The Real Meaning of Christianity

I received an email today -- one of those that's been around the world several times, passed on by the well-intentioned for the edification of others of their ilk, but occasionally received by someone like me.

It contained photos of various presidents with the question, asked by a hypothetical mother, "Why did my son have to die in..." (supply the president and country of your favorite war.)

It ends with the following
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'Heavenly Father .. why did my Son have to die on a cross outside of Jerusalem ?'

The answer is always the same... 'So that others may live and dwell in peace, happiness, and freedom.'

This was emailed to me with no author. I thought the magnitude and the simplicity were awesome.

If you are not willing to stand BEHIND our troops,
Please, please feel free to stand in front of them....
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I'm really grateful to the person who passed this on to me; being only a Christmas and Easter Christian myself (and half a Jew to boot) I can always stand to have my religious knowledge updated.

I had been operating under the false impression that Jesus said "blessed are the peace-makers" but, thanks to this email, I now know he actually said "blessed are the warmongers" and it was simply mis-translated. After all, from Aramaic to Hebrew to Greek to Latin to Olde Englishe to Middle English to Modern English, he might have been giving a recipe for blintzes for all we know!

Clearly, modern American Christians know a lot more about what Jesus and the heavenly father have in mind than I do. For instance, it would never occur to me to say "God Bless America." Perhaps this comes from the Jewish side of my personality; in the Jewish faith, one doesn't petition God for new blessings so much as thank God for blessings already received.

In other words, Jews don't generally view God as a wish-granting ATM, but I'm beginning to think they are just behind the times. After all, when you live in a Christian country (as we have been told this is) and it is obvious that Christians have a direct line to the Almighty, what's wrong with using that special relationship to get a little something extra for the country we love?

And, when you understand that, although God is infinite and eternal, he has a special place in his heart for this one country that has existed for, what, 230 years, it only makes sense to claim him for ourselves and to hell with the rest of the world. Nya nya, God likes us best.