the world inside my head

Here's some pictures of me & my friend whitney....i thought they were fun...

In America, it is hard to distinguish Christianity from its social and cultural setting. It blends into the scenery. Many people assume that we live in a "Christian society." Obviously, the Christian church has no strong witness against society. In [a communist country], the situation is exactly the opposite. Christians there live under a political regime which makes a point of distinguishing itself from all religion, and which is grounded philosophically on atheism and materialism. The Church lives in a hostile social order. The result is that the weak Christians are weeded out, and the strong Christians are tremendously strengthened by adversity. ... Thomas C. Oden (b.1931) in Christian Advocate

So I read this today and wanted to share. i'll try to stay off of my own personal soapbox here...well maybe not...
while this is an older quote i feel it has relevance today...i'm sure that people don't necessarily deem America as a "Christian Society" but Christianity is interwoven into the fabric of our culture...that is undeniable...and that, is what many Christians find comforting and are fighting so desperately to maintain...yet i feel that this battle is fought needlessly...why are we trying so desperately to make the United States a "Christian Society"? Oh i'm sure that many would answer with the typical "because this country was founded upon Christian principles" line and i won't touch that issue here...but why do we fight so desperately to have our government and our society embrace our faith? other Christians around the world, like those spoken of in this quote, are not free as we are to worship and believe as we wish...they are, at the very least, ridiculed, and at the worst, killed...as Christians, they are the stronger ones...
why don't we teach our kids to pray in school - over their meal, around the flagpole, in group Bible Studies - and not constantly fight for legislation that will allow a prayer to be said over a loudspeaker once a day...why don't we learn and, better yet, exemplify the Ten Commandments rather than pitch a fit when the words are removed from a government building...and, while i believe with all of my heart that abortion should be illegal because it is murder, why don't we spend more time encouraging, loving, and befriending young, unwed mothers instead of waving signs around abortion clinics and lobbying Congress?
we will probably always be the weaker Christians because of the blessing of freedom we have in this country...but seriously...it almost embarrasses me...but before i get too haughty, i remind myself that i am part of the problem...