One thing I’ve been seeing in a lot of blogs has to do with Muslims, especially Muslims in America. It’s the same with this issue as I state about the illegal aliens in another blog …some people will lump all members of a particular group together in an unfair way. When it comes to Arabs, people who look middle-eastern, and true Muslims, people are being alarmist and scaring everyone into thinking every darker skinned, bearded man is a Muslim terrorist. I won’t be so naïve to believe there are NO terrorist currently on American soil, but neither am I going to see a terrorist hiding behind every Muslim. If you’re going to write blogs about the terrorist cells within the United States, please include a disclaimer that states not all Muslims are terrorists.
     I don’t know how many people have told me things like “I won’t shop at that store because it’s run by Muslims” or “the Muslims are taking over this country”. When I hear these things, I often have to quickly put the “rumor-mongers” in their place. One such store they won’t shop at is run by a family from India, not Saudi Arabia, Iraq, or one of those countries and they aren’t Muslim. The only reason they think the store is run by Muslims is because the family has dark skin and they speak with a slight accent which, I admit, is sometimes hard to place until you hear them pronounce certain words. And how are Muslims taking over the country simply by running a legitimate business so they can “live the American dream”? Today it’s Muslims, before the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it was the Jews who were taking over the country.
     And answer this question … If you’ve known a man all your life, if you grew up with him and were buddies in high school, are you suddenly going to see him as a terrorist because he decides he wants to follow the teachings of Islam? If you don’t remember anything else, remember this … not all Muslims are terrorists and not all terrorists are Muslim. For an example of the last part of the statement, take a look at Timothy McVay, the perfect example of a true American, non-Muslim terrorist. If he wouldn’t have been caught, he and his friends would’ve continued their reign of terror. Christians are blowing up things in Ireland and Jews are blowing up stuff in “occupied” regions of Israel. We view these as “just” and “nonterroristic”, but I view them as the same. Atheists, Christians, Jews, and members of ALL religions can become terrorists. I really believe the reason we overlook the terrorists in other religions and cultures is because the Muslims have become our convenient “whipping boys”.
     As a Christian, I disagree with the teachings of Islam and would like to see them all “convert” to Christianity. Is that really going to happen? No. However, I’m not about to see a terrorist living in my town only because the man or woman happens to be Muslim. Whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”? Some of you will say we can’t stand around waiting for them to blow something up or put poison in the water system before we see them for who they are. So we need to be suspicious of EVERY Muslim, but not worry about the seemingly normal neighbor of some other religion? If you have a rational, well-informed reason for suspecting the local Muslim of being up to no good, report him to the government. If you don’t, live and let live.
     If you all haven’t noticed … I hate rampant, uninformed, misguided, and often misleading generalizations about any group of people. This is only certain people’s way of spreading their prejudices and hatred of other groups. It happened to African-Americans who were considered less than human while slavery was legal and for decades afterward. It happened to the Japanese-Americans who were rounded up and placed in interment camps during the World War for no other reason than for being of Japanese descent. It’s happening to Muslims today. Who knows, tomorrow it may be some ethnic or religious group to which you belong.

