Freedom of ReligionWritten by Skye Thomas
We were all taught in school that our forefathers left England to escape religious dictatorships. Okay, there was a lot more to it then that, but it was a big enough deal that they made sure it got honorable mention in our rulebook. They clearly made point that we were to have freedom of religion here in America. They also used word "God" in some of their formal paperwork and even on our money. I don't want to argue politics here, but rather semantics. They didn't say "freedom of Christianity," they said "freedom of religion." The boys who wrote up all of our formal paperwork were wordsmiths and they debated long and hard to find perfect set of words to govern ourselves by. It wasn't decided that we had freedom to choose whichever form of Christianity that we liked, but whichever form of religion. Religion is in and of itself a much broader concept then Christianity. "God" can mean a lot more then just Christian definition too.No, I don't agree with all bickering and arguing over whether or not there should be prayers in school or if Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional. You can't stop someone from praying whenever or wherever they choose. Nor can you force a prayer out of someone either. It's a dumb thing to argue about and not worth being offended over either way. I think it's important to teach out children what our country's Pledge of Allegiance is, but I don't know that it's right to force anyone to state a pledge, especially children. Seems a bit dictator like and kind of like brainwashing. Teach them what it means. Teach them what prayer means. Teach them what making a pledge of any kind means whether it's a pledge of one's allegiance to their country's flag, a pledge of fidelity to a spouse, or a pledge of loyalty to a boss. But also teach them that in this country we have freedom to make pledges or not. Teach them that in this country we have freedom to pray to whoever or whatever we like and freedom not to pray. Teach them just how important that freedom is. I'm saddened when I hear of Pagan's being persecuted for their spiritual beliefs in this country. Did Sunday school teachers forget to mention that using colors green and red for Christmas is Pagan? Did they mention that Christmas lights, yule logs, and wreaths are all Pagan? Did they mention that almost every single Christian holiday is celebrated ironically on top of a Pagan festival? Why do you think we have bunnies, baby chicks, and pretty flowers as part of our Easter celebration? Because it coincides with Pagan's celebrations of Spring's renewal. From what I can see, Pagans aren't all evil ugly witches anymore than all Christians are white supremacists. I don't have a deep knowledge of all of different religions of world, but I can tell you that it doesn't take much research to see that they're all very much same. Get past which church uses which secret handshake and which rule book you should follow, and you find that they're all teaching us to respect each other, to love each other, to conduct yourself with honor, and to be good to planet and animals that we're blessed with. The rest is all dogma and debatable. Nobody has any real concrete proof that their particular form of God is only one. Who's to say that God or Jesus isn't wise enough to visit more than once using different names and different forms? Wouldn't it make sense given size of planet that rest of world would need to be given a fair chance at knowing about God too? Is Buddha so very different from Jesus? Their teachings are incredibly similar. Why limit God to a concept that only fits what your particular culture or region of world knows about?
| | THE PECAN PIEWritten by Irvin L. Rozier
This is a short version of story number 14(out of 50) from my book, My Walk with Lord, www.selahbooks.comPsalm 37.4 "Delight thyself also in Lord, and he shall give thee desires of thine heart." One Friday afternoon, I got an intense desire for a slice of homemade pecan pie. I had just read above scripture verse so I prayed and asked Lord to give me a piece of pie, desire of my heart at that time. Saturday night, I went to a gospel sing at a small country church. After singing was over, refreshments would be served. I knew a pecan pie would be on dessert table. The singing was wonderful...a great spiritual blessing was received by all. How that little white church vibrated as singers and musicians lifted up name of Jesus. As someone gave thanks and asked Lord to bless food and time of fellowship, my mouth began to water for that slice of pecan pie. Well, food was good but I was disappointed because there was no pecan pie in sight...all other kinds were there, but no pecan pie. Sunday morning, one of my nephews called and invited me to go to a church service honoring high school graduates. He wanted me to pray for graduates. After service, refreshments were to be served. I just knew that night, my desire for a slice of pecan pie would be met. I had often been to suppers at that church, and many times I'd seen four or five pecan pies on dessert table. The service was beautiful...it honored graduates and Lord. As pastor asked blessing over food, I anticipated first bite of that slice of pecan pie.
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