The world is going to hell, but we took a flag down

 One would have to be dead or living in a monastery to not be aware of the Confederate flag hysteria of the last few weeks. Because a killer had a Confederate flag in his possession and had racist ideas, the country went crazy trying to wipe the flag from the face of the earth. As I type this, Fox News is broadcasting the official removal of the flag from the Capitol building in Charleston.

  I have watched with disgust as online and other retailers caved to political correctness and mob mentality and stopped selling the flag. Amazon did but still sells a Communist flag and a terrorist flag... but no one cares about those, even though they have a worse and more recent ideology and killing attached to them than the Confederate flag. Insanity rules as the Dukes of Hazzard show is pulled, and plans made to dig up a general from a city park, among other crazy ideas.

  If you are of the opinion this is foolish and won't accomplish anything, and you dare to voice your disagreement, you are viewed as hateful, racist, a bigot, and more.... just for not bowing to the media and public opinion and being offended by something I am told I should be offended by. I think I had at least one person un-follow me on Facebook because I dared to have opinions different than everyone else. Never mind the endless list of things more important than a flag.

  I am so sick of the flag stuff that I am tempted to fly a Confederate flag and display it on my Facebook profile. Were it not for the fact that a couple of my friends may truly be offended by it and not because they were told to be offended, I just might have done that.

  I texted my best friend last night this "I am so sick of the confederate flag crap and people cheering like taking it down is some wonderful accomplishment. The country is a mess, most of the world is going to hell in a hand-basket, ISIS is killing Christians ...but we took a flag down."

  And it is true. The flag represented what people let it represent. There is so much more wrong in our country than a blasted flag that people seem to ignore. While we were having hysteria about a flag that has been around for over 150 years.....

ISIS killed 25 of our Christian brothers and sisters....but we took a flag down.

Illegal immigrants committed multiple crimes and a woman was killed by one... but we took a flag down.

The Supreme Court legalized marriage, helping to further cripple our freedoms and do harm to the family and children.....but we took a flag down.

Countless babies were aborted.....but we took a flag down.

There is a pastor being held in Iran......... but we took a flag down.

There is a marine being held in captivity.......but we took a flag down.

Countless women and children - and some men - were sold into sex trafficking.....but we took a flag down.

Countless souls dropped into an eternity without God.....but we took a flag down.

We are surrounded by hurting and broken people....but we took a flag down.

  If the same amount of energy and outrage was put into what really matters, imagine what could be accomplished.

  Are there people who truly were offended by the flag before they were told it was offensive? I am sure there were, but no one ever said anything in my circle of friends on or off line until it became the popular thing to go on the offensive about.

  It won't accomplish anything. It will make people have warm fuzzies for a while that they managed to eradicate a piece of cloth. And it actually worries me. If it is that easy for even intelligent people to be caught up in the mob mentality of banning a flag just because a few people are offended by it. If it could happen to a flag, it could happen to books, to the Bible, to anything. What I saw and learned was if enough people believe something is bad and offensive, and the media and politicians help whip up the hysteria and fervor....something that is pretty insignificant to most people can be banned and there is no end in sight of the ridiculousness.

  Just by posting my opposing viewpoint may cost me friends, or cause others to stop following me. If a differing view on a piece of cloth is that much more important to them than I am, then that is OK. They can harbor their warm fuzzies for taking part in the flag hysteria and helping in Stalinist-like mentality, and I'll still be the same me I was before the flag hysteria hit.

   I am actually a bit worried about how easy and fast our country was turned against a flag. If enough politicians and media can exploit a tragedy like they did here, who knows what could be banned. Next up could be the American flag, or "In God We Trust" on our money, or "under God" in the pledge to our flag. The Bible could be banned, or Christianity. It may sound far fetched, but there is a lot happening in our country we never thought would happen here, and with our increasingly godless government and a media who hates Christianity, who knows what could happen.

  If you look at history, socialists and communists did things like banning a flag. There have been times in history when their was a cleansing of certain books and people, and whether people will admit it or not, this flag stuff reeks of that same attitudes that banned the Bible and other books in the past..... and many Christians are cheering the flag's removal.

  And lest I try to cast stones and appear sinless, may God also help me to focus on what is important, and not channel all of my energy on things that really don't matter in the light of eternity. And may I not be so quick to un-follow those or be overly critical of those who have a different viewpoint than me.