Kinney causeessayfinaldraft cb edit by Carol Kinney

CAUSE OF EFFECT ESSAY RUBRIC

* I WILL USE THIS

RUBRIC ON THE FINAL DRAFT Name:________________________________ CONTENT Presenting Subject / 5 points

Proposed Causes or Effects

/ 10 points

Support for Conjectures / 20 points

“A” PAPER

“B” PAPER

“C” PAPER

“D/F” PAPER

Presents subject thoroughly and creatively, anticipating audience familiarity correctly; author chooses a significant trend, phenomenon or event and thoroughly proves its merit for examination.

Presents subject thoroughly, mostly anticipating audience familiarity; author chooses a recognizable trend, phenomenon or event and argues for its merit for examination.

Overall conjectures are compelling, clear and stated early in the paper; causes/effects are creative, yet plausible, convincing and soundly justified; reader is brought to new insight about subject being discussed

Overall conjectures are clear and stated early in the paper; majority of causes/effects are creative, yet plausible, convincing and soundly justified; reader may find new understanding about subject being discussed

Presents reasonably significant subject with little depth; somewhat shows a degree of audience awareness; subject is questionable as a relevant trend, phenomenon or event; some suggestion for meriting examination Overall conjectures are clear and stated early in the paper; causes/effects are questionable or non-arguable; author spends too much time describing rather than arguing to convince reader of plausibility; Little insight is brought to the reader about the subject

Develops and supports judgment masterfully through relevant research, effective examples and sound logic; skillfully uses a variety of expert evidence to support conjectures

Develops and supports judgment through many effective, relevant details, examples and sound logic in key places of the paper; uses a variety of evidence in discerning ways

Subject background missing; displays little to no awareness of audience familiarity; trend, phenomenon or event is unclear and/or lacks substance for discussion; argument for examination is weak or nonexistent Majority of conjectures are vague or confusing / does not appear early enough; causes/effects are not speculative or plausible; arguments are not argued well or convincingly or are weakly justified; reader is left confused or without any new understanding of subject Weak development and support: lacks reasons, contains irrelevant details, ineffective examples or logic is generally faulty; evidence is overall unconvincing or isn’t used in key places of argument

Develops and supports judgment through some relevant details and examples, one or two instances of faulty logic; relies too much on one type of evidence or uses research in noneffective ways. Misses opportunities to use helpful research

Counterargument Anticipates all / 20 points

Writer’s Credibility / 20 points

WRITING Style / 5 points

Organization / 15 points Unity/Coherence / 10 points

Avoid the following:

Anticipates most major counterarguments and alternative judgments; refutes or accommodates objections with valid explanation though research would help

Anticipates some major counterarguments and alternative judgments; refutes or accommodates objections to some degree though writer’s tone is weakly convincing.

Overlooks major counterarguments and alternative judgments; only mentions objections within paper, but lacks ability to change opponent’s objection

Convincingly knowledgeable of subject; uses mostly reasonable tone and fair language consistently; judgment is mostly sound and balanced

Establishes some sense of knowledge of subject; uses somewhat reasonable tone and fair language; judgment is somewhat balanced

Knowledge of subject is questionable; uses unreasonable tone and unfair language throughout the essay; judgment is generally unbalanced and/or uncreative

“A” PAPER

“B” PAPER

“C” PAPER

“D/F” PAPER

Writing is superior to collegiate-level in content, arrangement and style, showing rich variety and elegance in its sentence structures and word choices Unified and consistent pattern of organization with an apt introduction, graceful transitions and a vigorous conclusion Entire essay demonstrates coherence and unity; essay has a controlling and sustained sense of purpose & an exceptionally mature level of thought

Writing is more than merely adequate for collegiate-level work, showing some variety and elegance in its sentence structures and word choices

Writing is adequate for the collegiate level but shows little variety and elegance in its sentence structure and word choices

Writing is not adequate for the collegiate level; no variety or elegance in its sentence structure; word choice is generally bland and cliché

Unified pattern of organization with an introduction, transitions and conclusion

Displays a pattern of organization with a distinguishable beginning, middle and end

Lacks a distinguishable sense of order to the content: no beginning, middle or end discernable

Entire essay demonstrates coherence and unity; has a controlling sense of purpose and mature level of thought for the most part

With only a few exceptions, essay demonstrates unity and coherence; has some sense of controlling purpose

Also:

Overall essay lacks unity and coherence between sections; purpose of essay is nearly or completely indistinguishable; lacks maturity of thought

-Past tense references (no “we ran”…write “we run” etc.)

