A simple Facebook comment grew into this.

I POSTED THIS ON FACEBOOK TODAY - The word "God" is back in the DNC platform. And the affirmation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is back in. It caused a way bigger dust up at the convention, more than the DNC expected. Jewish votes and religious black voters were being chiseled away by this action. There was an immediate backlash. Bad management is alive and well at the convention in North Carolina.

JOHN'S Reply: It is silly to put so much emphasis on a word being printed or said. Putting the word God into a speech or printing it on a dollar bill does not make us a Godly nation, only our actions can do that and as a nation both parties are dropping the ball as far as honesty and compassion go.......God would rather not have his name on a dollar and have everyone follow his word.

MY Reply: Removing the name of God won't cause a crisis of faith in believers. Removal is symptomatic of the humanistic secular road our country is on. The farther down that road we go, the farther away we are from the completeness of truth. Secularism tells us what we can do and those permissions (from man) are subject to change based on who is making the decisions and dispensing permission. Basing our rights on God's gift of truth to us is steadfast. Those permissions will never be taken from us because God gave these truths freely to all humanity whether they believe or not.

JOHN'S Reply: It just seems that in an equal society where every citizen has the same rights many Christians do not want to give equal rights to those who are not Christian. I see more political oppression done in this country "in God's name" than in any others. Hindu's do not protest for Kali or Shiva to be on the dollar, I see no one asking for Buddha or the Dali Llama on a coin.

Christians seem to always cry victim when someone wants to separate church and state but when another groups rights come into play that differs then we can deny them rights because "it is God's word".

MY Reply: John, I'm not talking about equality. I'm talking about the discernible difference between a free society based on religious beliefs and a secular society. One has the freedom to be as it will; the other is permitted its freedoms only at the will of whoever has the power. Secular societies do not last.

Christianity does not teach or promote the suppression of other religions. There is absolutely nothing is scripture or tradition that promotes it. Anyone can believe as they will and when Christianity is truly suppressed here, it will only be a matter of time before other religions are targeted. Take down the Catholic Church and you are half way home. The history of the Church in this country shows that it takes a lot to get the Church's back up. Now we are standing up against the HHS mandates and attacks on Christianity here and we are standing for everyone, not just Christians.

Atheists are attacking every public cross they see. Ask yourself this. How long will it take for them to go after the presence of menorahs or any other publically displayed religious symbol once they are ready to move on from crosses?  The effort to exclude the mention of God at military funerals was an actual action. When did military cemeteries lose their status as hallowed ground? Fortunately, that didn't succeed but that doesn't mean they won't try again. There is always another time.

And since we are on the subject of crying victims, let's talk about the Muslim persecution of Christians everywhere; India where the Hindus and Muslims hated each other so much India became India and Pakistan; the Sudan where the power was in the Muslim north and they destroyed their country in an effort to eradicate the Christian south.

There is plenty of blame to go around for every religious group but the fact is when you take God out of the equation in any society, you are sounding the death knell of that society.

The Absence of God Leads Nowhere

This story was originally posted on a political blog I keep that follows the activities of the Tea Party Patriots in my area. I felt it was appropriate to place here as it is very clear that where there is an absence of the presence of God, there is no future.

Arkady Faktorovich immigrated here from the Ukraine over 30 years ago. A former Lt. in the Russian Army, an engineer by training and vocation, and a Jew, he has a very particular point of view that we should not dismiss. In short, Mr. Faktorovich sees our country now going in the same direction from what he, himself, fled from decades ago.


Arkady Faktorovich of Los Banos, CA via a circuitous route that started from the Ukraine 30 plus years ago, visited us again for the May 12th general meeting. This time he spoke to us of Russian history. It was the first presentation ever he did on this particular topic and included information that up until 3 years ago, had not be declassified by the Russian government.

Arkady's presentation was sequential, starting from Alexander II and continued to the current time of Vladimir Putin. His purpose tonight was to illustrate how the Russian people, through their history, had never had a hunger for freedom fostered by their leadership. Alexander II was assassinated two days before he would have signed a democratic constitution so, in light of their history from 1881 onward, it would be an interesting "what-if" question to speculate upon of what the history of Russia might have evolved into had he NOT been assassinated. But, he was so it's only speculation.

Arkady has the basis for a good and very readable book on Russian history. I see it as shaping into four parts - 1.) the time of Alexander II through Nicholas II and the destruction of the Romanov family; 2.) the Middle Era of the early days of the revolution; 3.) the Modern Era from the Cold War to the early days of perestroika, and; 4.) the present day. Broken into distinct parts, it is clear where the commonalities lie in the thoughts and actions of the major players involved in each era. The differences, though also distinctive, were over-ridden in the quest for power and dominance. As each period broken down, it was the quest for power at the expense of the country itself, that moved each period to a fall and the building of the next. At no time were the Russian people filled with the hunger for freedom. Why? Because they didn't know what it felt like. It was not in their national psyche nor in their gut. Interestingly, because of the over 200 ethnic groups in the old USSR, the changes were more one of a move towards nationalism and the retreat from the centralized rulership of Russia.

Arkady Faktorovch sees many similarities between 20th century Russian history and the the political direction our country is taking in the 21st century. He will return on May 26th to speak about the Federal Reserve and money in this country. And, as anyone will understand, where you have the quest for control of money, you have the quest for power.