OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT 2008

[spockster202]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on much of what you wrote.

My views tend toward the Humanist / World view / Agnostic.
http://www.humanisterna.se/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=48

I do not believe you have to be Christian to be civil, loving, respectful of one's neighbor and especially moral. Even the bible says, that those without law are a law unto themselves, and that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them. I think Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and the other founding fathers had it right regarding the separation of church and state balanced with the right to practice ANY or NO religion.

I am sure you have seen kids who are raised in a strict fundamentalist setting go wild at times when their parents or teachers aren't around to supervise them. The difference between claim and conduct is not guaranteed just because one claims to be Christian. Helpfulness out of concern for another is not morally the same as helpfulness for payment = a heavenly reward. We know that truth telling out of respect for accuracy is not morally the same as truth telling for fear of being caught in a lie. In short, simply to equate "good" behavior with morality doesn't make sense.

As for protecting our borders and culture, I agree that we need to have secure borders - but most of those people coming over for years have been Christians, albeit, Catholics who in many ways are more religious than those born here. We just need tougher border enforcement, sanctions for firms that hire illegal immigrants, and a way for employers to verify that job applicants are here legally - so they can pay taxes that help support the entire system. It might make our prices a bit higher at the market, but in the end....

As for your statement, People won't love their neighbor if they can't trust them. I say, people no matter who they are, have to earn my trust. I give them the benefit of the doubt until they show who they really are.

Besides, didn't Jesus teach that we have to love strangers, and even love our enemies? Sometimes it seems like modern Christians are trying to imitate the Pharisees instead of loving strangers. They have a peculiar obsession about keeping the Law and a strange inability to show hospitality to those with whom they disagree.

They can quote the Law of Moses but they do not seem to know the meaning of the Greek word philoxenia ("loving strangers"). They can quote the Levitical Holiness Code but they do not seem to know the meaning of hospitality. They can tell young Christians that the Old Testament law still applies but they do not seem to know what it truly means to "love strangers."

Some of the above are quotes I found, and have helped me put into words what I believe and feel.

I agree with you, that we need education. An educated society is a more civil, hospitable, ethical and moral one. Otherwise we will repeat history and like Rome, revert to "the mob".