Faith

In My Humble Opinion -



As a Baby Boomer I recall the days when our school day began with not only prayer but also the Pledge Of Allegiance to the flag. My classroom had the Ten Commandments on display and I spent a great deal of time reading and digesting the content which also prompted me to question my parents about what the Commandments meant. Those of different beliefs were told that they could observe moments of silent meditation and were in no way forced to participate in anything that they were not comfortable with. My point is simply this, activities such as described above influenced me and helped to form the basis upon which my personality and character were built.

Equally as important to starting our school day off with prayer and our exercise in basic patriotism, we were taught both sides of the issue which is now being referred to as "intelligent design" or creation versus evolution. Being given both sides of the issue allowed us to make intelligent choices for ourselves based on our belief system, not being indoctrinated to believe one way or another.

Faith is also an issue of personal choice. Removing the ability for our children to pray at school and having false ideas and erroneous theories rammed down the throats of our children who unless properly prepared at home have no way of differentiating between what is fact and fallacy has produced a generation of people with extremely flawed belief systems. Devoid of faith to guilde their behaviors, what are they left with, anarchy? Is it any wonder that we are witness to acts of immorality such as looting, killing, raping, and all of the other horrors we have witnessed during the tragedy of hurricane Katrina?

Without a solid moral foundation to build on, what is it which will fill the void as our children grow and mature? Whose agenda will they be indoctrinated with in the public school systems or will they be left to fend for themselves and form their character or lack thereof based on what they are force fed in the mainstream media or in their personal peer groups? As our country becomes an even larger cultural melting pot and droves of diverse cultures continue to flood our society, whose religious view points or lack thereof will be impacting our children's impressionable minds?

As a child I grew up in a home with little to no religious guidance other than that which I experienced in school. I am thankful for teachers who were not afraid to share their beliefs in the Bible which only helped to spark my curiosity to learn more. If we are not taught to develop faith in the Lord and the Word of God, then what is the alternative? Without a Christian foundation to build upon as our belief system develops which will determine our personality and character, what will we build upon?

We are witness to what seems to be an all out assault on anything to do with faith and Christianity all the while we see every accomodation being made for those of differing view points such as Islam, Buddhism, and even Paganism. A concerted effort is mounted every December to remove any and all refernces to Christianity in the public venue and is now even overflowing into the public school system in many areas in ridiculous examples of knee jerk extremism and the fear of offending some incredibly small segment or faction who may not share in Christian beliefs and view points. So, the norm is now to punish the majority to accomodate the nearly non existent minority. This is clearly demonstrated in the assault on our second ammendment right to own and bear firearms. With upwards of 10,000 plus statutes, laws, and policies on the books regarding firearms we are still entreated to the hysterical rantings of the anti gun lobby at any and every opportunity. Ok, here is a novel thought, how about we punish the criminals who misuse firearms and not punish the vast majority of law abiding gun owners in this country? Wow, what an epiphany, punish the criminals and not everyone else! Ok, take that a step further, those who are not Christian are not going to be forced in any way to believe differently so why should the majority of us be force to accept ideas, view points and theologies that we do not agree with only to satisfy the extremists, elitists, and fanatics who are only concerned with promoting their personal agendas and sense of what is fair and equitable for everyone.

Here is an amazing little known factoid, this country was established to begin with to escape religious and fanatic intolerance. Yep, our forefathers came here so that they were not made to believe what the Church Of England demanded that everyone believe. The signers of the Constitution and Declaration Of Independence were deeply religious men who recognized the absolute need to be guided by beliefs in our creator, Christian precepts, and the wisdom contained in the Bible. Unfortunately, all of those who do not want to be held to any type of moral absolutes as defined in the Bible are obviously going to espouse all of the social morays, attitudes, and opinions of the lunatic fringe on the far left. To see the fruits of what nearly 40 years plus of social experimentation, building a welare entitlement faction, and all other liberal utopian theories which have been implemented we only have to turn on the evening news, pick up a newspaper or magazine, or visit a college campus.

Here is a newsflash, regardless of age, income, or social status it is never to late to pick up God's Word and discover on your own the answers to any questions you might have so that you can choose for yourself. If you have questions about your salvation there are no lack of good, Christian, neighbors who will be more than happy to help you find answers to any questions that you might have. Yes, you can develop, strengthen, or even find your lost faith at any stage of life. The answers to any question that one can ever have can be answered by simply reading and learning about what Jesus Christ did for all of us and recorded in the Bible more than two thousand years ago. If nothing else, develop a faith in something, hopefully not a faith in the world, or man, but a faith in something greater than our ability to comprehend with our human capacity. Often times it is as easy and bending one's knees and simply talking to the Creator of all to find that you are always welcome in the open arms of the Lord.

God Bless You.