I have fond memories of my childhood. From playing tag with the girls we liked at recess to gearing up for our little league baseball games, it was the time of our lives. At the end of the week it would, of course, be time for church. I would have rather slept in most of those Sundays, but my parents wanted their children to grow up with God in their life. Sure it was grueling to get through that hour of Sunday school, but it was nothing a few doughnut holes afterward couldn't settle. The world seemed at peace, and I knew God was in my life for the rest of the week.
While God is still existent in the world, one has to wonder if he has left the United States. God's message is one of love and lives in the ground of morality. Today those grounds are in an all-out war.
Gay rights and abortion are two issues that people bring God into. One has to wonder where God would stand on these issues if he walked among us. God does not want innocent children to die, but he does not want the mother to die in the process. Clearly this is a situational issue, but it is the misuse of the procedure here that leaves me doubting the issue as a whole.
Just this weekend I was fortunate enough to hear one girl comment, "If I was pregnant today, that thing would be dead tomorrow!" All I can say is it's too bad condoms weren't more frequently distributed when your parents were our age, sweetheart. With a mouth like that I doubt she will have too many opportunities to get pregnant anyway.
As far as gay rights are concerned, God wants the world to live in peace and love one another, but the Bible appears to speak out against the issue. Personally, I don't see any problem with two people who love each other living together. However, it appears tax breaks are really the driving force behind the issue. If gays were given greater tax breaks on civil unions, would they still want to use the religiously implied term "married?" This would eliminate the religious implications.
Ironically enough, the congregational church of Needham, Mass., that I attended as a child now has a new head minister, an outspoken advocate of gay rights. She spends much of her time speaking out against President Bush and in favor of gay rights. While this has driven many away from the church, I find it an amusing twist on a religious issue.
I'm sure God has a strong stance of his own on these issues. I'm also sure there are quite a few people with varying beliefs that believe their opinion reflects his. If you have started to believe that God is no longer here, it could be true. There have been quite a few movements against him the past few years.
We are all aware of the fact that the United States enforces a separation of church and state. The issue has been pressed as of late, as some endorse taking God out of the pledge of allegiance and just removing his name altogether. They want his name off government buildings, out of our classroom and out of our lives.
Why go to all this effort to rid our country of him? Do these people really hate God that much? Do they blame him for their own failed lives? In a time where the United States needs God to look over them, he is being attacked left and right.
Maybe he is gone. Maybe his absence has allowed evil from the east to attack us just as more questions on morality in the political world arise. If I were him, I would leave too. Why stand by a nation where most people not only ignore him but openly criticize those who live by his words?
Clearly we are a nation that does not put God first in our lives. Whether this is good or bad is tough to say. Some who put God first murder in his name. But I do know the God I believe in wants us to love one another, not kill, fight or persecute. Hell would surely freeze over that day. But until then, I'll keep watching Fox News to see who's fighting next.
Eric Fantegrossi is a junior in the Kogod School of Business and and one of The Eagle's two columnists from the right that appear on Mondays. Nathalie Marechal's next column from the left will appear on Thursday, Nov. 11.
