Apparently, there is debate over whether it will be illegal for our money (and possibly, any other public scripts/speeches) to say "Under God" or "in God we trust" or anything else of that nature.

Yes, with all the troubles we find facing our nation and our government, there is still time to debate these issues. Amazing.

Yet, if such a thing were true - and it may be soon - then I say fine.

If our all-knowing, overly protective government deems it illegal to post the Ten Commandments in various public forums - then I say whatever.

And you should too... as a law-abiding citizen. After all, certainly there are smarter people than me in places of authority... doling out this ground shaking legislation. Surely they have the experience to make good decisions and, of course, what government official doesn't have OUR best interests at heart?

I pray for their continued wisdom and supernatural guidance as they wade through the muck of minutae and manage to bring these nuggets to the surface for OUR benefit.

Oh wait a minute - while we're on a roll here - that reminds me... I can't pray for them. And I can't ask you to. PRAYER seems to be another one of those sticky areas that requires... whew!... some government intervention. You know, when and where it's okay to pray - or perhaps, if it's not okay to pray at all because someone else may be disturbed by this activity.

Oh my - I guess we should all be eternally grateful for government officials who have the foresight to see these issues as the problems they really are and to take a stand for positive change. Well - maybe "eternally" is not a good choice of words, since that kind of gets me back into the whole God thing again.

I'm sure all of this gives you peace of mind - allows you to sleep better - and increases your enjoyment of the holidays. In deed, we need less stress during Christmas. And of course, Easter will be here before you know it. That's good for us... bad for them - you know, the government officials.

You see, I don't think they'll be taking a Christmas vacation. And rightfully so. Government employees SHOULD NOT look forward to a single day off for Christmas... or Good Friday... or Easter... and let's throw Thanksgiving in there too. That seems fair. If you're going to erase GOD from all important facets of American life - then there's no reason to celebrate any certain days intended to honor Him... right?

Actually, this is probably a good thing for all of us. Now we can have our mail delivered on Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving too! Well, now that I think about it, I guess we can look forward to seeing the mailman on Sundays too!

After all, it's just another day.

More good news for the American tax payer. No more reason for the House and the Senate to rush home for Christmas Break. I guess they'll have more time to spend on even more of these important issues - on our behalf, of course.

After all, it's just another day.

Frankly, if everyone would work on Sundays and skip holidays, maybe the economy would swing back the other way again due to the increased production. Wow... we can only pray THAT happens.

Oh... well... no we can't. Who would we pray to?

Maybe the next government official to take an oath will think twice about how much they are really helping us.

Come to think of it, that won't happen either. How can they swear an oath? What in the world would they place their left hand on? But, we'll discuss that another day.

After all, it's just another day.... isn't it?

By: Michael Clutton
Express your opinions or comment on what other people think at http://www.EZtoAsk.com or simply ask a question!

Creationism is a dangerous word - at least if you say it aloud. Professor Michael Reiss, Director of Education at the Royal Society, the leading science organisation in Great Britain, was forced to step down after he was accused of instructing teachers to discuss creation in science classes.

Although the British press invented colorful headings of the dispute, professor Reiss, who has a PhD in biology and is also an ordained priest of the Church of England, did not encourage teachers to treat creationism as a valid alternative to Darwinian evolution. He merely said that creationism is a worldview that should not be disparaged.

However, professor Reis did not say that creationism was wrong, and this caused Darwinists to call for his resignation.

For instance, Richard Dawkins, who makes no bones about being an atheist, questioned the right of a Christian to be the director of education of a leading science organisation. But Index on Censorship, an organisation committed to freedom of speech, lamented the lack of academic freedom in Great Britain.

It seems that the basic thesis of Ben Stein's recent documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is very obvious in Europe. Critics of Darwinian evolution are discriminated against. Scientists do not even have to criticise evolution. Just a mention of the word creationism is enough to bring them into trouble. The same is true of another forbidden word, design, especially if it is preceded by the term intelligent.

In October 2007 the Council of Europe claimed that creationism was a potential threat to human rights. Now it seems that panic has also spread to the British isles. At least the leading science publications Nature and New Scientist have sternly warned their readers about the dangers of dissenting from orthodox Darwinism.

Steve Fuller, a professor of sociology at the University of Warwick in the U.K. thinks that the fear of creationism is at least partly due to the popularity of intelligent design in Britain.

For instance, Truth in Science, an organisation run by highly placed scientists, has campaigned for a more honest approach to the teaching of evolution in schools.

But with the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species approaching in 2009, his supporters are nervous and this seems to have resulted in panic reactions.

