The following is a depiction of the status of religious believers in the United States today. No one group is responsible, we are all responsible because we have been led away from the One who loves us, led away by self interest, covetousness, greed, and a misdirected desire for security and comfort. Liberty in the United States: The type of 'liberty' the United States is attempting to convert Islam to is a false liberty, not the liberty God gave us upon our founding: "And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes." (Psalms 119:45-48) The United States of America was founded as a "nation under God". However, being settled in part by those escaping religious persecution in Europe, our forefathers recognized that no religion should receive any preference or support from the government. Nevertheless, the liberty and equality we were so proud of was, at the time, acknowledged as a God-given right of all men. In this way, the people of the United States were guaranteed the freedom to believe in God as they saw fit. Since World War II things have slowly changed. Undeclared wars have been fought. Large Corporations and their CEO's have profited. Many people have expounded on the ideas of liberty and equality. Many of them believe that liberty and equality are inherently human rights - outside of the authority of any God that might be acknowledged by government. On the other hand, aggressive political organizations of the political right, many of which call themselves Christian organizations, have championed the cause of the wealthy in this country. In the process they have succeeded in lowering the tax bill of the rich, but have also oppressed the poor, the destitute, and the mistreated of this country - God's people. For better or worse, such is our situation today as followers of Jesus in the United States. Largely through the efforts of atheistic organizations, the United States has made itself exclusive of religious belief rather than inclusive of all religious beliefs as our founders intended. Through the efforts of political Christian organizations, the United States has abrogated its founding principles of equality and justice for all Devout religious believers, be they Christian or of any other religion, are no longer represented in the government of the United States. For Example: To vote for any candidate this year, a believer in religion will need to: Accept abortion as an established practice. "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalms 139:14-16) "Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." (Jeremiah 1:4-5) "For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house". (Ezekiel 23:39) "Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself..." (Isaiah 44:24) "If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me; What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?" (Job 31:13-15) "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not." (Jeremiah 31:15) Accept man putting man to death. "Thou shalt not kill." (Deuteronomy 5:17) "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment..." (Matthew 5:21-22) "But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause." (Jeremiah 11:20) "To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." (Deuteronomy 32:35) "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:19-21) Accept unpunished corporate theft. "The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." (Ezekiel 22:29-30) "If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down.." (Exodus 22:25-26) Accept racism, the removal of welfare, affirmative action, and accept the oppression of God's poor. "Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?" (Isaiah 10:1-3) "Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right." (Amos 5:11-12) "And I will come near to you to judgment... against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. For I am the LORD, I change not..." (Malachi 3:5-6) Accept the oppression of the poor, the elderly, immigrants, and the fatherless. "Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry..." (Exodus 22:21-24) "Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart." (Zechariah 7:9-10) Accept the exclusion of religious culture and beliefs from American Education. Accept the exclusion of religious culture and beliefs from American Justice. Accept the continued destruction of our planet through pollution caused by greed. Accept the continued blasphemy against God by using His name on currency and government property, and through speeches invoking His assistance for making offensive war against Fundamentalist Islam everywhere. Accept the mis-application of the First Amendment to our Constitution in order to provide the purveyors of pornography, hate, and violence the equal opportunity for profit.   Religious believers in America today are as captive as were the Israelites under Roman rule, yet because of our comfort, wealth, possessions, and positions in society, we accept our captivity through denial that it exists. Even the atheists, who have been so intolerant of religion, are captive of this rolling monster we have created while trying to do good for mankind. But the acceptance of captivity under an democratic system that cannot be made to tolerate religious freedom has caused a slow but sure apostasy among all religions in America. To maintain our comfort levels we have turned our backs on our God and the people He has given all of us the responsibility of caring for: The poor, the sick, the meek, the maimed, and the prisoners. Through overzealous and hypocritical actions on the part of religious people and even whole religions, intolerance and oppression have become part of conservative political philosophy more or less out of self defense. Thus followers of Christ have been oppressed with jeers, ordinances, and insults, making religion's primary mission of spreading God's word unappealing, and many of us have stopped calling to the sinners and unrighteous whom Jesus Himself came for. There is only One Way to reverse the captivity of all, believer and atheist, today. That Way is to request the Perfect Government that was created for us at the beginning, self-government under God's Love and love for one another. "...When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8 KJV) Let us step out and found the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, true brotherhood, and become witnesses to the entire earth of the character of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. For He said: "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." (Luke 13:35) Let us shout, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!"