The war is still going on in Ukraine and there seems to be no end in sight. The war at home rages from the Republicans against Gays, Blacks. Immigration, Abortion and anything that is different from what the White evangelicals believe. Now America is supposed to be a free country. But freedom is just a hollow word that has no meaning if it just applies to only part of our Country. I hate to say this but some people of faith do not believe in freedom. Oh they want the freedom to believe what they believe but they do not want you to have the freedom to believe in something else. They act like if you are pro choice you expect every women to get an abortion which is not anything near the truth. Being pro choice means just what it says, choice. I believe that life begins at birth. I believe that you do not have a baby before birth. I am not a big fan of abortion but a child is not a citizen until birth. Until birth the government should stay out of the situation. Instead of searching for solution we sit in judgment.

Rural America is the backbone of our nation. Rural America is also the breadbasket of America and much of the world. Rural America use to be proud patriots. Some will say they still are but I will question that. A proud Patriot would not take other people’s freedoms from them. Rural America is also mostly white America. They are not very familiar with the real struggles of the inner city youth. Diversity doesn’t play a role in their lives because it really doesn’t affect them. When you have people calling diversity training as indoctrination those are words to scare people that have no idea what diversity training. Over 2000 years ago a man walked around and you could say one of the things he talked about is diversity. He didn’t call it diversity training he called it love for your fellow man. He called it not judging your fellow man and trying to understand your fellow man. You know the saying do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. He said let he who has not sinned cast the first stone. He didn’t say those words only to the future Christians of the world. He said those words for the whole world to hear. I grew up in a fairly religious family and all of us kids had to go to Sunday school and learned about how Jesus loves us all and we are supposed to love one another. Are those things not being taught in Sunday school anymore? From the Right we see a lot of stones being thrown and not very much love. From the left we also see a lot of stones being thrown aback. The Christians will say the God Created the Heavens and the Earth. He created everything. Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, Asians, everyone. If he really did create everything and everyone he was not of one color. He is all colors, he is all races, he is all creeds and he is all sexual persuasions.

My problem is I think that the church is going to stand up and save this nation from the hatred and bigotry that is ripping it apart. When that person was being stoned Jesus interceded and protected that person. Today it just seems like the Church is the one throwing the most stones. Funny I think about the lessons that I learned in Sunday school every day and then I look around me and see that what I was taught back then is not the reality what is now. The hate and bigotry that is all around us is just the opposite from what I learned in my youth. Growing up I thought that hatred and bigotry was a sin. Now it just seems to be part of everyday life.  I am white and I know that I am not perfect. I know that I have a lot of racist thoughts. I work every day trying to understand what racism is and try to do a better job. I once described myself to a Minister friend over breakfast that I was a recovering racist. Whenever I hear any person say that they are not a racist I think 9 out of 10 times that I am talking to a racist or at least talking to a person that doesn’t want to understand what racism is.  In America, Race matters. In America Race is part of our everyday life whether we are willing to admit it or not. It has been that way since our founding. Even with immigration we divided people by race whether it is Irish American or Italian American or wherever someone’s ancestors came from. Race has always mattered in America. As we have blended more our divisions have become more basic to black, white, brown or yellow instead of our country of origins but we still do not consider everyone to be just Americans.

Because of the bigotry and hatred that is running rampant in America the lessons that I learned as a child have do not seem to be very important anymore. Truth, dignity, and compassion now are looked down upon as weaknesses. Now winning seems to be the only important thing and how it is done no longer matters. Those commandments that were taught to me as a child have no meaning. Cheat, lie, and kill it doesn’t matter anymore. The words of Jesus whether you believe him as the son of God or not should never be used as a weapon against our fellow man. He never did and we shouldn’t either. After 2000 years we still have trouble grasping the fact that this was not a man of vengeance. This was not a man that wanted people to sit in judgment of their fellow man. He didn’t only tells us how we should live he showed us. The lessons that he taught were not just for Christians. They were for the world to learn from and not for salvation but for the good of our fellow man.