Society's Ill's

                     

When, in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve turned from being God centered to being self centered, it set the pattern for all the sins and problems of the world to this day (Romans 5:12). In Jeremiah 17:9, God said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can fathom it?" The sins in the heart of every person have produced the problems we face today. I do not take the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve story literally, but I firmly believe our self centered nature is the cause of society's problems.

Every generation ask the same question what has gone wrong with our society today, what has caused these problems, and what can be done to correct them?  Daily, we hear of school shootings, drug busts, rapes, robberies, people being threatened, murders, beatings, child abuse, sexual abuse, harassment, bullying, etc.  it is no wonder people questioning the ills of society.

Generation after generation we have been treating the symptoms and the effects rather than the causes. We have been putting a Band-Aid on the problems.  We look for more and more ways to protect ourselves from harm rather than really trying to solve the problem that is causing the harm.  We add police, metal-detectors, armed security in schools and we blame race, religion, politics, ethnicity, television, computer games, movies, etc. and never really address the core problems.

There was a time when a community was a family, not so today.  Many do not know their next door neighbor even when living in a condo or apartment complex. There was a time when you watched out for me and my family and I watched out for you and your family.  The schools had the right to discipline the children in school.  No one spent 16 hours a day worrying about ‘political correctness’.  If I saw your child misbehaving I would correct them or take them to you.  Today our institutions are more corrupt than ever, therefore, where do we learn morality.  It is not being taught in a lot of homes because homes today are mostly absentee parents. The home today is where one eats and sleeps, then each go their own way.  Each generation has become more and more a generation concerned about me rather than us.

We've all heard the complaints. Today's children are more disrespectful, undisciplined, and have a greater sense of entitlement than ever before. A lot of parents today can’t or won’t set limits for their children. Instead of disciplining them, they coddle and dote and bend over backward to shield them from frustration and protect their self-esteem.  In sport competition’s everyone gets a trophy so no one feels left out. The result is that we’re raising a generation of undisciplined narcissists (SELF-CENTERED CHILDREN) who expect everything to go their way, and it won’t be pretty -- for them or for our society -- when their sense of entitlement finally crashes into the unforgiving real world.  Is this really the children’s fault?

Children especially teenagers take a bad rap today! They are NOT all bad! We cannot categorize them all in one bunch. That's not fair, nor right. Of course teens today in general have problems. They always have. Today's seem to be more complex and severe than ever. As a result, many are troubled by things we adults never had to relate to. The solution doesn't seem easy to come by. Understanding the world they grow up in will help us to see where they are coming from.

Bill O’Reilly spends time nearly daily on the Factor telling us that lack of strict parenting and two parents in the home is destroying our children.  Now we find out that Bill O’Reilly and FOX have been settling claims for his sexual harassment cases for years in order to keep them quite and not upset ad revenue and Bill O’Reilly is divorced and there are not two parents in his children’s home. Bill O’Reilly may be somewhat right, but it shows that many like him or not practicing what they preach and society in general is not really taking the problem as serious as we should.  Maybe Mr. O'Reilly thinks there are two sets of rules for raising children one for rich and one for others.

Mr. O’Reilly, let us all start setting better examples for societies children.  That will do more good than condemning – you pompous hypocrite. EVERYONE IS A PRODUCT OF THEIR INFLUENCES including teens. An old proverb says, "You will be the person you are today, a year from now, except for the people you meet and the books you read." Mr. O’Reilly even you influence our children, because you influence many adults and they influence children.

We will never address society’s problems until we address the problems of our youth for they are the next leaders and voters.  We will never address youth problems until we address America’s problems – poverty, national pride, drug/alcohol abuse, violence, materialism, education disparity, shifting economy, etc.  The solution is complex and involves many issues not just parenting.

Faith in leadership, the foundation for a strong country and a more moral society has been destroyed. Young people have not had the privilege of having heroes. Military men and women are depicted as murderers who can't be trusted. Some sports stars are known to be alcoholics, cocaine users and sexual predators. Some religious leaders are involved in sex scandals and  financial scandals. Politicians are best known for their ability to tell lies.  These are facts!  Who can teens have for heroes today? How about Motley Crue, Prince, LL Cool J. Kardashian’s, etc.?

Many parents are working long hours to have more material things and when they are home they are fixing up the yard, partying, boating, camping, watching TV all the Important things without the teenagers?   Then we hear parents of troubled teens say, "I don't understand it, I gave him or her everything he or she ever wanted!" That is right you did everything but, YOURSELF!

Humanism is the greatest religion in the world today. Its churches are in session Monday through Sunday each week. Humanism in a nutshell is the "me, myself and I" religion. No God, no authority to submit to, just me, myself and I. 

How can we expect anything more of our society today?  It will be the downfall of America unless we stop talking and complaining and start doing something.  I do not look forward to being the next Spain, Greece, Rome, France, England and go from leader to follower.  

Be careful insulting the United States - things change with time!

I do not think Putin has any grand scheme to confront America. I believe Putin’s policies have been aimed at boosting his personal image at home and Russia’s international standing abroad to deflect attention from the country’s grave and growing economic woes. In my humble opinion there is no ‘Cold War’ with the United States looming in the back of Putin’s mind. Third World leaders that think they can get even or insult the United States by playing up to Russia/Putin or even China are going to find themselves in a quandary.

Russian President Putin has criticized western nations for straying from their Christian roots. Putin’s statement, made during his state of the nation address this past December, contends that America has become a “Godless” nation.  What Putin actually said was: “Many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, including Christian values.  Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan.  This is the path to degradation.”  This is quite a statement coming from a former KGB officer who faithfully served a nation that executed more than 200,000 clergy in the years between 1917 and 1937. But, what if he really believes what he is said to be true? My mother always told me even a broken clock is right two times a day. Many of Putin’s policies are more in line with Christian conservatives than with the liberal Democrat Party ideology or our adopted political correctness.

