
God = Love
Therefore, Jesus = Love

If Jesus is the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through him, then Love is the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to Love except through Love.

Therefore, we come from love, and return to love, and are commanded in life to reflect that love onto all others in the world. And that, my friends, is the true meaning of Christmas...

The Dangers of Zealotry

Zeal–noun fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor.(Dictionary.com)

In the wake of the horrible attack in Norway yesterday, I couldn't help but notice how soon people were trying to link this to Al Qaeda or Islamic extremists. We soon found out that it was in fact a home-grown terrorist with right-wing nationalist tendencies responsible for it. The man who shot the Congresswoman and the crowd in Arizona, also a political extremist. People like to think that there's only one kind of extremist out there, and the knowledge of that somehow makes us feel safer, because it's easier to put see that way. X group looks like this, so as long as I am not around people who look like that, I'm safe from harm. Unfortunately life doesn't work that way. Zealotry comes in many forms, in many shapes, and many styles of beliefs. Religious(any) extremists, political extremists, ecoterrorists, people who are militant about what they eat, all of these are examples of zealotry. The problem is not what a person believes, the problem is that a person believes it so much that they are willing to kill or die for it. The belief literally becomes their entire identity.

One of the Ten Commandments in the Bible talks about not having any other gods before God, and I think this is a good example of that. Any time a belief is so strong that anything or anybody that goes against it is an intolerable threat that must be stopped is a dangerous state of mind. The inability to compromise or see from other points of view is a scary place to be, because inevitably, you will run across people who don't share your view. Because your belief is all you are, so all-consuming, they are a threat to you, personally, and must be removed as such.

It's good to have opinions and beliefs, but a person also needs balance and perspective. Whatever your belief may be, if it becomes something you believe in so passionately that you could kill or die for it--you're doing it wrong...

Why I Choose Not to Eat Beef

So the latest beef recall, due to worries about e. coli was announced on the news today. 2 tons, approximately are being recalled and will be destroyed somehow. What a waste of good food. That number seemed so high that I got curious and did the math. I might not be completely correct, but these are the figures I came up with. 2 tons equals 14,000 pounds of beef. It takes ten pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef, which means that in this recall, not only were 14,000 of meat wasted, but 140,000 pounds of grain were too. That equates to 2,24,000 ounces of grain. Based on a one ounce serving of grain and the 6 serving minimum that the average person is supposed to get each day, I calculated that in a one day time frame, 186,667 people who would otherwise go hungry somewhere in the world, could have been fed. And of course you could have fed a smaller amount of people for a longer time.

It just makes me look at a Big Mac in a really different way when I look at it like that.

Answering the Call of Duty

Jury duty that is. I got a summons in the mail on Saturday to go to jury duty at the end of March and immediately started grumbling and trying to figure out how to get out of it. I've always had a fear of doing jury duty and getting stuck on the murder trial that will take months to do and years of therapy to get over, but according to their website, that's not what Municipal court handles, so I was less fearful of it.

Then this morning I was looking at the news headlines of what's going on in Libya and the Middle East right now. People are continuing to be slaughtered in their quest for the freedoms we take for granted. And I realized that something as simple yet possibly annoying as jury duty is in fact a freedom. It's what we do so that we can have a fair justice system, it's being a part of the system. It's what I do so that hopefully one day, should the need ever arise for me to have a jury, there will be a group of my peers who actually pay attention and do their job properly to grant me justice.

So I decided that I will attend my jury duty without a grudge or a feeling of being put-upon. I will embrace the experience in honor of those who are fighting and dying for the chance to do what I am being given the opportunity to do.

The Fight for Freedom

I've been watching and reading about what's going on in the Middle East right this very minute. It is exciting, and sad. People are dying in the fight for freedom. It's real. It's real people fighting for rights against leaders who don't want to give up their power and want to keep them oppressed.

I look at these people in awe, and wonder what I would do if faced with the same situation. I have never had to really fight for anything in my life. Things are just given to us here in this country. And when we do fight for things, it's done within the system, and rarely does it result in people being set on fire or trampled by camels or shot at from helicopters. We really do have it easy here, no matter how much we like to play the martyr.

The people fighting this fight are true heroes. They are willing to fight for freedom, and are literally willing to die for it. Some people might say it's brave to take up arms to fight for what you want for your country, but I think it's far braver to face a gun with open arms, and take a bullet for your people. It is something I don't think I could ever do, even if I was fighting for something as important as the freedoms we take for granted here.

So I would like to thank a couple different groups of people tonight. First I would like to thank the men and women who serve our nation so that I can remain the coward that I am and not have to do it myself. I would also like to thank them for keeping our freedoms safe so that I can write these words freely and not fear being arrested for them. And second, I would like to thank the brave men and women around the world who are currently fighting and dying for their freedom and the future of their nations. You are far braver than I am, and you will not be forgotten. And I hope and pray with all of my heart, that it will not be in vain. Spring is coming! May it bring better days and a freer future for all...