his only begotten son

Another reason not to live in a red state.

A favorite movie of mine is The American President. In the climactic ending where President Andrew Shepherd is giving a speech defending himself against his opponent, presidential hopeful Bob Rumson, he sums up Rumson'’s stances on issues fairly well. He tells the American public that Bob Rumson doesn'’t care about their problems; he cares about two things and two things only: making you afraid of them and telling you who'’s to blame for them. That's how you win elections.

It appears Middle America has been listening to too many Bob Rumsons. Homosexuals, those who have abortions, unwed mothers, the media and liberals in general have all been blamed for the downfall of our society. We'’ve been made afraid of them, thinking our society will continue to worsen if they are openly accepted. After being afraid of them and then blaming them, we conveniently lumped them into one group and gave them a name: sinners.

The only problem is that we forgot to put ourselves in the group, too. We'’re all sinners, just as much as the next person, white or black, Jew or Gentile, gay or straight. God doesn't view us any differently, so why should we?

Too many thoughts circulate in my mind about this issue, and it's hard for me to adequately surmise the important factors to be taken into consideration. All I know is that I'm tired of it all, and I'm tired of feeling alienated in my own religion.