*Keep your paper in the present tense!

Essay averages 3 errors per page in usage and punctuation rules covered thus far in the course (including spelling)

Essay averages 4 or more errors per page in usage and punctuation rules covered thus far in the course (including spelling)

major counterarguments and alternative judgments; refutes or accommodates objections smoothly and creatively, citing supportive research if needed Convincingly an expert on subject; uses reasonable tone and fair language consistently throughout the entire essay; judgment is sound and balanced

(I, we, us, you, etc.) -First & Second person references

Mechanics # of countable errors:

Essay averages 1 error or fewer per page in usage and punctuation rules covered thus far in the course (including spelling)

Essay averages 2 errors per page in usage and punctuation rules covered thus far in the course (including spelling)

100/ 100 ( ) – Comments: Having seen your 2nd draft leading up to this one, I was excited to see the finished product….Bravo! A job well done! You have been a 2

phenomenal student for 15 weeks, and your leadership was Pauline as your encouragement was Barnabas-like. Way to go! I. Quiz #1 Topics Topics

II.Quiz #2

Apostrophe Comma Comma Splice

Semicolon Fragment Run-on

Colon

Quotation

Sentence Marks Hyphen Italics

III. Quiz #3 Topics Topics

IV.

Quiz #4

Dangling Modifier

Adjective

Misplaced Modifier

Adverb

Agreement

Case

Carol Kinney Student ID # 928059 December 11, 2009 Wake Up and Get out of Bed, American Christians! Christians in the United States of America are in for a rude awakening. True!They are guilty of apathy for persecution for their Christian brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. War is waged against fellow Christians each and every moment, and American Christians sleep peacefully in their nice warm beds of earthly comforts, without overwhelming concern or resounding battle cries to respond to the needs of the persecuted. Unless a great awakening from this lethargic state occurs, the result will be Christ responding in kind, saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;I never knew you; go away from me, you evil doersâ&#x20AC;? (Matt. 7:23, New Revised Standard Edition of the Bible). Time

will soon come when Christ will no longer tolerate such a pitiful lack of concern for brothers and sisters and strip the covers off American Christians, leaving them cold and alone. The underlying cause of this deep slumber is that American Christians simply cannot identify with what is not happening to them, due to their conformity to worldly materialism. I think about this every Christmas…why do I buy stuff that my kids don’t need for them? Why don’t I have the guts to go out and give that money / those presents to kids who need them? American Christians not only ignore the pleas of their fellow Christians, but of Jesus Christ. He warns “If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own” (John 15:19a). American Christians are just that; Americans first and Christians last. The American culture has infiltrated the Christian camp and Satan, the enemy of God, is rejoicing that he cleverly deceives God’s chosen people. The American culture is one that is deeply rooted in ambitious materialism, which is typically known as “The American Dream”. Matthew Warshauer, Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University writes this, “Traditionally, Americans have sought to realize the American dream of success, fame and wealth through thrift and hard work. However, the industrialization of the 19th and 20th centuries began to erode the dream, replacing it with a philosophy of ‘get rich quick’ (Warshauer, M., 2003). It is this materialistic mentality that can be linked to a number of causes for American apathy toward persecution. American Christians are increasingly accepting this mentality as their false gospel. Prosperity gospel messages jump on the “get rich quick” bandwagon and promise that the secret to happiness is found within the cultural ideals of the United States, rather than the Bible. In the year 2000, Bruce Wilkinson writes a small book entitled The Prayer of Jabez. The entirety of this book is about one small verse, spoken from a man who is only mentioned in three verses