When Putin claims that religious conservatism represents the only way to prevent the world from slipping into “chaotic darkness” he is echoing the messages of thousands of pastors in American churches every Sunday morning, pastors who are concerned about our country doing precisely what Putin said it is doing: slipping into “chaotic darkness.”

Christians in the United States should ask themselves have liberals conspired with left wing academics to rewrite American history so that the Christian principals upon which the United States of America was founded have been expunged from the record and replaced by anti-Christian, anti-American tripe that focuses solely on our nation’s warts and blemishes?  American students today spend 12 years learning why they should be embarrassed by and ashamed of our country?

Christians in the United States should ask themselves have liberals become more tolerant of every religion in America except Christianity?  Is it not true that government and media tend to give Islam, Hinduism, moral relativism, and other religions a pass while they would like Christianity not to be mentioned and some would prefer it not to be tolerated?

Christians in the United States should ask themselves have we allowed liberals to conspire to transform public education in America into 12 years of left wing indoctrination that belittles and scorns Christians as Puritanical bigots while praising secular humanism?

Liberals have been successful in bringing about exactly what President Putin said has happened in the United States.  I don’t like the messenger, but I must admit the message is accurate.

I stated earlier that  Third World Leaders that find it amusing to bash the United States may find themselves in a quandary is a direct reference to this remark made by President Duterte, “"America has lost now. I've realigned myself in your ideological flow," he told business leaders in Beijing on Thursday. "And maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world: China, Philippines and Russia. It's the only way." China, Russia and the United States do not want to be at odds with each other when it might lead to war. I believe President Duterte will find himself and the Philippines standing alone against the world. These three major powers China, Russia and the United States know there is nothing for any of them to gain if they go to war against one another. It would be suicide.

The outlook in the Philippines is murky; lots of Filipino officials are as appalled by their president’s remarks as anybody. But what isn’t murky at all is that President Obama’s faltering foreign policy has taken another serious hit. It is hard to think of another American president whose foreign policy initiatives failed as badly or as widely as Obama’s. The reconciliation with the Sunni world? The reset with Russia? Stabilizing the Middle East by tilting toward Iran? The Libya invasion? The Syria abstention? The ‘pivot to Asia’ was supposed to be the centerpiece of Obama’s global strategy; instead the waning months of the Obama administration have seen an important U.S. ally pivot toward China in the most public and humiliating way possible.

Obama’s efforts to balance a commitment to human rights and the niceties of American liberal ideology have made the world less safe for both human rights and for American security. As Russia, China, and Iran gain ground, foreign leaders feel less and less need to pay attention to American sermons about human rights and the rule of law.

Death squads and extra-judicial executions on a large scale: the Americans will lecture you but China will say nothing and still be your friend. The Russians will not only supply you the weapons they will help you bomb weaker nations if it will advance Russia. They will even help you bomb your own people if they disagree with the leader as they did in Syria.  Obama’s foreign policy is making the world safer for people who despise and trample on the very values that the United States once stood for. His lack of strategic insight and his inability to grasp the dynamics of world power politics have opened the door to a new generation of authoritarian figures in alliance with hostile powers.

Now in the final days of Obama’s presidency, Russia, Iran, and China are all stepping up their game. Putin has been humiliating and outfoxing Obama at one end of Eurasia; Iran has gone from routing Obama at the bargaining table to enabling its proxies in Yemen to fire on American ships. Xi now has a triumph of his own, with one of America’s oldest Asian allies insulting Obama at official events. Clearly, America’s opponents (and some of our allies) have reached the conclusion that this particular American administration is unable or unwilling to respond forcefully to provocations. But, Obama’s Administration is coming to an end and if not the next President soon a President will take office that will not allow the United States to be pushed around and that is when many Third World Countries will find themselves in a quandary.

I am a staunch Republican, I do not like Hillary Clinton regardless of the party she belongs to, but I sincerely believe Secretary Clinton is well aware of just how damaging the Filipino defection is in Asia; she helped develop the Obama administration’s Asia strategy and she knows that China’s challenge has just grown much more dangerous. She knows what a wreck the Middle East has become, and she is well aware that Obama will hand her a region that is in much worse shape than it was when Obama took office. She knows how Putin made a patsy and a laughingstock of Obama around the world, and she knows that Obama’s efforts to stabilize the Middle East by conciliating Iran have had just the opposite effect. She knows that even as Donald Trump’s poorly led, poorly conceived electoral campaign weakens, America’s enemies abroad are using every day of Obama’s tenure in office to weaken the foundations of America’s power around the world.

Should Secretary Clinton make it to the White House, her first and biggest job will be to stop and then reverse the deterioration in America’s global position that her predecessor permitted. She will have to convince both friends and foes that the President of the United States is no longer a punching bag, and that the United States of America is back on the stage. She will need, and she will deserve, the support of patriotic Americans in both political parties as she undertakes this necessary mission. President Obama’s mismanagement of foreign affairs is creating a genuine international emergency; the White House and Congress will have to work together to restore American prestige and stop the slide toward chaos and war.

The goal of all American’s now must be restore America’s prestige after eight embarrassing years!

Democrat Convention - Played on emotions - little truth

Captain Humayun Khan, a Muslim American was ordered to Iraq years ago, his father wanted to talk to Donald Trump about his being an American Muslim soldier sent to war in a Muslim country. While I have great sympathy for Captain Khan’s parents I feel he distorted what Donald Trump has said. I understand in Captain Khan’s grief he may have taken what Donald Trump said and only heard what he wanted to hear. I also believe like many American's he believed the twisted lies of the media and the Democrat Party.

Captain Khan, 27, died on June 8, 2004, after he told his men to take cover and then tried to stop a suicide bomber outside the gates of his base in Baquba. Captain Khan and his parents are not the Muslim’s Donald Trump is trying to protect the American citizens from. Muslim Americans that are outraged by what Donald Trump has said are not putting the interest and safety of American citizens first and foremost.

