by James Glaser
January 19, 2005

I take my walk with God seriously and I respect anyone else who does the same, even if their Path is not the same as mine.

I am also am American and believe in the values of our country. I really do believe in the separation of Church and State and feel if we intermix the two, we will have our own brand of fundamentalist government, akin to what the Taliban had in Afghanistan. I feel that we have Religious Right church leaders in America today who would love to control our government and everything about life in America.

In 1987, the US Supreme Court ruled that creationism (a belief that God created the world as described in the Bible) could not be presented as viable science in our Public Schools.

That is fine with me. If I want my children to believe in creationism, I will both teach them and PAY to send them to a Christian School. That is my right as an American. What I don't have is the right to teach my religious beliefs to all children in PUBLIC schools. If we teach creationism, then we might have to teach reincarnation and you know what? Reincarnation is pretty cool if you are a kid, because you can do what ever you want and "next time around" you can be good. This life time you can run amok, because there is always that next time. Christians believe that this is our one shot, and we better not screw it up.

So I want all religious teachings to be in the home, the church, or the religious school of your choice. Once one religion gets to put their beliefs into our public schools, we are in big trouble. I think our forefathers knew what they were doing way back when this country was started, as they decided that everyone could believe what they wanted.

If Christians want to spread the word of God, the very best way they can do that, is by living a life that is an example to all people. Almost all people at one time in their life look for something to believe in and it is pretty easy to pick out the people in your community who are good, have a good outlook on life, and are just out and out happy people. They are not out there trying to push their ways on others. They might be the community volunteer who will help anyone regardless of religion or skin color. They might be that person who has a smile and kind word for you when ever you meet. These kinds of people, who live their beliefs, can bring people to God. Those that push their beliefs, push people away from God.

Today in America we have a group on the "right" who feel that they have the right and duty to bring their form of religion to everyone. They will, even though their Bible tells them not to, judge you and tell you that if you don't believe the way they do, you are going to hell.

These "Christians" disregard the teachings of Jesus Christ who they say they follow. They see nothing wrong with our nation going half way around the world, where we kill and maim tens of thousands of innocent people so that we can force them to use our brand of government. Jesus said, "Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you." Jesus Christ asked us this question, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?" Christ wants us to love those people who don't even like us.

America has the greatest killing machines the world has ever seen and we claim that we are Christians. The same people who want to teach creationism in the schools would never let us teach Jesus Christ's words, because Jesus said, "Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." The Religious Right does not want to hear any of that. They want to talk about Just Wars. They want a larger military. We have American Military Officers preaching in uniform that our God is greater than the Muslims God.

Washington and the Religious Right are making our War on Terrorism a religious war, which is really a slap in the face to Jesus.