I also want to say that some--not all--of the homeless and poor, especially in America, have made bad choices, refuse to work or are suffering from pride. To truly be a street person means that you have alienated every person that you know, maybe even a church or two, or that you are too proud to ask for help. Being poor is another matter as I'm sure most of us are only a couple of paychecks from financial ruin.

You stick by your beliefs--if they are true--and let the chips fall where they may. With any luck the homosexuals will ban your shop, but if not, you treat them just as you would any other customer...of course, secular heterosexual couples might avoid your shop too, and that's money a business doesn't want to turn away. Which is where problems with the law come in. If you kick out the homers, but accept adulterers then you are a hypocrite and may be sued. If you are going to be that traditionalist you must "go all in". Otherwise, anyone can be treated as second class--including Christians depending on who owns the business.

The bottom line: no matter what denomination you are in, if you read the Bible with an open mind for yourself, you will see that the homosexual lifestyle is an abomination in God's eyes.BTW, don't let some wag talk to you about priestly/tribal laws that we don't follow anymore as an excuse to embrace the homosexual agenda. Some rules were exclusive to Israel to honor God and keep them safe in the ancient times--like food laws--but other statutes were meant to stand forever.

I'm not recruiting or bashing America here. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if you can live a happy, Christian life in a primarily Muslim nation, then surely you can make a happy life for yourselves in America too. Try not to worry so much and get caught up in the politics of it all, when you can't do anything to change it anyway. Pray and follow the Bible. Take care of yourself and your family.If that means leaving for another community, state or even country then do so! In the end you'll be happier for it.

I'll be visiting family and friends in the States in two weeks after a two-year hiatus. I'm only going to stay for one month. I wonder how many reasons I will see to continue to be thankful for my position overseas.

Has there ever been an employer that has required you to complete a project relying on only your own abilities? Maybe, but I think most successful businesses want their employees to use every tool at their disposal to make sure the job is done right the first time.

On SSM specifically,Christians are at least partially to blame. The support of the condom culture, the problem of pornography, any type of sex outside of marriage,winking at "funny" tv shows and movies that have gay characters and make fun of Christian values, and the high divorce rate among "us" has led to marriage losing its sacredness. We should have been standard bearers, and in many respects we've failed.

I'll never forget hearing one preacher give a sermon about 'watching what you pray for' during which he gave an example of a man who prayed to have everything hindering his life to be removed so that he could be more successful...two weeks later his wife died. Now, I'm not sure if that was meant to be a joke or not, but if it was I didn't get it. It's not right to hang that sort of thing on God. It's the enemy that brings the bad things into this fallen world whereas God wants the best for us...including righteous judges. The decision will be on the conscience of the judge as well as the consequence.

If the Republican party becomes Democrat Lite then they will lose even more conservative Christian voters, and you can bet that the liberal Democrats won't be switching sides. Why would they want a watered down version of their own party?

My mom is a widow who was a housewife most of her life, so she lives off of my dad's social security check. The powers that be (I don't even know who they are to be honest) continually try to get her to sign up for foodstamps in addition to the ss benefit she already receives, although she really doesn't need them. Several other older folks, espescially church members seem to be targeted.