By: Joel Kontinen
Joel Kontinen is a translator and novelist currently living in Finland. His background includes an MA in translation studies and a BA in Bible and Theology. He likes to keep up-to-date on science news and often comments on creation/evolution and origins issues.
http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com

Recently many of the illegal immigration marches have indeed been called immigration marches, which in itself is deceptive. Additionally if you support immigration to this nation, then why support it carrying a foreign flag?

If you truly support immigration and this nation and you are truly exercising your right to free speech thanks to our Constitution perhaps then one might consider holding up an American Flag while demonstrating instead of a Mexican Flag in defiance of our laws here. Illegal Immigration is about jumping the fence or sneaking into our nation illegally.

You see, I support legal immigration to my country if an individual proves worthy to become one of us and pledges to support our nation's values, unity and strength. I do not support illegal immigration at all. I do not believe this to be a partisan issue; I believe this to be an American issue.

And I support counter viewpoints to a point. But I cannot support illegal aliens until I know who they are and what their intentions are, probationary period can prove that, tracking ID Cards and checks for diseases, prior criminality and character. We have too much to lose by indifference. This issue must be addressed correctly and implementation, streamlining and enforcement are key to getting it done.

By: Lance Winslow
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington.

Next week New Haven, Connecticut plans on issuing an ID card that will be available to illegal immigrants. Besides providing a pass to municipal services like libraries and parks, the card will work as a debit card for parking meters and be valid identification to present to police and banks.

What kind of crazy idea is that? Why would a city want to make life easier for immigration scofflaws? One of the justifications for the card is that because it's difficult for illegal immigrants to open bank accounts, they're targeted by muggers who know they carry a lot of cash. One might object that the city is discriminating against one class of criminals on behalf of another one.

The truth is, though, that New Haven's politicians are hardly the only ones pushing policies that encouraging migrants to violate immigration laws. There are more than 30 "sanctuary cities" where it is illegal for police to ask about immigration status. Nine states currently allow illegal immigrants to receive driver's licenses, although that will change when the federal "Real ID" act goes into effect in 2008. (In two other states, illegal immigrants can get driving certificates that can't be used as ID for most purposes; such certificates are legal under Real ID.)

Then, of course, there's the dead-for-the-moment campaign for some sort of amnesty or semi-amnesty, which, besides insulting immigrants who have played by the rules, would reassure the next generation of border-jumpers that they have little to fear. Even guest worker programs can encourage illegal immigration; agriculture workers on H-2A visas, who are allowed to stay in the country only seasonally, often bring along family members who illegally stay year-round.

It isn't that it's impossible to stop the flow of illegal immigration. According to a 2005 report on the Minuteman Project, volunteers on the Arizona border proved that auxiliary personnel simply watching the border are highly effective at reducing the flow of illegal migrants.

It would take tens of thousands of such personnel to plug all the leaks in the border, but that's not so daunting a number when you consider that they can be trained in three days, rather than the two years that are needed to train the Border Patrol officers they'd be assisting. A handful of jurisdictions are now allowing local police officers to assist in enforcing immigration laws -- a job that's traditionally been left to a relatively small number of federal agents -- and there's no reason why the IRS can't make it a priority for their auditors to look for employers who dodge tax liabilities by keeping illegal workers off the books. (Enforcement is at least as important in the interior as it is on the border -- a large percentage of illegal immigrants have overstayed their visas rather than snuck through the border.)

The problem is that beefed up enforcement by itself, to the extent that it's effective, threatens to hamstring an economy with a demonstrably growing demand for labor. From 2002 to 2006, a period of consistently low unemployment, the Migration Policy Institute estimates that 1.8 million new permanent immigrants entered the U.S. annually -- about a half million of them illegally. As cases of crops that have gone unpicked following crack-downs on illegal farm workers vividly illustrate, America has a shortage of legal labor. Raising immigration quotas by forty to fifty percent would make enforcement a much easier job; as legal immigrants fill the jobs currently being filled by their illegal counterparts, many of the latter will simply leave on their own.

Among the many idiocies of the immigration bill that failed in the Senate last month was that it barely contemplated the number of immigrants the country needs or wants. The bill left the actual quotas basically untouched.

Perhaps, because it's somewhat counterintuitive to argue that we must respond to out-of-control immigration by welcoming more immigrants, the reason that few politicians straightforwardly advocate increased immigration quotas is that they're afraid such a policy won't fly politically. But the outrage over immigration is driven not just by the presence of immigrants per se, but by the widespread lawlessness that the current system has wrought. It's rather shortsighted, even cowardly, to facilitate that lawlessness while shying away from real reform.

By: John Tabin
http://johntabin.com
From The American Spectator.

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