F. David Shelene

The speaker in the local church service stated that "We support our troops in Iraq! We stand behind our President!" he shouted. It was an old time prayer meeting and it was meant to generate patriotism along with of course, support from our Lord in our effort in Iraq.

This type of service was happening all across our nation. It made most people feel good about our country.

At the prayer meeting I attended though, it made me nervous. There were statements made about the protestors not knowing what they were doing and even being against the United States. Songs were sung such as "America the Beautiful."

I ask myself why I was nervous. I was sitting with many of my closest friends.

The answer I came up with is simple. I was nervous with any church getting involved in politics. I am a patriot! I get tears in my eyes when I here the Star Spangled Banner. I believe in the United States. But the United States is it’s people, not it’s Government.

I must admit, the United States Government and its leaders scare me right now.

I believe in the right to protest! Only in the United States can we do that freely. Those protestors may be against what I believe, but they make me want to shout, "Look world, at the difference between you and us! Only in America can this happen! We can say what we believe!"

I am a patriot, but I am against the Patriot Act. I wonder if our church leaders know that the Patriot Act gives the FBI the right to stand at the door of every church in the United States to see who is attending.

The same leaders that our churches are supporting want to know everything there is to know about every person in the United States. They want to tap every phone. If they could, they would put a camera in front of every home. Every day, it seems, Brent Ashcroft asks for more power and authority. This should scare us all.

Politicians have a way of collecting for favors rendered.

Our church members should always pay attention to the things our Government is doing and vote accordingly.

Our churches however exist to worship God. They should stay out of politics. If they don’t, they may find themselves one day in the position of supporting a Government that is protecting them from foreign attack and at the same time they may find that they are hooked on that good old Party Fishing Line.

That, along with our erosion in privacy scares me to death.