In My Opinion

I try hard to stay out of it.  It being most things controversial.  It's hard though.  Some things just fire me up. I find myself getting so angry and then I have to vent.  That's what my husband is for.  I vent, he listens.  It's reciprocal don't worry.  We are both good at listening to each other.  And then there is my blog.  I love writing, however, I really don't want to alienate anyone, or anger anyone.  Sometimes though things need to be said.  Sometimes people need to know how you feel about something.

So I've decided to make this blog all about my real opinions on issues.  Now don't go getting all riled up--they are just opinions, they aren't important, they don't affect anything or anyone--they are just mine all mine.  And whether they make sense to you or not, well, frankly doesn't matter, because to tell you the truth--half of them don't even make sense to me.

The Bible says, judge not.  That is the hardest commandment for me to obey, and yet I must.  It's a good thing that God is in the business of forgiveness where we are concerned--otherwise, well, I don't want to even think about otherwise!  I try hard not to judge others.  Sin abounds in this world--my sin as well as others.  I end up seeing other people's sin though and not a whole lot of my own.  My mistake.  So how do I live a life for God without judging the lives of those who choose not to follow the teachings of Christ?  That's a hard one for me but I try.  I really do.  Anyway, here I go--here are a few of my opinions.

Abortion--OK, here goes.  I am pro-life.  No surprise there.  However, what about the friends and family members whom I love dearly who've had abortions?  What category do I put them in?  I don't.  I put myself in their place, it's called empathy.  I can't even imagine how they feel about the fact that they've terminated the life of their child.  If it were me in their place I'd beat myself up about it until the day I died.  I'll bet anything they do too, so why should I do that to them?  Why not pray for them?  Why not comfort them? Why not do what Jesus would do?  It's always been interesting to me how in the Bible Jesus got so mad at the money changer/church goer/religious types, but when it came to the prostitutes and the thieves, He loved them.  He understood them, He, well, He died for them.  He didn't condemn them, He called out to them--come to me, I'll heal your brokenness, I'll fix you, I'll show you a better way, I'll forgive you and those sins you committed.  Those sins will be cast be so far away from you that you'll never hear of them again.  So why oh why, should I condemn them when even Jesus doesn't?  He's cast their sins away, why should I chase after them and say--hey, you forgot your sins!  Don't you want them, they'll haunt you for the rest of your life!!!  No, that isn't what God is all about, not at all.

Politics--I am neither a democrat nor a republican.  I am neither a liberal nor a conservative.  I hate labels other than the few that I go by.  Which are Christian, wife, mother, friend--do you get where I am going with this?  Politics are evil, they divide rather than drawing people together.  It's become about money and popularity.  People become mean and hateful and very scary when discussing politics.  Supposedly we live in a free society and a free country where we vote.  We go into a little booth and we make a little mark in a box choosing the candidate or the law, etc. that we most line up with.  Sometimes we don't believe in all they stand for, but believe in most of it, so we vote that way.  Personally, I read the issues and I pray and then when I get into my little booth I start voting.  I let my conscience be my guide--so to speak.  However, today in our society you are ridiculed (by both sides) no matter which side of the fence you sit on.  And boy, you had better pick a side and then stay on that side or else!  Or else what?  What happened to my freedom?  Is it only for some?  Hmmmm

Religion--if you've spent any time at all reading my blog, you know by now that I am a Christian.  I do not hide my beliefs, nor however, do I condemn yours.  Do I think that mine is the one true religion?  The only way to God?  The one true religion that all should be following?  Of course, I do, that's precisely why I believe the way I do.  However, in answering all those questions I also 100% believe in freedom of religion.  And if you freely speak to me of your beliefs, then I will assume that it will be ok to freely speak to you of mine.  I am careful not to offend but want to always be available to discuss my beliefs with anyone who's interested.  I am devout, I am a true follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ.  I respect others beliefs and hopefully have never offended anyone with mine.  When the opportunity comes along for me to share my God with others, believe me, I will jump at it.  However, I will not beat you over the head with my Bible--don't worry.  I made in a personal goal of mine in college to study religions of the world so that I would be better equipped to share my own faith.  I learned a lot and I also learned to respect other belief systems.

Racism--I've experienced it, have you?  I've told one story before about my maternal grandmother's racist remarks made towards me, however, I have another story.  One that opened my eyes to how others might feel while visiting foreign countries.  I was in Europe with my husband on business and we were at an important dinner one evening.  I was sitting next to a very obnoxious gentleman who spoke English.  Early on he let me know that he did not like Americans, he gave several examples of his reasoning, and when I tried to explain to him that not all Americans were that way, he would have none of it.  His mind was made up.  All Americans, all, were right wing, conservatives, who've never gone to college, who've never read a book, everyone is fat, loud and rude.  The more I tried to reason with him the more stubborn he became. I assured him that he was completely off base.  I explained to him that I had gone to college, and that I was a moderate, that my passion was reading, and that I wasn't all the other things mentioned above.  Nope, his mind was made up.  Americans were all uneducated pigs.  I was stunned and as soon as I could I excused myself from the table and began another conversation with someone else.  I had just been discriminated against.  Not for my gender, or my color, or my religion, but from the country that I was born and raised in.   He highly offended me, and he didn't care one bit.  And then my mind began to wonder--have I ever made blanket statements about another people group in that way?  I certainly hope and pray not.  But, I have heard others in my own country make remarks like that about folks from other countries.  Why don't they speak English, why can't they read, why, why, why?  I will tell you one thing, ever since that incident I have been so compassionate towards foreigners in my country.  If I see them looking at maps, I help them.  If they don't speak English I try to find someone who speaks their language.  I love to travel to other countries and if it weren't for the many kindhearted people there to help me I don't know what I'd do.  I get so excited when I am in Europe and I see a sign in English.  It makes me wonder--why can't we put up a few more signs in different languages to help others in America?  Would that be so hard?  Can we show some compassion?  Some understanding?  Let's show some true American kindness--to our fellow countrymen, and to our foreign visitors, no matter their religion, skin color, gender or ethnic group.  Let's love one another!  Let's be like Jesus!

So these are just a few of my opinions.  I have so many more.  However, I do not believe that they are very important right now.  If in the future I feel the need to write about them though I will, for now, that's all I've got.