How is "He" any different?

    People talk about God as if he is the most powerful and all knowing person or spirit that has ever existed. I however disagree. If the God that the Roman Catholics talk about does exist, than he is as peaceful, forgiving, and loving as they make him out to be.
    This God they talk about seems spiteful, selfish, and egocentric. If this God was so forgiving, than there wouldn't have been a reason for the flood that washed over the earth, for natural disasters, or anything that kills a mass amount of people in a destructive manner. If God was so powerful than there would be no need for him to command that people on Earth are not to worship any other God or person as well or over him. If this God was so loving and all powerful, I don't understand why he must insure that he is the greatest, and constantly prove his strength and power. It seems pointless to me. Perhaps it is my atheist ways, but this chapter hasn't done much to convince me that there is a God. I don't know if it was suppose to, but it didn't.

Proud to be an American

       I am proud to be an American. I am aware of it's flaws, and of its corruption, and it's money driven politics. But I am proud. That is what I believe Patriotism is. It is being proud of where you come from, no matter how horrible the country may be, it is where you were raised, where you learned about different values, and it is where you created a life for yourself.
     I think that being patriotic is loving your country, and doing good things in honor of it. Meaningless killing and torturing is not patriotic, and war might not be either. But when one is facing death defending their country, that is patriotic. War happens, it will never stop, and in war there is death. The death may seem meaningless, and it may be but it is a part of war. Being patriotic in war means that you overcome the enemy, even if that ultimately means death. It does not mean that you intentionally kill others who are not fighting. Yes, it may happen, but it does not make that person unpatriotic if they didn't intentionality go out to kill the innocent.
      But being patriotic doesn't have to mean fighting in wars or joining the army. It can mean that one holds their own country to a higher standard because they expect so much from it. You know its flaws, but you embrace them, because it has the potential to change. It is the people of the country that we want to succeed because they are a part of you.  Being patriotic simply means that you love where you come from and you are proud of it.

I think you can do both

    Some people may say that you cannot support the troops but not the war. I disagree. Supporting the troops means that you want them to stay safe and healthy. Sending food, letters, care packages, those are things that can make their days a bit better, and those are things that can be done to support them. Working to help with veteran rights and benefits is needed to help keep the troops safe when they return, and it is an effort that can be done by regular citizens. Whether you believe in the war or not, you can support the troops because they are there to keep us safe. They are fighting in honor of America, and that is a cause that should be supported. I don't understand how a person can not support the troops because what they are doing is honorable. They are putting their life on the line for their country and it's people. Support the troops, send them home safe. Ending the war is supporting our troops.

You have to choose

    Is it really morally wrong to chose to save an American over a person on another nationality simply because you are from America as well. I thought about this for a while after class, and I still think that I would choose the American, but I'm not sure if it is morally right. But I think that it is what most American's would do. I tend to think of it on a smaller scale. If I had to choose to save someone from my city or another one,  I would choose to save the one from my city, because there is an unspoken bond that links me to them. I think that between every American, every person from the same country, there is an unspoken bond and draw to them over another. Being from the same country gives you a common thing between the two of you to bond over or to feel apart of. I guess that when it comes down to it, I would choose my own kind, simply because we come from the same place. We most likely value similar things, and we were raised on similar ideas. We are apart of a giant American family, and so I chose my family because they are apart of me and where I come from.