throughout the entire Bible. The subject of the book is 1 Chronicles 4:10, “Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me and that you would keep me from hurt and harm!’” Wilkinson interprets this to mean that it is good for Christians to be bold enough to ask God to reward them with blessing of riches. The Prayer of Jabez website touts knowledge of “The secret of Christian financial freedom”, and that Christian business owners can “Enlarge the territories of your business” (www.thejabezprayer.com). Taking this one little verse from the entire Bible and twisting it to mean that God wants to give everything that is wanted, is truly a false gospel. Any Christian, who reads the Bible, knows that the gospel message is not about expanding human boundaries and increasing earthly riches. This is in direct opposition to scripture which encourage the expansion of God’s Kingdom (Luke 9:60b) and “the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things…choke the word”, therefore resulting in “nothing” (Mark 4:19). Yet, even for those who read scripture, knowledge does nothing to prevent the printing of over eleven million copies of The Prayer of Jabez, and even entice children and teens with editions designed specifically for them. This results in a whole new generation of Christians who are seeking earthly riches, as opposed to “treasure in heaven” (Luke 12:33). Prosperity gospel does not stop at little books. There are a whole slew of popular American evangelical preachers who preach the same false message as Wilkinson. American Christians are enticed by reasoning that may sound Biblical to the untrained ear. Joyce Meyer, evangelistic television and radio “star” and author of many books, is quoted as, "Why would He (God) want all of his people poverty stricken while all of the people that aren't living for God have everything? I think it's old religious thinking, and I believe the devil uses it to keep people from

wanting to serve God” (Smith & Tuft, 2003, last para.). It is this reasoning that most American Christians love to believe; that God’s people should be rich here on earth, to ease their consciences about coveting all the treasures that the world has to offer instead of heaven’s treasures. This prosperity gospel is in direct violation of Jesus’ command to “Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me” (Luke 18:22b). Instead American Christians are likened to the rich man of whom Jesus says “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God”(Luke 18:24, 25). One reason that so many American Christians are willing to forsake heavenly treasure for worldly prosperity is fear. Fear of the failing economy lead them to seek relief from financial burdens. Fear of losing safe comfortable lives leads them to forsake caring for their persecuted brothers and sisters in other lands. Meyer asks “Why would God want all of his people poverty stricken?” is a misleading question. If God does not want all of his people poverty stricken, what can be said of the estimated one-hundred million (opendoorsusa.org, 2009) Christian men, women and children that are persecuted and left destitute around the world? The key word in Meyer’s comment is all. Meyer’s intends to say that God does not want American Christians to be poverty stricken, but it is fine for the rest of His children in other parts of the world. And persecuted these Christians are! Open Doors, an international ministry which supports and strengthens persecuted Christians in over forty-five countries worldwide for over fifty-four years, publishes a “World Watch List” of the fifty national culprits of the persecution of Christians. North Korea is the number one persecutor for the seventh consecutive year. Seven long years pass and a majority of American

Christians sit idly by while fifty to seventy-thousand of North Korea’s four-hundred thousand believers are in labor camps or are secretly executed every year. China is another firm believer of persecuting Christians. While China recently falls from the “top ten” list of worst offenders of Christian persecution to number twelve, the only improvement is that no Christians are reported to have been kidnapped or murdered. There is still pressure, imprisonment and torture of Christians in China. The reason for a slight improvement on the plight of Chinese Christians is not creditable to American Christians coming to the rescue. Out of fear that its economy will suffer if there are no Olympics, China decides to lighten the sanctions on Christians in their country. American materialism infiltrates even a communist country. While some groups do call for a boycott of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the overwhelming Christian response is to bury heads in the sand. In 2007, an internet based petition is circulated to ban these games, in which only 495 people sign this particular petition. Fred Ricketts, a British citizen and author of the petition, writes this in conclusion, “Thank you to all those people that signed the petition, and were concerned about what is happening around the world today. Unfortunately nothing came of this petition, because in a way we have the same sort of Government that acts in the same way as foreign governments, only interested in what they want and money” (www.gopetition.com, 2009). The United States is surely at the top of the list of “foreign governments” in whom he refers to. A majority of the other fifty countries on the “World Watch list” for persecuting Christians are ruled by Islamic Law, with two of them in a region that is extremely familiar to Americans. The United States is currently in military conflict with Iran and Afghanistan (infoplease.com, 2007, para. 21, 22), whom are number three and four on the list, respectively. America’s conflict with these nations has little to do with the violation of Christian rights, however. Walter