     This is the first of two blogs I’m writing because I felt moved to write them after reading blogs at other sites. The other blog I’ll write as soon as I get this one done. Some of my friends may decide they no longer want to be on my list after reading these two blogs because they may think I hold too liberal a view on the issues. I may be labeled “unChristian” or “unAmerican” for what I have to say, but so be it.
     There are a lot of people jumping on the popular bandwagon and shouting along with the other people on board “SEND THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BACK TO MEXICO!”. By the way, not all of them are from Mexico. I’ve read the statistics on the number of illegal aliens in the United Sates along with the statistics on the number of these people on welfare, sitting in jail cells, and working without the required permits. The answer to these problems is not a wholesale deportation of aliens. I know some of you may have had bad experiences with the illegal aliens living near you, but I ask that you don’t lump them all in the “bad” category. I also ask that you give some thought to why you want them ALL deported. This is especially true if you call yourself a Christian.
     It’s sermon time! Jesus told the disciples to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite in the strangers, clothe those without clothes, care for the sick, and visit people in prison (Matthew 25:34-36). This passage has a duel meaning. We’re to take care of the spiritual and the physical needs of other people. This falls into line with the two great commands to “Love God … Love your neighbor” (Matthew 22:37-39). Nowhere do I find a verse stating that we should only do these things for our fellow citizens while ignoring the needs of those in our country “illegally”. How is deporting every single illegal alien following the commands of Christ?
     I do see there's a problem with an “overload” of illegal aliens who don’t “pull their own weight” and “play the system”. However, I think the answer to the problem is only deporting those who are true burdens and aren’t willing to change so they become productive citizens. Of course, sometimes I think we should find somewhere to send American citizens who fit into the same category. After all, what’s the difference between them and the illegal aliens. [NOTE: This is not an acceptable solution for even our citizens and I always have to ask God to forgive me for having such thoughts. I only share these thoughts with you so as to be open and honest with my friends and visitors.]
     When it comes to illegal aliens working without permits and “taking jobs away from our citizens”, don’t blame the aliens for this “injustice” … blame the employers who hire them in the first place. It’s the greed of unscrupulous employers who hire the aliens at wages that are below poverty level who are hurting the economy and the job market for our citizens, not the aliens who take any job they can find. These aliens are at least working and trying to earn a little money so they can make a feeble attempt to care for their own families. If you want to stop the loss of jobs to aliens, report the employers to the proper authorities.
     I do support the deportation of illegal aliens who’re doing nothing more than commit crimes or decide to sit around collecting money without earning it like a good citizen would do. In the first case, the aliens bring the cry of “SEND THEM HOME!” upon themselves. In the second, I’d have to say the aliens aren’t fully to blame. If the government didn’t give the money to the people, they might decide to go home on their own. I don’t see a problem with giving a hand to people who need a boost, but I also believe the truth of the saying “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime”. Again, this applies to both illegal aliens and our own citizens.
     Maybe I’m just a “bleeding heart” when it comes to people who flee their homeland in search of a better way of life. I’ve researched my family history and know how hard my ancestors worked to get passage to America and, once they reached the country, how hard they worked to make a living and support their families. If it wasn’t for these ancestor’s actions, I’d be writing about life in Germany. “Not the same”, you yell, “Your family came over legally.” My question is … what’s the difference? As long as the aliens are working hard and aiming at the goal of becoming legalized citizens, I shout LEAVE THEM ALONE!
     If you think the same way I do, I can’t thank you enough for seeing the illegal aliens as people. If what I wrote is what you mean when you write about deporting aliens, please tell people that and not make it a generalization people misunderstand. If you think ALL illegal aliens should be deported, please give some thought to what you just read.

     I was just getting ready to get on the computer and do the normal daily routine of reading my email, scanning through the message boards to see if anything interesting had been posted (I’m one of the people there who check to make sure nothing nasty gets posted and remove it if it does), and then check for any updates at my friend’s Windows Spaces. That’s when it happened! The cable went out! YIKES!
     So I moved to plan “B”. I’ve been wanting to get some new Bible studies posted at my other website, so I opened up my webpage program and got them added to the files on my hard drive. I no sooner got that part of the job done, when the cable came back on and I could upload the new pages to my site. I thought to myself “now I can get the other stuff done”. WRONG! I opened my email account, checked a few emails and then … THE CABLE WENT BACK OUT!!!! I’m not only on hold when it comes to visiting my friends, but I’m missing the NASCAR race!
     Technology can be a wonderful thing until it’s not working. And some of it is just downright stupid. On my cable bill it says to visit their online site if you need to check for outages during the times of the week the office isn’t open. How in the world am I supposed to visit the web site if my cable is out? DUH! My electric bill has a similar statement. How am I supposed to go on-line to find out when the power might be restored if the power is out? Double DUH!
     I’ll look at it on the positive side … while the cable was out I did get the new pages done for my web site. As I type up the lessons from my notebook to the webpage builder, it helps to refresh my memory about the information covered in the studies.
     Since I’m finally getting a chance to post this, I’ve also added links to the Bible studies on my list.