Mr. Trump’s call for restrictions (ban) on Muslims entering the country is for the safety of American citizens and that should be the first responsibility of the President of any country. Donald Trump has not called for a permanent ban on Muslims. He only wants to give the U.S. Government time to setup procedure and policies that would help prevent terrorist from entering the United States. He is not for open borders which have proven to be a disaster for European nations and the United States. It appears Hillary Clinton and the Democrat Party are more interested in being politically correct and winning Hispanic votes than protecting American citizens. I question where exactly does their loyalty lie.

Captain Khan’s father said If restrictions on Muslim immigration had been in place decades ago neither he, a lawyer with an advanced degree from Harvard Law School; his wife, Ghazala, who taught Persian at a Pakistani college before raising three boys in the Washington suburbs; their eldest son, Shaharyar, who was a top student at the University of Virginia and a co-founder of a biotechnology company; nor Captain Khan, who posthumously earned the Bronze Star, along with a Purple Heart, for saving the lives of his men, would have been allowed to settle here. That has nothing to do with the present terrorist problems facing the nations of the world. Donald Trump nor any other American would have even considered putting restrictions on Muslims “decades” ago. The time have changed and in the interest security for American citizens our immigration policies must change to meet the new threats.

The Democrats used Captain Khan's father and that is a disgrace. His speech was emotional and worthy to be told, but not at the Democrat National Convention. Captain Khan's father’s story is worth far more than to simply try and win votes for Hillary Clinton.  I am sure his father is very proud of his family, a foreign family that has integrated nicely into the United States.  I am proud of them and the millions of other foreign citizens that have done the same, but that does not mean I am for open borders at a time like this. Hillary nor the Democrat Party cared about his loss they only cared about how it might turn voters against Donald Trump. Like Hillary said in the Congressional hearings "What difference does it make (to her) now".

Mr. Khan criticized Mr. Trump’s statements as UN-American in an article published by Vocativ just a short time back. Please explain to me why it is UN-American to try and protect American’s from Radical Islamic Terrorist.

I found it interesting that Mr. Khan said Hillary’s campaign asked whether he needed speech writing help or any coaching. It seems they were really concerned that he would said the words that advanced their cause not Mr. Khan’s. 

I served in Vietnam and as a veteran I found it offensive that Mr. Khan took a swipe at the fact that Donald Trump has never served in the military. I might add Mr. Khan nor his other son have ever served in the American military and I do not think that makes them less of an American than their son that did. Mr. Khan needs to realize we have an all-volunteer military and if Mr. Trump was not drafted during the Vietnam conflict then he simply is like thousands upon thousands of other American boys. If I am not mistaken Hillary Clinton has not served in the U.S. military nor has her husband Bill Clinton.

Mr. Khan met his wife at Punjab University in Lahore, Pakistan. They moved to Dubai, where their two eldest sons were born, then arrived in Houston, renting a $200-a-month apartment. Eventually they settled outside Washington, where Mr. Khan worked at a mortgage company and at law firms. I suppose the $200 a month rent remark he gave to reporters for an apartment in Houston, Texas in 1980 was supposed to denote a difficult time. I am from Houston, Texas and in the 1980’s,  $200 a month would have gotten you a very decent apartment. Better than most lower middle class people in Houston lived in. Two hundred U.S. dollars in 1980 is equal to $579.57 in 2016.  A brand new town-homes on Lake Houston with swimming pools, tennis courts, putting range, parking, near parks, airport, malls and The Woodlands which is and exclusive neighborhood is advertised  today - 4 Bedrooms, 2 baths, $1,090 per month with a $200.00 deposit.  What is difficult for one family is luxury for another.

I think we should also note that their son was killed by a MUSLIM does he not want Americans to try and protect their family from the same danger occurring within the borders of the United States.

Khan said that Hillary Clinton, "called my son the best of America." I would think Donald Trump and most if not all Americans would call him the same. Once again the Democrats got the emotional speech they wanted in an attempt to play upon the emotions of American voters and win votes. They did the same when they used the mother’s that had sons killed by the police. There sons were not the best of America, but the Democrats got the boost they were looking for by using these mothers for their purpose.

"Look for the words 'liberty' and 'equal protection of law,'" Mr. Khan said while standing next to his wife, waving the paperback document of the Constitution vigorously and questioning if Donald Trump had ever read the Constitution. The Constitution is for the protection of United States Citizens, not for aliens that have not even entered the United States. That is the very reason Muslim Islamic Terrorist were held in Guantanamo Bay in order to prevent them from having Constitutional rights.

By the time Mr. Khan speech was over I began to wonder if  ethnicity was more important to him than being a United States citizen or in the least were their some conflict in his mind between ethnicity and United States citizenship.

"Like many immigrants, we came to this country empty-handed," he said, believing that with hard work he could raise his three sons "in a nation where they were free to be themselves and follow their dreams." He and his wife both had impressive University degrees so they were not like most immigrants. He should speak with the illegal aliens crossing the southern borders of the United States and then he would understand what EMPTY-HANDED really means. It also appears the United States has been very good to him and his family.

"Vote for the healer," Mr. Khan said, "not the divider." Obama and Hillary are healers of racist tension. Unfortunately Mr. Khan was not in the United States during the 60’s and cannot see how under Obama and Hillary our country is reverting back to the same racial tension we experience then. He has no comparison to use as to what a healer really is. Obama and Hillary both support the Black Life Matters Organization and that organization is not looking to heal racial tension in the United States.

The lack of action that Obama and Hillary Clinton took in Benghazi to protect our people is enough for me not to vote for her. Her failure to use a secured server is another reason I question her ability to be President. The Democrat Party emails released prior to the convention is enough to tell me that corruption is top to bottom in the Democrat Party. They will lie, cover-up, cheat do anything they can for one vote. What will Donald Trump do I really do not know, but I doubt if it will be more of the same failed policies. If he fails then I hope he fails trying something new.

I am not trying to take anything away from Mr. Khan ‘s grief and sacrifice, but his speech contained a lot of emotions and things stated as facts that are not exactly true. I still stand by what I said earlier he was used by the Democrat Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Grow a full beard and become holy, wise and loved by Muslims.