Owensby, author of Economics for Prophets (1988) and member of Churches for Middle East Peace, has the opinion that “important U.S. principles of international policy such as human rights and progress toward democracy are applied only selectively in the Middle East.” (Owensby, W., n.d., para. 21-25). Selective involvement in human rights in the Middle East is attributed to two factors: money and oil, in other words American greed, selfishness and materialism. According to Owensby, the United States’ involvement in the Middle East is to protect the $5.2 billion dollars in foreign aid to Israel and Egypt, in addition to $500 million in private gifts from unidentified American sources. American weapons manufactures also hold a financial interest in maintaining conflict in the Middle East, to the tune of $1.8 billion per year. That is a lot of money to protect one thingoil. Former United State Senator and Vice President, John McCain responds to a question about the United States’ involvement in the Middle East on Larry King Live in 1992. “In the Middle East, my friend, as long as the world's oil resources come from that area of the world, we have to be vitally involved" (www.democraticunderground.com, 2008). Materialism is responsible for United States involvement, and the dollar amount is staggering. “Iraq has 115 billion barrels of known oil reserves. That is more than five times the total in the United States…A mere two thousand wells have been drilled across the entire country; in Texas alone there are a million. It has been estimated, by the Council on Foreign Relations, that Iraq may have a further 220 billion barrels of undiscovered oil; another study puts the figure at 300 billion. If these estimates are anywhere close to the mark, US forces are now sitting on one quarter of the world’s oil resources. The value of Iraqi oil, largely light crude with low production costs, would be of the order of $30 trillion at today’s prices. For purposes of comparison, the projected total cost of the US invasion/occupation is around $1 trillion” (Holt, J., 2007).

Oil is important to American citizens. The United States needs to remain involved in the Middle East because of the addiction that Americans have with toys that need oil in which to operate. While Americans do not make the “World Watch List” in any ranking, they can be extremely proud of ranking number one in the number of aircraft departures and having the most cars per one-hundred people (765), than any other nation in the world (www.nationmaster.com, n.d.) This does not speak for all the other “toys” Americans “need” to survive such as motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, all of which requires a substantial amount of oil to operate. By requiring so many machines that operate on oil, American Christians are sending a message to the world that screams of unconcern for their brothers and sisters in the Middle East who are persecuted in extreme ways. Never mind that there is persecution happening in the Middle East, as long as there is oil there that will power all the “toys.” Direct materialism is the biggest cause of American Christian apathy; fear of the unknown and general fear is an offshoot of that greed. Since American Christians are accustomed to comfortable, not confrontational living, they do not know what it is to be persecuted for one’s religious beliefs. When people are not familiar with situations, the first reaction is to ignore the fear with hope that it will disappear. Fear brings anxiety, thus avoiding fears eliminates the anxiety. (www.healthninemsn.com.au, 2006) For any Christian who stumbles upon even the smallest bit of information about the horrors committed against their brothers and sisters in other nations, this invokes an overwhelmingly sense of guilt, shame, and fear. Those emotions are not desirable to most people and are avoided at cost, but the cost of ignoring the needs of fellow believers is high for American Christians. American Christians are likened to the church in Laodicea in the book of Revelation. “For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked” (3:17). Jesus

