The world, as I see it, is as such.

Various governments oppress and kill their people, most often on religious grounds. Somewhat less often on issues of social standing.

People do this to other people, as well.

People, whether third-world or first-world, are homeless. Rather, houseless, as George Carlin points out. People refuse to extend a hand to those in need.

All Americans who subscribe to the media hype are, by Christian belief, sinners. Though I am not Christian, I was raised one and know some things about Christianity I can imagine many Christians don't know.

As for the media hype, and capitolism itself, it encourages people to exercise their natural instinct of 'be better than the other guy' by owning lots of, ultimately, worthless things. I freely admit that even I have not broken myself of this. I see myself as more restrained, refusing to follow the herd mentality. I do not buy Abercrombie and Bitch. I don't listen to rap.

As for the deadly sin all brainwashed Americans are guilty of, it is greed. Avarice. Pride. For those overweight not by a disease, gluttony. Sloth.

It is not a great leap to say that the Christian values that established our country are lost. Yes, women have rights equal to men. Yes, blacks are free. Wars are still fought because of religion. Christians often tout their historic helpfulness toward the people. This always elicits a laugh of some kind from me. Need I say more than 'The Holy Crusades'? Does anyone remember the God of the Old Testament? It may be outdated, but, if the Bible is as true as the Christian sect believes, it still happened.

The battle in Iraq continues, as the government says, because they are brought up to hate America. They hate us for our freedoms. Our rights. Perhaps, also because their belief in Allah is so fervent that they must kill the infidels, that being anyone who is not Muslim.

As one can now see, Christianity is not such a bastion of good as it proclaims. In this light, one may also consider Satan Christianity's greatest ally. If studied objectively, Satan has provided Christianity with an easily sighted 'apple/stick' scenario. The full idea is that a donkey is presented with an apple in front of him, and a stick behind. Both will convince him to move. One rewards him for acting as his owner wishes, the other punishes for a wrong action. In the context of Christianity, the apple is heaven. If you do what the church says, you will maintain a pure soul and ascend into heaven upon your death. The stick, therefore, is hell. If you don't do what the church says, or if you commit one of the seven deadly sins, you are punished eternally in hell. (By the way, didn't Jesus' death on the cross redeem the souls of all humanity, preventing them from going to hell? Just asking.)

Now, I'm not much for the explanation, but if it gets people to stop and consider the needs of his fellow man, I can overlook it. As it stands today, I cannot overlook it. Too many people still kill, too many are greedy, and too many are entirely corrupt.

On the other hand, I believe there are some things people should be indulgent in. People should not be repulsed by the human body. It is a beautiful creation of millions of years of evolution. People should participate in sexual acts if they feel they can deal with the consequences. This is not to say that they must do so, only that it should not be frowned upon. Sexual intercourse is a natural process, and not inherently tied to marriage or the like.

On this topic, abortion is something a woman must choose on her own. It is her body, and no one else's. People who stand up against abortion miss the point. If it is not your own body, it is not your business what goes on inside it. If you march against an abortion clinic, what are you really doing? You are attempting to infringe on others' rights. No, not Constitutional rights. Not divine rights. In the end, the simple right of self-ownership. An abortion of a child that, if removed, could not survive on its own is literally only slightly different from having an organ removed. The child is not alive. One could make a convincing argument that babies are not truly sentient until about 3 or 4 years of age. I believe I've made my point.

As for the Constitution, I don't know what to make of it. It was a good idea, but its flexibility has been abused and has changed the American way of life. Originally, government could not levy income taxes, as of 1919, they can. Taxes are what the colonies sought to escape when they declared independence. It was religion when they fled England, but taxes when they started the Revolutionary War.

WMDs. It saddens me greatly that such a supposedly intelligent race has created explosives that can kill thousands, and enough of them to annihilate all humanity. Can't this material be used creatively, rather than destructively? Power third-world countries with existing nuclear material, of which we have tons.

Deforestation. This one sickens me a lot. The idea that people can ignore the repercussions of lessening oxygen-producing plants' numbers is astounding. This is a large component of global warming, in my opinion.

Perhaps, I sometimes consider, I am not a cynic, I'm just confused. With this look into my thought processes, one can easily see why, I believe.

Thank you for reading. May you and your family receive good fortune from whatever deity or philosophy you believe in.