I Just Can't Not Say It

This is from a conversation an 11 year old (Wah00Sue, she was under my AOL IM name) was having with a friend of mine/hers (DolphinNT9) shortly after the RNC:

[09:23 PM] WAH00SUE: this is tiffany

[09:23 PM] DolphinNT9: hey

[09:24 PM] WAH00SUE: did u see that man who said "what karey going to fight with spit balls?"

[09:25 PM] WAH00SUE: lol

[09:25 PM] DolphinNT9: no i didn't see that

[09:25 PM] WAH00SUE: it was funny

[09:25 PM] WAH00SUE: hes a democatic to

[09:25 PM] WAH00SUE: he wsa going for bush

[09:25 PM] WAH00SUE: that's weird

[09:25 PM] DolphinNT9: i don't know anything about politics

[09:26 PM] WAH00SUE: o

[09:26 PM] WAH00SUE: i have to know a lot

[09:26 PM] WAH00SUE: i live with sue

[09:26 PM] DolphinNT9: is this still tiff

[09:26 PM] WAH00SUE: that's all she ever talks about

I had to laugh when Tif said "That's all she ever talks about". I didn't think it was all I talk about because usually I avoid political talk because of the emotions and passions it has a tendency to stir in people. I guess Tif was hearing me talk a lot about it during the conventions though.



I also never really brought it up on the Sisters' Weblog, that's usually Katie's department. She loves to stir things up! LOL After the debates last night I just had to say something, I just can't not say it!

"I was taught -- I went to a church school and I was taught that the two greatest commandments are: Love the Lord, your God, with all your mind, your body and your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. And frankly, I think we have a lot more loving of our neighbor to do in this country and on this planet."

John Kerry said "I was an altar boy" and "I am a Catholic" and made sure to point these facts out during the debate(s). Hey, that's great, I respect that.



He was taught the two greatest commandments, but his "quote" from scripture has me thinking he must have skipped class that day. (He must have started that missing votes thing early!) The actual scripture he attempted to quote was:



Matthew 22:37

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.',



or Mark 12:30

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.,



and most likely Luke 10:27

He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'



These were the teachings of Jesus and based on the Old Testament scripture Deuteronomy 6 "5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."



Now, many people are going to be impressed that he is able to "quote" scripture without even checking to see if what he says is real. That is the danger of this whole election. He says so many wrong things and He even misquotes the Bible! And people aren't even noticing! I'm scared because I wonder if people even care!? I find it interesting that in his misquote of the scripture, John Kerry left out the word "heart". You see, God looks into the heart of man. He judges the heart. Man looks at the outside and makes judgements, but God knows the heart. It is very interesting to me that John Kerry replaced the word "heart" with "body" in his misquote. I wonder where is John Kerry's heart?



Some would argue that we are to love God with our bodies, which I agree...loving God means taking care of our bodies, it means honoring God with how we treat our body, a temple. Unfortunately, some believe that loving God with our bodies implies using our bodies in ways that feel good to us. This is not so. There are many things that feel good to the body, but they aren't necessarily things that honor God. Drugs can make the body feel good for awhile, but drugs destroy. Alcohol destroys. Sex outside of marriage destroys, and not necessarily the physical body only. If our hearts are where they should be, we would take care of our body, and in fact, love God with how we take care of our body.



I do agree that we do need to "have a lot more loving of our neighbors in this country and on this planet", but even his Catholic upbringing should have taught him to hate sin. Sin is evil. Terrorism and terrorists are evil. Terrorists and those that harbor/enable them are NOT "neighbors"!



Later on in the debates Kerry said:

"My faith affects everything that I do, in truth. There's a great passage of the Bible that says, 'What does it mean, my brother, to say you have faith if there are no deeds? Faith without works is dead.'



And I think that everything you do in public life has to be guided by your faith, affected by your faith, but without transferring it in any official way to other people.



That's why I fight against poverty. That's why I fight to clean up the environment and protect this earth.



That's why I fight for equality and justice. All of those things come out of that fundamental teaching and belief of faith.



But I know this, that President Kennedy in his inaugural address told all of us that here on Earth, God's work must truly be our own. And that's what we have to -- I think that's the test of public service."

This scripture reference was taken slightly out of context so Kerry could say that the reason he does his good deeds, "fight against poverty, clean up the environment, protect the earth, fight for equality and justice" is because the Bible says that we should. The scripture reference though is explaining that deeds will happen, or be an outgrowth of; a showing of true faith, not that deeds prove faith and/or warrant salvation.



James 2:14-24 "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.



But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."



Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.



You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.



You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."



I find it so incredible that John Kerry uses this scripture in the debate last night shortly after he gave his position on abortion. Amazing, he can't respect a human life enough to save it from abortion, but he fights to "protect the earth". He can't claim to live biblically on one hand, and then spit in the face of it the next. There is no either/or!



I'm struck by the way he explains "transferring it in any official way to other people" part of his little speech, because actually the Bible, if practiced, promotes transferring your faith! It teaches to:



Mark 16:15

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.



1 Peter 3:15

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,



I am a Christian and I love America. I feel very blessed to live in a country that does allow freedom to worship, or not to worship. I totally agree with President Bush when he said last night "But I'm mindful in a free society that people can worship if they want to or not. You're equally an American if you choose to worship an almighty and if you choose not to. If you're a Christian, Jew or Muslim, you're equally an American. That's the great thing about America, is the right to worship the way you see fit."



Who knows who or what John Kerry worships. His belief/deeds do not even reflect consistency in that department either. I just felt I had to comment on how easy it is for John Kerry to go unchallenged on a lot of what he says throughout this campaign. I don't know what bothers me more, that John Kerry is even allowed to run for president, given his lying and treasonous history, or the fact that there are so many people that I share this country with that will actually vote without really looking into all of the available information. Most seem to look into the misinformation that's swirling all around day in and day out. It's one thing to look at both sides of an issue, all of the facts, going beyond the rhetoric and choosing a side to come down on, it's quite another to blindly follow! It is so disturbing to me! It is spiritual warfare!



Please pray for these candidates and our country!