A senior bishop in the Church of England believes the vicars, or parish priests, should grow full beards as a way of reaching out to the fast-growing Muslim community. What will he want next? I guess Christian women should begin to wear the Hijab and men wear the Kufis. I live in the Philippines where the Muslim community is prominent in the malls and streets. I respect what they wear if that is what they want to wear to tell the world they are followers of Islam. I do not expect them to wear a crucifix simply because the Philippine people are predominantly Catholic.  

The senior bishop thinks we Christians should make ourselves as appealing to Muslims as possible – political correctness really gone amuck. He claims the beards will make their Christian ministers appear to be more holy to the Muslims. I am not interested in my bishops and priest appearing to be holy I am interested in them trying to BE holy.

He said, “In Islam beards are viewed as an adornment and Muslim men are encouraged to wear them to honor the Prophet Mohammed.” That is all the more reason for me not to want to wear Islam garb or grow a full beard. I honor and serve Jesus Christ not the Prophet Mohammed.

He also claims a scripture in Leviticus bans a man from shaving. I believe Leviticus is Old Testament (old covenant) and Christians are supposed to adhere to the New Testament (new covenant). I find it strange that he would pick one scripture in Leviticus that supports his personal belief about reaching out to Muslims and ignore all the other laws of Leviticus.

 The Rev Adam Atkinson, Vicar of St Peter’s church in Bethnal Green one of the first to start wearing a full beard has said the reason he did so was he saw it as an alternative to getting a tattoo. That sounds real holy to me! He also said he had since been struck by how often it helped him forge new links with teenage boys who might not normally want to talk to a vicar.

Sometimes it is hilarious how church leaders use scripture. One of the scriptures they use for growing full beards is St Paul saying, ‘I become all things to all men that by all possible means I might save some’, 1 Corinthians 9:19. If this is isolated from the rest of Scripture one can assume that Paul was willing to do anything to reach the lost, including adopting their lifestyle and compromise his ethics, moral and beliefs. This is a doctrine that is popularized among the evangelism crowd today. If we use this logic then one cannot reach a drug addict unless we become one and we cannot reach a drunk unless we drink alcohol. Paul did not mean that.

 Paul taught that believers are to “abstain from any appearance of evil”, 1 Thess. 5:22. Paul would not have done anything contrary to Christ and His ways in his own life and ministry. Remember he rebuked Peter for his compromise of the gospel to the Jewish brethren. Paul was simply saying when speaking to a religious Jew he would use the law to speak to them and when speaking to a gentile he would use his conscience and culture to speak to them.

Remember I wrote earlier what is next. Reverend Atkinson said, “A Muslim friend said to him, ‘I will lend you a hat (kufis) and you can join me on Friday [prayers]. It was done in a jokey way but I felt it was quite affirming.”

The other vicar, the Reverend Rogers of All Hallows Bow, said: “One guy approached me about a year and a half ago and said ‘I can respect you because you have got a full beard’. If wearing a full beard made the man respect him then the man must be very shallow. Charles Manson a mass murder wore a full beard. He went on to say the full beard shows wisdom and he added: “I like the idea of being the ‘wild’ priest rather than the gentleman priest.

The Senior Vicar said, “David Beckham is the nearest we have to a popular secular saint, and his flirtation with various styles of beards has stimulated countless imitators.” David Beckham also gets a lot of attention by modeling underwear so I guess priests and vicars should start running around in their underwear. David Beckham is no saint to me.

Growing a beard in Islam is not dictated in the Holy Koran. It's a tradition. It is not a commandment of the Prophet Mohammed it was a suggestion. The prayers of those who shave off their beard are heard just as those with full beards.

Wearing a cross does not make you a Christian and having a full beard does not make you holy or a Muslim. Keep in mind the Hutterites, prevalent in the Canadian Parries and the Amish, prevalent in the Northeastern USA are Trinitarian Christians and have always worn full beards. Orthodox Christian priests and Orthodox Jews wear full beards. I think the fact that Orthodox Jews who wear full beards are hated by radical Muslims proves that having a full beard means little to Muslims/Christian relationships.  

I thought the timing of the beard comments by the Vicar in England was appropriate. His suggestion came two days after the earliest Christian community in Iraq was wiped out by radical Muslims and at a time when militant Islam is harassing, persecuting and murdering Christians – beard or no beard – across three continents. 

Our leaders manipulate us and we allow it.

We think we live in a democracy. We think ultimate power rest with us the people. We think our leaders are our servants, accountable to us the people and doing what we want, making decisions for the greater good of all. We think that because our religious leaders, political leaders, corporate leaders and media leaders have cleverly led us to believe we are still in control when we are not.

Media has become a monopoly. Only a handful of multinationals own and control the majority of mainstream media outlets. We are given the information they want us to have. They tell us the conclusion we are supposed to reach.  Mainstream media is now mass produced, corporate friendly, political friendly (liberal/conservative) and unchallenged. The information channels that most people use in democratic societies are becoming more distorted and are eroding democracy.

Our political leaders don't care about democracy. Why should they? After all, being accountable to the people only reduces their power. ObamaCare, national debt, balanced budget, gun control and Presidential Executive Orders are prime examples of that. George Orwell said, "No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. The object of power is power."  Government leaders and big business leaders are bedfellows, with ex-politicians often sitting on the boards of big companies, the business community is able to unduly and undemocratically influence the legislative process, steering our legal system towards a corporate controlled state. Political leaders and corporate leaders work hand in hand to erode democracy because that is in their interest. When will we wake up to the fact that we are merely a pseudo-democracy? Some might argue that we are this already.

Why would corporate leaders put people first when their ultimate goal is to maximize profits? When it comes to what is best for the people and profit they will always put profit before people. C.E.O’s do not lose sleep when they move manufacturing overseas and layoff hundreds of people if it increases profit. The decision by General Motors to manufacture the Buick Envision in China is a slap in the face to American taxpayers who bailed GM out of bankruptcy in 2008. General Motors does not care what American's think they are banking we will be stupid enough to purchase the Envision SUV and once again put our greed above what is good for America and its people.

