Wow, been a good read.
What I do know from history. Each generation has something that worries them just as we seem today. We aren't very good at learning that though. Read the Sisters of Henry VIII and Wives of Henry VIII you will discover relationships with other countries haven't changed a whole lot.
As for religion, Muslims, Jews and Christians all believe in the same God. How we go about our beliefs is the difference. But people are people. They concern themselves with the very same things every other person does on a daily basis. When it comes to Ephesians 5:22 I just laugh. Men use it to say we have to be subservient to them. Women use it to complain. My mother spouted off about that verse just after I heard my pastor speak on the entire chapter of Ephesians 5. I grab my mother's Bible, carried it to her to read the entire chapter. I then asked, 'Who got more instruction in this chapter and has more responsibility to relationships in the family and with the church?' It sure wasn't me, it was my husband. All I was told to do was to honor my husband when it came to his leadership in the family. Taking a verse without studying what is written above and below a verse is like believing everything that is said on a conservative talk radio show or liberal talk radio show.
Thought that would be good to lead into politics. Just to make sure everyone understands. Unless an Executive Order is signed by the President then there is nothing he can do without a law being passed by Congress. The President can only do what the Constitution says are granted to the Executive Branch and laws that have been passed by Congress & signed by previous Presidents or he himself has signed. I do not agree with the uncontrolled spending of the last 10 years. If I have to live within my means then so does the government.
Here's another example from history. The Pilgrim's came here to this country to find tolerance for their beliefs. Heck, my ancestors The Pilgrim's were no more tolerant then there being a man in the moon. In fact they were very intolerant. On top of that they were a pack of thieves almost on arrival. They found a stash of grain in what they thought was an abandon Indian village. They took it. 20 years later there was the beginnings of the English driving the Indians out. That went on for centuries and still is. Please tell me why it can take sixty years to probate a will if you are a Native American in this country? Please tell me why Congress can not fix that one tiny little thing? Government can't fix anything, but they sure can make it worse.
Health care.....not touching it with a ten foot pole. Just because of my age I have been priced out of health insurance for the time being. We are digging out of some debt we incurred over the last year because of the recession and Lynn's Gall Bladder Surgery which was over $50,000 and we were insured at the time.
As for more problems with earthquakes and weather. First, the majority of the scientific community has debunked "Global Warming." New buzz word "Climate Change." Geezzzz. Our earth is just doing what it does with a little help from the sun on the weather. As for earthquakes, that's easy too. We have more sensors set up around the country and world. You can even go online to see where the ground shakes everyday. Kinda cool. Our earth has and continues to change. It's not stopping anytime soon.
As for there seeming to be more natural disasters. I don't think it is up statistically enough to warrant and OH MY Gosh response. Compared to when I was Leslie's age of 28 we live in a very different world when it comes to communication. It is instant communication now. CNN was a young network, FOX didn't exist. The news outlets now are fighting for the "scoop." And I'm kinda tired of the OH MY GOSH, IT'S BAD OUT THERE! reporting. Everything has to be sensationalized for ratings and advertising. The earth has an average total of seven major earthquakes a year. We had four by Feb. Heard of any since?
There is one thing God has given me. The ability to turn all my worries and concerns over to him. How I react to any given situation is totally up to me. I can have that "OH MY GOSH" reaction of I can sit back and watch the world go buy. LOL, Everyday I get to watch Lexie (one of our cows) who spends most of her days right along side of her mother. She is the epitome of being able to watch the world go by better then any other cow on the ranch. Nothing phases that cow, she is always calm, cool and collected. I think being a bully until she got pregnant for the first time made her realize how futile it is to get all in a dither over something all the time. No one, not even her mother would stand up for her when she was bullying others around her. I am just one person who can make a better place for me first then help those who need to be in a better place. Our country is the most giving country in the world! Let's not stop, I like I can hold my head high that I'm a US Citizen.
My ds has a friend who is a muslim and we were talking about how different the Muslim religion is. I know nothing about the religion, but I was telling him that there are extremist in every religion like the the Westboro Baptist church is extreme in the Christian religion. Its not the religion itself its the whackos that give it a bad name. I am a Christian and I find the groups that you mentioned very offensive as I am sure that Muslims find the terrorist offensive as well. But there is a part of me, because of lack of knowledge that is a little apprehensive of Muslims in general. You hear so much negative of their beliefs in the media, its hard not to be negative as well.
FYI - there has been a great deal of misinformation out there regarding the valididty of his citizenship and even more disproving these theories... do you really think someoen could fake this and become the president of the most powerful country in the world?
