Apparently, She's Not Been Talking About Much

Yeah, I took a little leave of absence.  I disappeared into 4 months of tax time horror.  Well, not so much horror as just lots of exhausting hours.  But my brain is back and it only took me about two months.  I guess my recovery time is beginning to reflect my age.  And.....I'm focusing a bit more on my writing, finally hoping to send things out in hopes of publication.  I'm starting small - just the short stories for now.  The novel is still in progress and I really do need to buckle down and focus on it, too.

So, where are my thoughts these days????

I have a new FaceBook friend, an old friend from high school.  He was a Marine.  He has suffered injuries from his time of service.  And he counts all Muslims in with the fanatical, demonic displays of horror that ISIS practices.  I think it's difficult for Americans to separate and see the difference unless you know a Muslim - or are related to some.  I am lucky to fall into the latter category.  My younger sister has been married to a man from Iran for about 26 years.  He no longer practices his faith, but that is because of his decision to practice no faith.  He is a wonderful man and has ALWAYS treated my sister like a queen.  He gave the utmost respect to my parents who lived with them until my sister could no longer manage because they required round the clock care.  He has helped raise my two beautiful nephews into kind, good, intelligent and amazing young men. Because of him, I am "related" to other Muslims.  Some of them continue to live in Iran.  Some have immigrated to the U.S. and Canada.  All of them are successful, good people.  All of them are kind. And NONE of them agree with ISIS and their actions.  Neither do any of the other Muslims I know living in this country.

Over centuries, we have watched Christianity change - to be reformed.  If you read the Scriptures, you read of murder, wars, etc, sanctified by God at the time.  You learn through history of the Crusades, which although a terrible time in the history of Christianity because of their actions, was a direct reaction to the Ottoman Empire's attempt to annihilate all Christians from the region.  Eurasian Christians struck back with the Crusades.  Even as late as the 1900's, Turkish Muslims were wiping out Armenian Christians by the 100,000's.  Around 90% of Armenians were Christian at the time. Now it is approximately 15%.

But when you read, study and learn from the Reformers of Christianity, you see how the tide began to turn in Christian's beliefs toward eradicating other faiths.  They began to see the wrong in this action. Even more recently, you see these same types of reform move toward tolerance and understanding - even defense of other faiths.  There are stories of Christians in Middle Eastern countries protecting Muslims from those who would seek to kill them.  These stories rarely hit the mainstream media coverage.  And why?  Because it does not fit the agenda we see being pushed in this country now. The agenda that will see this country in ruins if it is not stopped.

I'm going to spend the next few posts going more in depth about the historical significance of reform and the fact it is lacking in followers of ISIS.  Stay tuned.