We need to realize that whenever any group of people, even religious leaders, have a disproportionate influence over government policy democracy suffers. There are no exceptions. When religious leaders have access to millions upon millions of dollars without accountability to the government like the rest of us they have disproportionate influence. When religious leaders live in multi-million dollar estates provided by their ministry, free of income tax, they have disproportionate influence. When religious leaders can threaten political leaders with excommunication and block votes they have disproportionate influence.

If we want to live in societies that are democracies only in name, bearing all the attributes of dictatorships, then we only need to carry on in the direction we are headed. If that is what we want, then we will have it soon, sooner than we think. When we can no longer be critical of political, religious, corporate and media leaders without being accused of being racist, bigots, prejudice, politically incorrect and un-American we are no longer living in a democracy.

We need to understand exactly how we are manipulated into doing the bidding of our leaders, against our own interest. We need to understand the methods of manipulation:

Media ownership is central to the manipulation of the people. Manipulate the people, and you manipulate their vote. You either control the media by owning it or by doing favors for those who own it. In the United States, large corporations own the media and they receive favors from the government in the form of influence over legislation and special tax breaks. Only five mega-media corporations control almost all of the U.S. media, which is why American’s are becoming among the most brainwashed people in the world.

The war against terror has allowed political leaders to take freedoms from the people under the guise of "national security" and "protection". The politicians want the war on terror to seem unwinnable because it serves those who want power. Fear is one of the greatest manipulators of people. Create fear in the minds of the people and they fall in line – fear of hell, fear of crime, fear of terrorist, fear of layoff, fear of guns, fear of police, etc. Herman Goering said at the Nuremberg Trials: "The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

Control language and you control people's thoughts – political correctness. The elimination of selected words is a prerequisite for the control of the people. Radical Muslim Terrorist, Illegal Aliens, Christmas and the list goes on. Political correctness has corrupted the news media, universities, business, Congress, politics, etc. Political correctness is a tool used to limit thought in education, science, and culture by intimidation and coercion.

Politicians use patriotism to manipulate and control. As long as people are patriotic, they will overlook the sins of their government, both towards their own people and towards other those in other countries.

The promise of eternal life and the threat of hell has been one of the greatest manipulator of people than any other form of manipulation in history. The Roman Catholic Church has even apologized for its abusive past, but that does not necessarily mean their apology will have much effect on their future behavior. Anything "fundamentalist" just means that ideology is being put in front of people and is a recipe for individual and mass abuse.

It is untrue that only the uneducated can be manipulated. Some believe that the educated are actually the easiest to manipulate because they have been trained to process so much information that they often become less critical. The educated also tend to need an opinion on everything. Students in the past were more revolutionary and questioned society more on serious matters than they do today. It seems the main issues for students today are what foods are served in the cafeteria.

Politicians never admit a lie they simply keep repeating it until the people believe it. Obama administration said over an over Benghazi was the results of a video; Hillary did not send or receive classified information on unsecured Internet; Obama if you want to keep your doctor and your insurance you can; Bill Clinton I did not have sex with that woman; Richard Nixon I am not a crook; Obama I didn’t call the Islamic State a ‘JV’ team; John McCain met with Islamist State terrorists; Obama Republicans have filibustered 500 pieces of legislation; Paul Ryan a boy didn’t want a government lunch but one in a brown paper bag; Mitch McConnell took $600,000 from anti-coal groups; Republican cuts to Ebola research are killing people, etc.

Politicians are using unnecessary secrecy as a means to keep truth from surfacing and manipulate the people. Every government needs to have some level of secrecy in military matters to protect its boarders and its people. But when this is used to withhold information from the people which is not necessary for national security then the use of classify information is being abused. This is now happening on a daily basis because politicians do not consider the voters right to know to be important.

Leading politicians know exactly how to duck their way out of sticky situations by setting up a string of fall guys and girls. Obama has proven to be an expert at this. Master manipulators are great at throwing up smokescreens and being evasive. The people are continually manipulated into thinking the problem is everyone except the leader.

One of the simplest ways to control the information going to the media is to control which reporters have access to the source of information. Reporters were manipulated during recent middle-east conflicts when they were embedded with the military personnel on the battlefield. They were dependent on the forces they were embedded with for protection in hostile environments. It is doubtful you will be critical of the hand that is feeding and protecting you.

Above are but a few of the methods used to manipulate society. Anytime we allow ourselves to be manipulated we lose power. It is naïve to think leaders always put the people’s interest first! The leaders of Greece wanted to win elections regardless of what was in the best interest of Greece and you see what happen. The Democrats are known for buying votes with welfare programs regardless of what is in the best interest of the United States – national debt. Republicans and Democrats do not take a stand on immigration because they want the Hispanic vote regardless of what is in the best interest of the United States. 

Note: An example of political manipulation of citizens Carpio claims the U.S. presence in the Philippines will boost Philippine defense against China. Senator Santiago claims the U.S. is responsible for the Philippines being weak when it comes to their military.

The U.S. will protect their equipment and personnel in the Philippines against China's aggression so Carpio is partly right. But, as any nation would the U.S. will do what is in the best interest of the U.S. when it comes to China. 

Senator Santiago needs to blame Philippine politicians for the weak military and poverty in the Philippines. Corrupt Filipino politicians are responsible for both. The U.S. has protected and have personnel stationed in Japan, Germany and South Korea and all three countries are not faced with the poverty problems as the Philippines is and all three have strong military units and all three are INDEPENDENT of the U.S. and the leaders of Germany, Japan and South Korea do not blame all their problems on their people clinging to colonial ideas.  Senator Santiago is right the agreement between the U.S. and Philippines is made weaker because the U.S. does not recognize it as a treaty.

Obama's immigaration policies leave much to be desired!

