the up coming primary/caucus season

The up coming Caucuses and primaries for the U.S. Presidential election will undoubtedly heat up after the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. At this point in time the candidates are still trying to woo the voters while acting as if their a shoe in to win regardless of the latest poll numbers even if they are nail biting in the shadows.

There is one thing that a couple candidates more than the others are playing to and that is the religious beliefs of the voters especially in Iowa, which is in the Bible Belt of the nation. Unfortunately no one will take them to task on the separation of church and state even though the could be taken to task and they know that no one will call them on it either.

The law clearly states in article VI of the U.S. Constitution, that no religious test can be required to attain an appointed or elected office in the federal government. The first amendment also states that the government can make no laws an establisment of religion or prohibiting the exercise there of.

Unfortunately, over time these two things even though they state in no unclear terms have been pushed aside by people who wish to push their religious beliefs onto others and state that these lines in the constitution does not constitute a separation of church and state.

chances are one of the candidates that are playing to the religious beliefs of the Iowa voters will win the caucus it is just a question of by what margin.

Benazir Bhutto

It was a sad day for Pakistan when former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. In my opinion her assassination shows the internal power struggle that Pakistan itself has due to Al Qaida looking to destablize the government and if I heard correctly (not sure if it is true) the Pakistani military prefering to be in power.

The problem with Benazir Bhutto's assassination is not knowing who wanted or needed her out of the political equation more?

Christmas

I grew up celebrating Christmas due to growing up Catholic. In my lifetime which has span just 36 short years I have noticed that even though it is a religious holiday, it has become commercialized to the point that in some areas it doesn't even resemble a religious holiday at all.

I believe in the religious event that Christmas symbolizes yet don't like what it has become for many who actually believe in it. What I cannot agree with is others who supposedly believe in the holiday, using the symbolism of the holiday to push materialism and vanity rather than the faith behind the holiday.

I grew up Catholic and still call myself Catholic even though I don't regularly practice my religion by going to church regularly. I do however keep as true as I can to what I was taught and feel like Christmas one of the most revered of all Christian Holidays has been turned into something that Christianity in general strives against.

The commercialism of Christmas has caused it to go from a religious holiday to a holiday of indulgence with some of it being self indulgence. Everyone who intentionally feeds into the commercialism is taking the name of the lord in vain by showing that giving materialistic gifts out of guilt is more important than living up to the faith of the holiday.

giving gifts is suppose to show that you care about others not about how much you can spend on those gifts or on a specific individual.

presidential candidates

This presidential election even though we are still in the primary season, we as a nation are in a different position than we normally are. This time around we are faced with deciding between genders and race which people have taken notice of.

regardless of qualifications, gender and race issues will arise as time goes by in this election season which will surely create tensions between various groups of people who might otherwise be on the same side in the way things get done.

the only way to get past the issues that may detract from who we feel is most qualified to be president, is to look past both the gender and race of the people who are running for president so we can actually see what they stand for and what they are hoping to accomplish as president in an attempt to find out who we think is the most qualified.

Mitt Romney's speech

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney in a way had to give a speech concerning his religion and politics due to people making necessary due to faith issues.

I do not agree with what he is doing based on his past political experience in Massachusetts but he did make at least one point that I have been trying to state in message boards and in letters to the editor of multiple newspapers which is the fact that there is a distinct separation of church and state.

that is a great point but given the circumstances surrounding his gubernatorial campaign and subsequent election as the Massachusetts governor, he has shown that even though he has now stated publicly that there is a separation of church ands state he becomes a hypocrite given what he said in his campaign and subsequent tenure in Massachusetts.

in his gubernatorial campaign he expressed that his faith would not interfere with his job as governor, yet a few months into his first year as governor he started showing that he could not leave his religion at the front door of the statehouse by stating that he would not support different laws based on his religious beliefs.

given his past record with massachusetts, I cannot believe that he will not bring his religion to the table as the president regardless of how polished his campaign speeches are.