You give God a bad name

Shot to the heart and you're to blame, darling you give God a bad name, cue the guitar, and drum triplets....

The imprisoned missionaries in Haiti is our subject today, and the fact that everyone knows you are missionaries, from a church sets the stage for your purpose in Haiti. We get it, they get it, but you did something wrong, and are going to get it if you do not hurry up and GET IT......GOT IT?

Listen, I understand that some people feel compelled to speak openly about their faith. I believe in God and Jesus. I also believe in the power of not saying it all when you are behind bars with a camera in your face in a foreign country where it appears to them, that you were stealing their kids. I also believe that by not acknowledging that you made a mistake, or a bad choice, and openly claim on the world stage that "God will set us free" you are #1 putting all your eggs in one basket! #2 you are hoping that God will take time out of his already busy schedule to work a miracle for you. #3 You make the rest of us that believe in God look like extreme nut jobs.

God gave us the ability to exercise free will! God gave us the ability to choose good or evil! God gave us common sense, well some of us!

Like I say to my son when he is out of line "zip it, zip your lips".
Do not let people who are trying to abolish freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, to use this as ammunition for their cause. Simply acknowledge we made a mistake, and had the best of intentions, however we clearly missed one of the documents needed in order to complete our mission, and for that we are sorry.

See we live in a 24/7 media state, and things get blown out of proportion quickly, so do not add fuel to your own fire, by becoming a 10 second misrepresented news fragment!

When you have people that say God made me do this, and God made me do that it allows those that do not believe in God or a God to build their case against God! You know what you believe, and your friends and family know what you believe, is that not enough?

If I ran into a burning building to save other human beings, do I later say I did it for God, or would I simply say I could not stand by and not do anything?

I will be the first to tell you what I feel, and in the right setting, I will also be the guy that gives you the Zip it hand gesture when the time is not right. I am not saying that you should not be open about your faith, I'm simply saying that sometimes "less is more".

When or if we get into a battle over religion, and the destruction of it I will be fighting next to you or against you in the name of God. Until that time comes, I will simply continue to be me, and try to do the best I can everyday, fully knowing how I got here, and by who.

I suggest to all people of all faiths to treat your religion like a child, and protect it from the bad guys. Keep it safe, do not be afraid to have pride in it, but keep it guarded so nobody can take it away from you.

Here in America we have all of these freedoms, and in other countries, we do not! When you are in a foreign country, be careful what you say, because you are not in Kansas anymore Dorothy!

See you
Norm