says of such materialistic people that “I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (3:16). The spewing is beginning. Christian values, in which America is founded, are becoming obsolete in the United States, while American Christians unsurprisingly sit idly by. They are not only guilty of ignoring the plight of believers in other nations due to materialism, but are ignoring the growing trends to turn away from Christ in the United States, as well. On September 25, 2009 the first ever American “Jummah Prayer Capitol Hill” (islamoncapitolhill.com, 2009) is held, which is an opportunity for thousands of Muslims “to pray for the soul of America.” The official website for this event promises to accomplish five tasks “in the name of Allah.” Task five is the one that all American Christians need to be most ashamed of for slumbering away while it is occurring. “The peace, beauty and solidarity of Islam will shine through America's capitol.” Instead of thousands of Christians gathering on the steps of the Capitol to pray for the “soul of America”, this task is done by Muslims. Christians are not displaying the peace, beauty and solidarity of Christianity. They are too busy working for the prosperity gospel to pay attention to what is happening under their noses. If it does not affect their wallets, then it is not worthy to get out of their materialistic beds long enough to notice. No wonder Jesus spits American Christians out as if they are unsatisfying lukewarm water. The President of the United States, a so-called confessing Christian, does nothing to lead this nation away from its materialism and toward God’s kingdom. Financial gains from his election campaign affect his view of what it means to be a Christian. In a separate, but related event, in May 2009 President Obama refuses to hold a National Day of Prayer service at the White House. The National Day of Prayer is held on the first Thursday every May since 1952 and

“Exists to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, to create appropriate materials, and to mobilize the Christian community to intercede for America's leaders and its families. The Task Force represents a Judeo Christian expression of the national observance, based on our understanding that this country was birthed in prayer and in reverence for the God of the Bible” (www.ndptf.org, n.d. para. 3). On May 7, 2009, Johanna Neuman, a former White House correspondent, writes about the President’s lack of support for the National Day of Prayer. “Obama…the first president to mention non-believers in an inaugural address when he said, "For we know that our patchwork heritage is strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and non-believers” (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com). Not only is the president overly considerate of other religions, he has won the support of atheists with his lack of support for the National Day of Prayer. Neumann quotes the spokesman for American Atheists in the same article. "It's not his job to tell people to pray. We are very happy he did away with the George W. Bush-era celebrations and party, but we wish he wouldn't do it at all.” Not only does the president seek the approval from people of all religions, he apparently has the support of atheists. President Obama has a lot to lose if he speaks out against other religions, in favor of Christianity. During the 2008 Presidential elections, ninety-five percent of all American Muslims vote in the election, with eighty-nine percent of the votes going to Obama (Ali, L., 2008 para. 2). Despite political analysts’ fears that overwhelming American Muslim support for Obama will cost him dearly with the American Jewish voters, seventy-eight percent vote for Obama (Stanley, M.,2008, para. 8). According to Dr. Paul Kengor, “at least 11 million (generally) non-religious voters” (2008, para.2) give Obama their vote. At a cost of between $7.23 and $14.81 in which Obama spends on media buys to win each vote, and that adds up to a lot of money. So much in fact, that it is too much for him to waste on standing up for the Christian faith that he claims to

adhere to (Falsani, C. 2004, para.7). In an interview of Obama by Falsani, Obama is quoted as saying “I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people” (par.8). President Obama obviously is very confused as to what the definition of “rooted in the Christian tradition” actually means and is allowing his wallet to control his thoughts. Sadly, so much is lost for the sake of money, money, money! The President may be lost in materialism, but at least he recently gains the Noble Peace Prize. The committee for the prize submits this comment on their website, “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population” (www.nobelprize.org, 2009, para 3). Since sixty-seven percent of the world’s population is not Christian (www.adherants.com, 2007, pie graph), this is yet another way the president forsakes his Christian roots for materialistic gains. Everything that Obama accomplishes is a direct result of his conformity to earthly values, rather than to God’s. While the wounds of God’s people are treated carelessly and there is no peace for them, the president is saying loud and clear for the whole world to hear, “Peace, peace” (Jer.6:14). President Obama is lost to the world’s standards of success and peace, forsaking the very Christian roots he claims to have. In the end, the only thing that he will have to show God is his own earthly accomplishments. This is the man that American Christians sadly look to for leadership on this earth. While so many American Christians, including the President of the United States, are sleeping peacefully, it is with great error to claim that every single Christian in America is apathetic to persecution and possesses worldly materialistic views. There are several ways that many are

