What do you love most, your religion, race, country, profession or kind?

Mohandas K. Gandhi

"I am an American first, " Marty boldly stated, as he asserted his position in response to political issues around the world.  "I make my own decisions and believe that my country is the best in the world, so what other people think doesn't matter much to me."  Many people identify themselves first by where they live, but what are the other factors Americans use to view themselves and others or use as a measure for love and respect?

Marty is a Midwest fellow who knows how to maintain an argument by simply reminding people that he comes from a country identified by its leadership.  An American flag at his doorway proudly shows people where he stands politically. And in the tech corridor of Portland, where religion is said not to predominate, Marty remains an individual who is adamant about immigration and America's involvement in foreign wars.

"I believe if we stuck to ourselves and didn't get so involved with other people in different parts of the world we would be a whole lot better off.  When I vote, I want to make sure that the person I vote for stands up for this country first.  And this is what I say to people who don't see themselves as patriotic Americans and put our nation at the top;l I say love it or leave it.  And I'm a Catholic, but the Church doesn't tell me what to do.  I vote in the interests of being an American, and I love this country first."

Like Ron Edmundson, whose blog is dominated by topics related to America being first at almost everything and church as a dominant force in life, Marty sees himself as a patriot.  And so does Edmundson, for whom church is also important but loving America too as he explains:  "We love our country.  Period."

Americans of Spanish origin are often referred to as Hispanics or Latinos.  But how do they view themselves?  According to research by the Pew Forum, most of them self-identify by their country of origin.  This means they refer to themselves as Cuban, Mexican, Peruvian, etc.  Only 21% use the term American in how they label themselves.

CNN recently reported that most Americans maintain religion's influence is waning, so they want to see more religion in politics.  Many say they will vote for candidates in November's election based upon their religious views.  For them faith comes first.

For other people, what they do, the work they perform, is favored over many other factors in life.  Forbes investigated why people love what they do and found a number of areas that make work satisfying and sometimes predominant in life. Often people who are successful at what they do, and love it, are said to live in the Now.  They worry about what is happening around them as opposed to fanciful concerns about the negative what'ifs.

While people identify themselves, or favor most, what they do for a living, the country where they live, or their particular ethnic group, still others see themselves as reaching out beyond the limited borders of these factors to the greater good they see as coming from a world of options.  Gandhi viewed himself as not being limited by his ethnicity, although his devotion to India was clearly demonstrated by his life and actions.  Gandhi saw the struggles or the people of India as not unlike the struggles of others in the world and underlined peace as the overriding value of people everywhere.  In other words, his love for others crossed the borders of religion, ethnicity and profession, as he maintained his affection for people of the entire world.  To that extent, his views are similar to those of Buddha who said this: " To him in whom love dwells, the whole world is but one family"or Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, who saw all humanity as the leaves and branches of a single tree of humanity and said,  "Glory not in love for your country, but in love for all mankind."

How we decide what is paramount in our lives differs from one person to another, however in many cases there are overlaps as well.  Most people will underline a balance of affection for what they do and where they live, or their faith and their ethnicity, but how those decisions are made are deeply personal and make a difference in how relationships are made and whether one strives for a peaceful accord or a debate in deciding who and what is best.

Polluting streams for fishing with God

[caption id="attachment_14763" align="alignleft" width="221"] Bernardo's feeding multitudes[/caption]

Editor - Want to go fishing, catch something good,  in the company of a comrade who will help you learn to fish well with simplicity and love?  It turns out it’s hard to find a good place to fish and enjoy the benefits of fishing that is not corrupted by signs saying “Keep Out” or elaborate fences and walls that make it difficult to find a stream.   These are the kinds of things that get between God and good fishing and man in faith-based groups.

As religions grow larger, the need for organization becomes the demand of those who sometimes seek order for itself alone and  want to prevent new members from straying too far from the rules.  But often it’s the organization that keeps fishing so far removed from people they starve for lack of food.

Jesus is referred to as the fisherman because his close companions were simple folk who worked at simple tasks.  He referred to the fishing for souls, in an allegorical way, to define the mission of teaching a message of love.  Other religions have their prophets, leaders, gurus,  who echo that same message of caring for your fellow man.

The currents of love and joy needed by everyone are often corrupted by “greed is good” and the manufacture of special rules to manage growth in the faith and yet maintain control.  That is the barrier between God and man exercised by virtually every faith-based organization.  But does this behavior actually serve God or just prosper those who set the rules themselves?

The Faith Life Church is expanding and building a huge church in the State of Florida. An 82,000-square-foot facility in Lakewood Ranch was purchased for $4 million in October 2010.  This is part of a pattern that has developed since the 1970’s, with the doubling of megachurches since 2008 to the current count of 1200.  The most megachurches are in Florida, Texas and Georgia.

But in that same space of time the rate of poverty has dramatically increased,  as has the gap between rich and poor and both  individual and collective violence.    This leads to fish that are dying as they can’t get the resources to live and flourish in the streams where they hoped to survive.

And while faith is said to be that vessel to carry people to everlasting good,  the barriers created by religious form and style prevent the vessel from catching or keeping many fish.  For as faith-groups gather their numbers, in edifices that grow larger every day, the people in these places have become so entrenched in political divisions that fishing  cannot happen for the poison that’s  within.

Research indicates great numbers of people may go forth to declare their faith in mega-churches, then turn away from the loving attraction that keeps folks from coming back for more because of the divisions and the power grabs from religious groups themselves.  And why that occurs seems best answered by this comment on an information site:  “Apparently followers idolize their religion more than the teachings.”

Those instruction books on fishing,  and the loving all as brothers, have no value when those crystal springs of mercy become lost in the mire of materialism, bigotry and greed.    And it is that pollution keeping us all from learning how to fish and loving fishing with the guidance of our God.

God and country associated with only America

Carol Forsloff - God and country seem to be expressed as equal values in pronouncements made by many Americans, mostly Republican, with the notion that the United States is the only country God created in His plan.



[caption id="attachment_4786" align="alignleft" width="245" caption="Michelle Malkin"][/caption]

Right wing provocateur, Michelle Malkin - wikimedia commons

Malkin does it now in an article raising the issue that Obama and his minions are doing a land grab now.    She outlines wilderness programs and initiatives are simply ways the government uses to take land from private domain and from people wanting to create businesses and farms on these same lands.

Politicians and others, in advertising and political events, underline how Christians are surrounded by paganism, and the U.S. is the only God-initiated country.  Malkin does this frequently in her posts, including one earlier this year on Independence Day.

This is the type of statement given by Malin and Newt Gingrich. He was joined by Mike Huckabee, in pointing to a number of social issues as evidence.

Last year Gingrich spoke at a forum in Virginia Beach and titled Rediscovering God in America. He said, “I think this is one of the most critical moments in American history. We are living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism.” He went on to tell his audience about the religious ties to religion in American government, using Thomas Jefferson and the famous quote that men are endowed by God with certainty and alienable rights. He affirmed that he is not a citizen of the world with a citizen of the United States because “only in the United States does citizenship start with our Creator.”