 The Department of Homeland Security as recently as 2014 was enforcing a secret Obama administration policy that prevented officials from reviewing the social media accounts of those seeking visas. If that practice had not been in effect it may have stopped the San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik from entering the country.

The New York Times reported that Malik, a Pakistani woman who moved to the U.S. with a fiancée visa in May 2014, "had made little effort to hide" her support of violent jihad, and her desire to be a part of it.

This activity was uncovered by the FBI shortly after Malik and her American-citizen husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, killed 14 people in San Bernardino.

Of three background checks conducted by immigration officials during the visa process, none uncovered Malik's activity on social media. Immigration officials do not routinely review social media as part of their background checks, and there is a debate inside the Department of Homeland Security over whether it is even appropriate to do so. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson refused to end a secret Obama administration policy that prohibited officials from reviewing the social media accounts of visa applicants.

Obama is more concerned about what the Muslim world thinks than providing security for the people he was elected to protect. Obama was afraid the Muslim world would be offended if it was disclosed publicly that the U.S. was checking people’s personal social media pages before issuing a visa. This thinking is more than naïve it is stupid! There is no excuse for not using every resource at our disposal to fully vet individuals before they come to the United States.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, one of Obama’s party mates, demanded that the U.S. create a new policy that allows officials to check the social media accounts of visa applicants.  

It is ironic that Obama is lax, to put it mildly, on issuing visa’s but goes overboard on putting people on a ‘no fly list’.  The Obama guidelines allow individuals to be designated as representatives of terror organizations without any evidence they are actually connected to such organizations.  It gives a single White House official the unilateral authority to place entire “categories” of people the government is tracking onto the no fly list. It allows government officials to “nominate” people to the no fly list based on vague incomplete information. The no fly list is so inaccurate that it contains many names of deceased people. I wonder if this is a designed way for Obama to abuse the no fly list program.

Obama has resisted disclosing the criteria for placing names on the no fly list even though the guidelines are officially labeled unclassified. Eric Holder, while still Attorney General, invoked the state secrets privilege to prevent no fly list guidelines from being disclosed in litigation launched by an American who was on the no fly list.

Obama is more concerned about being ‘politically correct’ than being an effective President. Obama appears to be more concerned about protecting Muslim causes than protecting Christian causes. So much so that he discriminates against Christians. Obama seems more interested in honoring and protecting the heritage of his father than his American heritage, if he has any.

In closing, I want to include some of the things Obama has said, supported and wanted to change regarding immigration, illegal aliens and issuing visas:

Obama in 2006 wrote that a vast influx of Immigrants could harm native-born blacks – that does not sound like the 2015 Obama.

Obama opposes immigration raids designed to identify illegal immigrants in workplaces. It appears he is more interested in protecting the jobs of low skilled illegals than low skilled Americans.

Obama supports a “path to citizenship” for illegal aliens. He wants them to have an opportunity “to fully embrace our values” and the benefits of living in America. I do not want illegal aliens in our country. We have immigration laws as all countries and I want them enforced. I have nothing against people immigrating to the U.S., but I do oppose any one entering our country illegally.

Obama favors permitting illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Obama believes Illegal aliens should get a license and get insurance to protect the public. That is a valid argument, but they should not be here in the first place and if they were not here they would need a driver’s license.

Obama wants illegal aliens, even those who have returned home, who worked at jobs using phony or stolen Social Security numbers, to reap the benefits of whatever Social Security contributions they may have earned illegally.

Obama voted against a point system for immigration. A system that looks at a person’s skill and how their skills could contribute to the advancement of the United States and he voted in favor of  focusing on the reunification of family members, even if that meant permitting the relatives of illegal aliens to join them in the U.S.

Obama supported the DREAM Act, legislation that would have allowed illegal-alien students to attend college at reduced tuition rates normally reserved for in-state legal residents, and to earn conditional permanent residency and a path to citizenship.

In 2009, Obama expressed concerns that his health care plan would not cover illegal immigrants and argued that was all the more reason to legalize illegal aliens so they could get health coverage.

Obama's instructed the Department of Health and Human Services' to stop designating HIV as a "communicable disease of public health significance."  H.I.V. is manageable and I do not oppose those with H.I.V. from traveling to the U.S., but I question why Obama left other sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis, on the HHS no entry list. I agree with Obama that the ban on those living with H.I.V. is unfair.

 In September 2010, Obama instructed his Justice Department to sue Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio for establishing a hotline for the public to report immigration violations. Now Obama says if you see something suspicious report it – and if you do you risk being suited by the Obama administration.

In August 2011, President Obama issued an executive order to prevent potentially thousands of cases in federal immigration court from moving forward if they did not involve criminals or people with flagrant immigration violations. In other words he issued a free pass to the U.S. to the others. At the time Obama’s Homeland Security estimated there were over 300,000 immigration cases pending on illegal aliens that were criminals and had immigration violations.

In June 2012 President Obama, frustrated that Congress had thus far failed to pass the DREAM Act, issued an executive order that allowed a two-year deferral from deportation to the estimated 800,000 young illegal aliens who had entered the United States as minors and allowed them to apply for work permits. I believe unemployment records indicate native born black teenagers are the most unemployed in the U.S. Obama demonstrated once again that he if he dislikes a U.S. laws or a clause in the U.S. Constitution he is not above ignoring them.

In August 2012, Lamar Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, revealed that the Obama administration had “falsified” deportation records to artificially boost the number of deportations for which it took credit. Figures recently unearthed by a federal lawsuit in Texas cast serious doubt on the administration’s deportation claims. The number of deportations according to Obama appeared to have declined significantly (40%) during the president’s term in office which turned out to be false.

Some U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) agents are suing the administration over its use of “prosecutorial discretion” in dictating how immigration law is enforced — or not enforced. They claim they are being prevented from doing their job.

In 2005 the Bush administration initiated the construction of a virtual border fence, consisting of a network of cameras, ground sensors and radars designed to spot incursions and help determine where Border Patrol agents should be deployed. The project was slated to be completed by 2011. In early 2011 the Obama administration scrapped the plan after 53 miles had been completed.