responding to the pleas of help from their persecuted brothers and sisters, both financially and prayerfully. While these are encouraging signs, there is still much more progress needed. American Christians are just not responding to the cries for help from the persecuted en masse. Christian missional organizations exist in the United States for the purpose of informing America about persecution and coming to the aid of the persecuted. Open Doors International, Voice of the Martyrs, Christian Freedom International and International Christian Concern are among many whom are supported by American and other Christians, world-wide. The universal plea from each organization is that while monetary support is wonderful and helpful, the one desire of the persecuted is that they are not forgotten in prayer. This request spurs missional organizations to initiate International Day of Prayer (IDOP) in 1996; a day of prayer in November set aside to focus on concerns of the persecuted church. Out of the roughly 335,000 Christian congregations in the United States (hirr@hartsem.edu, 2005) very few respond to the call to collectively pray for brothers and sisters, which costs nothing but time, and only one day per year, at that. Since 1996, just a little more than 100,000 congregations world-wide join IDOP (Bos, Stefan J. 2008, para. 1). There is no conclusive data that supports how many of the 100,000 are American churches, but even if they are all American that still means that only onethird of all congregations respond. The data is also insufficient to determine how many of those congregations respond more than once, which makes the number of different congregations even less than 100,000. Realistically, the number of American congregations who join IDOP is most likely less than half that figure.1American Christians obviously do not want to give up their time or their money, shedding a whole new light on the old clichĂŠ â&#x20AC;&#x153;time is money.â&#x20AC;?

This speculation is merely used by the author as hyperbole.

Others are supporting the persecuted by writing books and making them available, not just in Christian bookstores, but also mainstream American bookstores. D.C. talk, a popular Christian band, writes a series called Jesus Freaks that helps support Voice of the Martyrs. Open Doors’ founder, Brother Andrew, who is not American but deserves attention due to the availability of his writings in America, publishes Secret Believers (2007) to inform the public of Christian converts from Muslim backgrounds. While both of these are popular, they are no Prayer of Jabez in the sales rankings. Jesus Freaks Volume 2 (2002, also printed as Jesus Freaks Revolutionaries) ranks number 60,590 and Secret Believers ranks number 369,155 on Barnes and Noble’s website, while the fifth anniversary edition of The Prayer of Jabez holds a ranking of number 8,422. This indicates where the mindset of American Christians resides. One encouraging sign that Christians in America are beginning to awaken to the persecution occurring in other nations, is the existence of many blogging sites and online social networks found on the internet. People who access these sites find a number of other people starting dialogs about the atrocities of Christian persecution. Yet, with opportunities to gain information about persecuted, a sad state of reasoning for American Christians exists. The common perception is that persecution cannot happen in America, and in its current state this is true. The world will not persecute those of who belong to it. Several comments from a blog site reflect this mentality and materialism. Lance2 writes “This is the first time i learn about the Persecuted Church and i can not believe that this persecution still exist in this civilized world. In this case, I appreciate that our religion are majority in our country and we will not experience this matter” (2009). Lillie adds, “It’s so easy for us to become complacent because we are so blessed” and “You and I are blessed that we don’t suffer persecution.” While Lance’s and Lillie’s concern is 2

First names are only used on this blog site and no correction has been made to improper uses of grammar. These are not a reflection of this essay’s author’s grammar.

