One nation under God

I was listening to a song at work today. "An American Dream" by August Burns Red. And I, of course got onto thinking of other things. First off, they are an American band, so of course 'In God we trust' is the American motto, so I got onto thinking. They (no, not the unknown 'they' that everyone says, rather, the United States) are, in my honest opinion, one of the best things that happened. Most people would argue 'Look what happened, they declared war on Iraq!' or 'All they care about is making money'. Yes, the American culture is selfish, but think about it again. What country isn't? What country does not do what it can to benefit themselves. What do you think Russia, China, or even some of the smaller Middle East countries would do if they were the world's superpower? Look at the good that they do for example. How many countries hate, and not just we dislike you, but actually hate and would love to see the destruction of Israel? Too many, yet the USA protects them (to a degree, obviously). Also, look at WW2. Yes, the US alone couldn't have stopped it alone, but there is no denying that without them, Hitler would've made it much further than he did. Anyhow, I guess what I'm getting at is this: everyone hates the US, well, at least is rather ticked at them. How about looking at the bright side and see the good that they've done. The innovations that they've made, how they've improved many lives (especially Canadians).

Now this brings me to another topic. Here's a quote from Wikipedia:

Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to the 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identify as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada. About 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% are affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism at 1.1%

As it stands, if we are nearly 80% Christian, why are we a pagan nation? The UN classifies us as one. Maybe diversity isn't as good as we thought it was. Not if one has to bend rules so 'all religions are satisfied'. Maybe religious diversity is not the answer. I'm not saying that it's wrong to accept people as they are, with their religion, but I am saying that it's wrong to force 80% of a population into not being allowed to go to a public school, and talk about Christ simply because it could offend someone. Perhaps it's time to take a step back and realize what Canada has become. To put it plain as day, we've become soup. Maybe the States is right. Maybe it's time to reconsider how things are done, time to put back our position as the world peace keepers, and be an active country. A real country. One nation under God.

August Burns Red "An American Dream" lyrics:

Suffocation. Suffocate with no room to breath.
Forgive us for 'now' is too late.
This is not an American dream.
This is no longer an American dream. We're trying to breath underwater.
The few, the proud, no longer sing their song.
One nation under God, it's us against the world.
We've cut the tongue from society, forcing consumption, never hearing "no."
We've brainwashed our children to believe this is destiny.
Spoiled rotten, still counting their 1, 2, 3's.
Forgive us for 'now' is too late.
Forgive us for fueling the flame.
This is not an American dream any longer,
As we've become spoiled, rotten, counting our 1, 2, 3's.
Disease infesting our young, beauty has become the beast.

I must say, these lyrics, at first glance, look like, well, not much, but if you dig much deeper, there is more. Here's my take on them. It's so true. How often are parent's encouraged to teach their children right from wrong? And even more, how often are they permitted to punish their children properly without the government putting their fat noses in, and even getting involved? You can't touch your child without a lawsuit following it. We brainwash our youth that homosexuality, on top of being not only accepted, that it should be counted as an actual union of two people! And while we're at it, why not take it yet one step further. Why don't we prosecute our pastors and priests because they refuse to 'marry' (and I use that term very loosely here) a woman and woman or man and man? If we're supposed to have religious acceptance, THIS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED THEN! It is not only disgusting, and a great way to spread disease, but also wrong. Romans 1:28-32:

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

As you can see, that is where we are at right now. And it's only getting worse. Indeed, as the song ends on "Beauty has become the beast", you can interpret that several ways. Canada as a nation, starting out very noble, has become a faithless country. But also, as mankind in whole; we are wrecking ourselves, and only doing further damage by convincing both ourselves and our youth into thinking otherwise.