     I wrote this at a message board about a month ago. I decided to go ahead and add it here. I have to remember when I post something like this somewhere else, I should share it with my friends at my space.

     Normally, at this time of year, the least little bit of rain would cause the temperature to drop and put a dampness in the air that chills you to the bones. Last night, the slow steady rain actually caused some humidity and it reminded me so much of late spring, although slightly cooler.
     I'm one of those people who can experience something today and it reminds me so much of something that happened years ago. As I was sitting there last night, I remembered summers of long ago when I was a kid. I remembered summer afternoons when the rain caused the air to cool but being disappointed because it was raining too much to do anything outside. Instead, I'd go to my room, lay in front of the window fan, and read a good book while listening to the rain tap on the roof outside my window. I can even remember the fresh smell of the rain.
     All of that made me a little sad. At times like this I wish I could go back and relive those days or that they would've never ended in the first place. I wonder why I can't find those same simple pleasures now that I'm older. Maybe I can. I know I need to slow down once in a while and enjoy life ... stop taking everything so seriously. Any volunteers to come run in the rain with me and splash in the puddles? Anyone want to go to the park and see who can swing the highest? I really miss those days when life seemed so easy and I didn't have a care in the world.

     Ok, I thought it was time to share a little about the culture where I live. Well, I don’t live in the city, it’s just the city has wide-ranging influence. First I have to explain what I mean when I say 'Burgh. This is a reference to the largest city nearest my home ... Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For those from around the world, this is in the United States.
     The city is a true melting pot of cultures. People from many countries call Pittsburgh their home. Because of this, you can choose from many different types of restaurants and entertainment. It's easy to mix and mingle with people and learn about the various cultures. Even outside the city limits, you find this mix. Like in many other cities (as well in southwest Pennsylvania in general), most people will simply say they're from the 'Burgh. More often than not, you have to get to know the people a little better before you see the cultural differences. In a way, you can say it's a 'Burgh thing to describe all the individual cultures rolled into one.
     Although some people may think it's bad, people in the 'Burgh like to brag about our native sons and daughters. To show the mixture of people you can find in the city, you need only look at a few of our famous residents ... Fred Rogers (Mr Rogers Neighborhood - television show), George Romero (movie director), Jimmy Stewart (actor), Gene Kelly (dancer), David Selznick (directed "Gone With the Wind"), Andy Warhol (artist), and Anne Dillard (writer).
     We also have our own language. Once you hear someone from the 'Burgh talk, you'll never forget the "accent" and know if someone ever lived in southwest Pennsylvania. For example, we say arn (iron), caddy wampus (askew, tilted), dahntahn (downtown), gumbans (rubberbands), nebby (nosey), and yins (all of you). Just so you know, I'm one person from the area that says y'all instead of yins.
     If someone is REALLY from the 'Burgh, they bleed black and gold ... our professional sports teams colors. THERE ARE NO OTHER PROFESSIONAL TEAMS except the Steelers (football), Penguins (hockey), and Pirates (baseball). Win or lose, we're fans. If you want to start a fight in the 'Burgh just bash one of our teams. Just kidding about the fighting. We have the nicest fans in the world!
     Since I mentioned sports, I have to clear something up. All football fans everywhere now wave towels in the stands during football games to cheer on their team. YOU COPIED US! The original "Terrible Towel" was created by Myron Cope and was first waved at a Pittsburgh Steeler game. Look it up.
     The 'Burgh is full of cowboys and hippies, gays and straights, computer technicians and steel mill workers, Americans and people from other countries, Catholics and Protestants, and many other types of people. What we all have in common is the 'Burgh. You don't have to live in the area long before the city becomes a part of you. No matter what part of southwestern Pennsylvania someone may be from, when we travel and someone ask where we're from, we all say "We're from the 'Burgh!" Of course, we then have to explain what we mean by the 'Burgh, but that's ok. We understand why you don't know. It's a 'Burgh thing.

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