Obama stopped requiring immigrants to be self-supporting. They can now start drawing welfare payments as soon as they are released by immigration authorities. Obama is aggressively trying to boost the welfare rolls among non-citizens.

In July 2007, presidential candidate Obama told the National Council of La Raza, opponents of illegal immigration were ugly and racist. Once again Obama employs his divisive tactics. Obama told the Hispanic at La Raza nursing mothers are being torn from their babies, children are coming home from school to find their parents missing and people are detained without legal counsel. Do you believe that? Babies being ripped from their mother’s breast, children left unattended because their parents have been taken away and Public Defenders are not being provided for illegal aliens.

A Judicial Watch investigation revealed that federal funding for the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and its affiliates skyrocketed (7 million in one year) when Obama took office. I think you call it buying votes for the Democrat politicians.

I will pose more on Obama’s immigration ideology in a later post.

There is more than one Christian solution to the refugee problem.

The Christian Church in the United States may be about to face the largest divisive issue we have faced in decades. The issue of homosexuality may pale to the Syrian refuge issue.

Christians that want us to welcome the Syrian refugees with open arms will tell us: The story of Exodus is the story of God’s people without a land and without a home. God delivered the Israelites because “He heard their cry. - The story of the Good Samaritan is Jesus’ way of saying, remember that Jews and Samaritans did not get along it is a story of how you have to care for people, even those who you despise. - If we claim to be a Christian, or even claim we are a Christian nation we have to care for those in need regardless of who they are. - “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.” Jesus serves as the final authority of how we are to greet and care for the least of these. - James writes to scattered people, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” - As tens of thousands of refugees flee Syria, they are a people without a land. They are aliens without a home. Syrian refugees are strangers to us who have a culture, language and religion different from us. They are the least of these. They are men, women and children who are in need of a new place to call home. This “Christian nation” is called by scripture to care for Syrian refugees.

A decade ago, maybe even five years ago, I would have agreed whole heartily without hesitation with all those words. I might be up in arms against those that did not want to welcome the Syrian refugees, but times have changed. I hope that I would not have called those that disagreed with me a bigot and hypocrite as many of the Christians supporting bringing the Syrian refugees to the U.S. are doing, including our President.

When it comes to Muslim immigration, we must not be led by our emotions. The spread of political Islam and creeping sharia law is often accomplished by means of immigration. BBC reports that fake passports are already being used to get jihadists into Europe. German customs officers have seized packages containing Syrian passports and police suspect they are being sold illegally to asylum seekers. Honduras stopped six Syrian men with false passports on their way to the United States. A finance ministry official said both genuine and forged passports were in the packets intercepted in the post office. ISIS has threatened to send 500,000 migrants to Europe as part of jihad. Do we close our minds to these facts?

ISIS claims they have fighters that are already in place in Europe and with the reason events in Paris I have no reason to doubt them. Our own Homeland Security and F.B.I. say they are investigating reported terrorist suspects in every State. There can be and most likely will be consequences to badly directed compassion.

We must also ask why most rich Muslim nations are refusing to take in these refugees. Perhaps they know something we don’t. Five of the wealthiest Muslim countries have taken no Syrian refugees, arguing that doing so would open them up to the risk of terrorism. Muslim nations are admitting that Muslim refugees pose a genuine terrorist threat. Yet, Obama, Liberals and a lot of Christians are asking us to throw our doors wide open with no questions asked. Western countries tend to want to be more politically correct than right and God knows they do not want to be accused of Islamophobia.

Please, do not lecture me about vetting and that it would take 18 to 24 months before we saw the first Syrian refugees. We did not do such a good job vetting the terrorist that came on student visas. We did not do such a good job of keeping up with the terrorist that over stayed their tourist visas. We have estimates as high as sixteen million illegal aliens in our country today and no one in our government can tell us where they live.

I had a friend send me two pictures of dead children that washed ashore asking me how I could look at those pictures and question if we should open our doors to Syrian refugees. I admit the pictures broke my heart. The children in my opinion were not dead because advanced countries have immigration laws. The children were dead because criminal traffickers risked the lives of their victims in pursuit of money.

The President of Turkey said that one of those children and his parents had been living in Turkey for three years and were provided shelter. The President of Turkey claims they were safe so I ask were they fleeing from danger, or fleeing towards a higher standard of living. I thought the definition of refugee was one that was fleeing danger. Am I supposed to automatically assume that the President of Turkey is lying?

Michel Houellebecq, has a new book out where he prophesies a Muslim dominated government in France about seven years from now, ushered into power by the French Tory and Labor parties. He says his research reveals they want France to disappear.

How many people today remember the community in Wasco County, Oregon? It was incorporated as a city in the 1980s, and was populated with followers of the spiritual teacher Bhagwat Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho. They eventually imported 7000 people to this small community. Initially, they had stated that they were planning to create a small agricultural community; their land was zoned for agricultural use. But it soon became apparent that they wanted to establish the kind of infrastructure and services normally associated with a town. The land-use conflict escalated to bitter hostility between the commune and local residents, even leading to murder.

In 1986 the courts ruled that the religious group had the right to incorporate the city and elect their own government officials. The city eventually went bankrupt. Unfortunately most of the local farmers and ranchers had already been forced to move away. This could be an example of a refugee problem in a small established community.

Will there be any type of control where these refugees will settle. What if they eventually take over a small town in the Western United States and force the locals out. You believe that is farfetched, well I believe bringing refugees in without any terrorist being among them is farfetched. I believe bringing Syrian refugees to our country without a plan that covers vetting, housing, medical, education, clothing, food, where they will work and what cities they will live in is not worth the risk.

We cannot rely on emotions and sadly we cannot rely only on scripture to solve this serious problem for us. We had to override scripture when it came to slavery, women’s rights, killing children that talk back, killing adulterous people, etc. The Good Samaritan story just may not be applicable to this situation we are in now.

