Hunger

While having a breakfast (one burrito and coffee) at McDonald's the other morning, there were two people discussing problems in this Country. Both of them were Korean vets, one an ex tank officer and I did not get what the other did. Both still worked, one delivered newspapers and the other is a security guard at the courthouse. I did not listen too closely until I heard one say that there were millions in this Country that were starving. That caught my attention and I inquired to see if he really belived it. He was earnestly serious. When asked where they were, he replied: "Everywhere." He was asked to be more specific, like how many are in Jacksonville. There are ten thousand in Jacksonville, he said. "Where in Jacksonville?" he was asked. "All over the city." was the reply. Do you mean hungry or starving, because people on diets are hungry but I don;t believe that is a national problem. "Starving," he replied emphatically. The two of us could hardly believe it. But he was convinced of this as a fact in spite of the arguments we presented: 1) Why are there no people going to the hospital and being diagnosed with malnutrition? 2) Why are the many food pantries for the poor not seeing malnourished patrons? (Pat worked at one of these that gives out free food and she said most of the people that came in were fat.) 3) There are government programs that give out food for those that need it, why do they not apply? 4) If a person is old they have an opportunity to get "Meals On Wheels," a charity that is all over Jacksonville. 5) Children get even more attention with government programs for them. With all this, he fell silent but I realized he still held his belief. It crossed my mind that of all the churches in Jacksonville not a one would refuse a person who asked for food with the additional phrase' "I ask it in the name of Jesus." That is a very hard phrase for any Christian to ignore.

"The Great Satan"

As many of you may know the United States was called "The Great Satan" by the Ayatollah Khomeni of Iran. I was always puzzeled by this reference to our Country, what did he mean by this designation? Another person who used the term was Osama bin Laden during his missives to explain why he set up the 9/11 attack. I have recently read a translation of some of those missives and was surprised at what it means. For the Islamic religion, Satan is a temptor who tries to get a believer to sin. What is it that the Islamists are concerned about as far as the U.S. is concerned? What they see are the Holywood Movies that glorify sex, alchohol, homosexuality, feminism and the dissolution of the family, particularly the male as the head of the family. They do not understand our divorce rate which leaves so many children with a single parent. They find absurd our placing our children in the center of family decision making. As religion is central in their lives, they find it abominable that the vast majority of our citizens do not practice religion. Also, they find our courts very lenient and prefer Sharia Law. In attempting to protect their culture from that of the West, in this highly technological world, they desire a separate sphere for themselves. However, modern technology is exposing Muslims to the decadence of the West. We are tempting them to sin. The Mullahs are resisting this Western culture and bin Laden decided to defeat us militarily because, in his estimation, we were soft and Americans would not take casualties. So there you have it, the changes we have seen in our society in the last 60 years has obtained for us a new name, "The Great Satan."