commendable, they are obviously not aware of the fact that if Christians truly follow Christ, persecution will happen. Jesus is not ambivalent on this subject, for if a person is a true follower, “they will persecute you” (John 15:20b). American Christians are not “blessed” to not undergo persecutions, but just the opposite. As long as persecution does not regularly exist to a majority of American Christians, it is an indication that American Christians are sound asleep, while claiming to be living in the light of Christ. As long as American Christians prefer prosperity gospel over the true gospel, a stark reality remains. The American church cannot survive. Christian musician Keith Green sings in his song “Asleep in the Light”, “The world is sleeping in the dark, that the church just cannot fight, ‘cause it’s asleep in the light” (Green, K., 1990). In the second part of this verse, Green poses the following question that all American Christians need to be asking. “How can you be so dead, when you’ve been so well fed, Jesus rose from the grave, and you, you can’t even get out of bed.” Green is certainly correct in that American Christians are “asleep in the light.” Another entry from the same site Lillie and Lance use, Sam’s attitude reflects President Obama’s view that Christianity is no better than any other religion. He blogs “I think people in general, not just Christians are persecuted around the world. Buddhists in Thailand, Christians in India, Muslims in Israel, Jews also suffered greatly in the past. Let us pray for all people around the world that peace and justice prevails.” Christians should pray for all people around the world, but not in the manner in which Sam suggests. His sentiment is flawed in at least two ways. Jesus says that He is the only way in which to “come to the Father” (John 14:6). In this light, Christians need to pray that people, who worship other gods, accept Jesus Christ as Messiah, as opposed to just

accepting other religions. Sam is also very wrong about Christians caring about other Christians over other people. The Apostle John asks, “We ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” Indeed, how can American Christians do this when Christ lay His life down for all God’s chosen people (1 Jn. 3:16, 17)? American Christians need to quickly repent of this sickening apathy that sprouts from greedy materialism and ignorance. They need to remember that no riches of this earth can compare to the riches in heaven. It is time that these Christians stop storing up treasures on this earth (Matt. 6:19a) and start striving for the kingdom of God (Matt 6:33). They need to be Christians first and Americans last. Christians in America need to wake up from their deep slumber, get out of the bed of materialistic greed and “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured” (Heb. 13:3). If these things do not occur, Christ is surely to proclaim “I never knew you; go away from me, you evil doers.” 4137 words References Ali, L. (November 7, 2008). Islam and Obama: american muslims overwhelmingly backed Obama. Newsweek. Retrieved on December 9, 2009 from www.newsweek.com. American transportation statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved on December 9, 2009 from www.nationmaster.com/graph/tra_mot_veh-transportation-motor-vehicles. Bos, Stefan J. (November 11, 2008). Millions pray for persecuted church. Christian Persecution Info. Retrieved on December 8, 2009 from www.christianpersecution.info.

Barnes and Noble. (n.d.). Sales rankings for three books. Retrieved on December 7, 2009 from www.barnesandnoble.com. Brettler, Marc Z., Coogan, Michael D., Newsome, Carol A., Perkins, Pheme (Eds.). (2001). The oxford annotated bible. New Revised Standard Edition (3rd Ed.). 1Chr. 4:10; 1 Jn. 3:16, 17; Heb. 13:3; Jer. 6:14; Jn. 14:6; 15:19a, 20b; Lk. 9:60b; 12:33; 18:22b, 24, 25; Matt. 6:19a, 33; 7:23; Mk. 4:19; Rev. 3:16, 17. New York: Oxford University Press. Brother Andrew & Janssen, A. (2007). Secret Believers. Grand Rapids, M.I.: Baker Pub. Group. Data on Neuman, J. (November 7, 2007). Retrieved on December 7, 2009 from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2007/11/johanna-neuman-.html. Falsani, C. (April 5, 2004). Obama: i have a deep rooted faith. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved on December 9, 2009 from www.suntimes.com/news/falsani/726619,obamafalsani040504.article. Fast Facts about American Religion. (2005). How many religious congregations are there in the united states? Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Retrieved on December 8, 2009 from http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html#numcong. Green, K. (1990). Asleep in the light. Lyrics. Retrieved on December 9, 2009 from www.lyricsfreak.com. Holt, J. (October 18, 2007). Background on iraqi oil. Retrieved on December 7, 2009 from www.oilempire.us/iraqoil.html. International day of prayer for the persecuted church. (November 2009). Blogging quotes from Lance, Lillie and Sam. A writers words, an editors eye. Retrieved on December 8, 2009 from lillieammann.com/2009/11/08. Islam on capitol hill. (2009). Retrieved on December 7, 2009 from www.islamoncapitolhill.com.

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