One Baptist minister from Alabama said, “If we cannot trust the process by which the United States Government vets refugees fleeing violence and persecution, then we cannot trust any form of our border security or immigration or visa processes.” At the moment I don’t trust any form of our border security or immigration or visa processes. If these policies were working then how did the terrorist carry out 9/11 and how did maybe sixteen million illegal aliens get into our country?

The Baptist minister quotes John Sandweg, former acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: “The United States employs a robust and layered approach to the screening of refugees. Prior to setting foot on U.S. soil, refugees must first clear a comprehensive background investigation that includes multiple layers of in-person interviews, biographic and biometric background checks, and interviews of third-persons who may have information related to the individual. No refugee may be admitted into the U.S. unless and until this lengthy process is complete and reveals no information that would suggest the person poses a security risk.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied she had a private server and had classified information on it. The head of the I.R.S. Lois Lerner said the I.R.S. was not discriminating against conservatives for tax exemptions, but then she took the fifth. President Obama said there was not one smidgen of corruption in the I.R.S. and we found out differently. Obama said if you like your health care plan you can keep it – did that turn out to be true? Obama said my father left my family when I was 2 years old and we now know he never spent one night with his father. Obama said The Fast and Furious program was a field-initiated program begun under the previous administration we now know for a fact it began in 2009 under his administration. Obama claimed they revealed to the American people exactly what they knew about the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi and that turned out not to be true. Obama said transparency and the rule of law would be the touchstone of his Presidency - what a joke!

Does the Baptist minister expect me to believe John Sandweg? Isn’t this the same John Sandweg that left his position in less than a year? He walked out without providing a clear explanation. Is he not the same John Sandweg that had no experience in Immigration and was opposed by many when he was being vetted? Isn’t this the same John Sandweg that tried to stop a Freedom of Information investigation into spending in the DHS? I am sorry, but I have a hard time taking John Sandweg’s word on anything.

I wish some Christian had facts that were proven to be trustworthy so I could reconcile the conflict I have in my heart with the Syrian Refugee problem, but no one has.

The only viable solution I see at the moment is extending more financial aid to Muslim countries, particularly Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon to take care of the Syrian refugees where they are. These refugees will have a better chance of getting back into their country and possibly gaining control of their country if they are living near where they came from rather than moving them to Europe, Australia and the United States. I do not deny that our country and all Western countries, regardless if they are Christian or not, has an obligation to protect their security and provide adequate living conditions for them. Supporting them there would help stop them from needing to go elsewhere.

Syria in my opinion will remain a serious problem for many years, that's all the more reason for a longer-term humanitarian response, including setting up schools and medical facilities. We would probably get more loyalty from the Syrians and they would be more encouraged to stand up to ISIS by helping them with aid than spending millions on training a few Syrian rebel fighters.

I have read the Syrian refugees do not want to live in camps where all the tents look alike. They want to live in homes. I wish that was possible. I am sure the people in the Philippines that have been without homes for over two years due to typhoons would like to have a home. We cannot always have what we ‘want’ we sometimes have to settle for what we can get at the moment.

I do believe building permanent homes may be more feasible than tents, since this is going to be a long term problem. I guess the Syrian refugees would complain that the home all look alike. The people of the Philippines that have been given government homes that all look alike are thrilled. It makes me question the Syrian refugee’s real motives.

One last point the Syrian refugees I see on television appear to be healthy young men.  If these are real refugees, where are the women? Where are the elderly? Where are the weak and the sick? It appears to me that they have no intention of fighting for their own freedom in Syria. They have made up their minds they want to live in the West.

This is a quote from a group of young men that left the refugee camp in Hungary, “No good here in Hungary. No good. They try and lock us up. But we want Germany, there it is good. We have no worry about nothing there. They give us food and house and job. In Hungary they want to watch us all the time.” They are in the majority amongst the thousands who arrive each day in Hungary on their way north. While they wait they want to charge their iPhones, eat more pizza and board their trains.  Everyone either has an iPhone or knows someone else who does. They use them to talk to family members on the other side of the world or network with each other sharing information. This is what they told an aid worker.

Several of the young men had already spent $5000 on travel when they got to Hungary. Refugees have $5000 plus in cash? One said, “I want new life. I want to go to university. Make money. I want to work in a bank, be a banker. Bring all my family later.” When ask why he did not stay and fight for his homeland he said, “There is nothing worth fighting for.”

There is no future there because Obama took away all their future by allowing the “J.V. Team” as Obama called ISIS to take over their country. Obama says as long as he is President he will befriend the refugees. If he was truly a friend of the refugees he would not have withdrawn the troops against the advice of his military advisors and he would have stood up to the President of Syria when he crossed Obamas red line.

I am not convinced that God expects us to risk allowing terrorist to come into our country as they did in France and kill our citizens. I am convinced God does expect us to help the Syrian refugees. There is more than one way to accomplish that and other ways have far less risk for the citizens of the United States. Help them where they are!

A Jewish man was taking a trip alone and was attacked by robbers. A Samaritan man came by. Even though they both lived in the land of Palestine and shared a similar religion, the Jews and the Samaritans definitely did not think of each other as "neighbors." In fact, they hated each other. They had considered each other enemies for hundreds of years and refused to even talk to each other! This Samaritan man took pity on the injured Jewish man. He bandaged his wounds. He put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he could be safe and recover. Jesus was pleased with the Samaritan man in the story even though he did not take the Jewish man back into his home, but took care of him where he was.

God led the Jews into battle and they took the Promise Land from its inhabitants and the Jews settled on it. Why aren’t the Christians and Obama that advocate bringing the refugees to the United States willing to take the land back from ISIS and let the Syrian return to their land? God and the Jews defeated the pagans cannot God and the United States defeat the ISIS pagans? I think we can.

Have we stopped believing that God hears the cries of the Syrians? God said, “Whatever you do for the least you do for me.” James wrote we are to look after the orphans and widows are Christians not capable of doing that there instead of the United States? There is not just one Christian solution to the Syrian refugee problem.