Why So Expensive?

Hello there, this article is a continuation of my last one, so this one may be a little shorter than most.

So one of the biggest questions/complaints I hear when people talk about organic food is the price of organic food. "I'd buy organic if it didn't cost so much" or "Why does organic have to cost so much?". Here is my answer to you:

When you go and and buy a TV, what do you buy? Do you buy a Sony or a Daewoo? If you buy a Sony, you usually buy it because it's a good name brand, right? But why do you buy a Sony? Sony's are great products: they're reliable, they're made to last, the quality is great, and so on. But you're not going to buy a Daewoo, right? You're probably asking yourself, "What the heck is a Daewoo?". 

My point to all this is, yes organic brands aren't as popular, but wouldn't you rather pay more for the better option than to pay less for the crappier one? With TVs, you're pleasing yourself, obviously, but food; food is the most important thing for your body. Why would you want to go the cheaper unhealthy route when you wouldn't get a crappy cheap TV? 

Also, there are a lot of fake organic out there, but I can help you see past those. The real organic will have a little white and green sticker on it that says USDA ORGANIC. Those are the REAL organic foods. There are a lot of other healthy foods that will say NON-GMO on them, those are good as well, but not as healthy as the real thing. However, if you're new at changing your eating habits for the better, I'd suggest taking it slow for now and just start choosing NON-GMO labeled food. 

I say this because your body is so used to the sugars and other added ingredients of the food you usually consume each day, that when you eat something that's actually organic. It won't taste good to you, but if you take it one step at a time. You'll get there and it will taste good. 

Thanks for reading my article! Please comment below if you have any questions or if you would like to share your opinion!   

Don't Be Afraid Of Natural And Organic

Hello everyone, I know it's been quite some time since my last article - been pretty busy. A few days ago I was talking about some organic cures instead of taking medicine. And everyone told me that I'm crazy and that I shouldn't listen to scams... but here's my argument:

Why does everyone think that organic and natural are scams? They're not. They are far, far from it. To all my Christian friends, I say this to you. Think about it this way: God created fruits and vegetables, right? Why wouldn't fruits and vegetables, a.k.a. natural and organic foods, heal you when you're feeling sick? God made these from His bare hands - no human created it, GOD did. Doesn't it make sense to you that the food and water that God created would make you feel better if you consumed it? It makes sense to me.

Well, now you're probably saying, "Well, God created medicine too." Technically, yes, He did. However, man has always had a sinful nature, whereas God never has. God may have given people the wisdom to create medicine, but think about it - these are the same people who have killed, stole, pillaged, etc.. Why would you trust man and not God?

If medicine is supposed to help you - then why does it have side effects like "May cause death." labeled on it? You do realize that someone or something took that pill and died after taking it - I know this to be true, because they wouldn't put it on the bottle otherwise. They are forced to put the actual side effects on the bottles. I've seen side effects ranging from "May cause death" to "Thoughts of suicide" to "Vomiting" and etc.. Haven't you ever wondered why all these side effects are on a bottle to relieve pain or whatever you're taking it for? Why does medicine, which you're told makes you feel better, why would it hurt you along the way? Why would you even want to take it?

Something interesting I found, a quote from William Osler. He was described as the Father of Modern Medicine. He said this, "One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine."

Now, you're probably saying something like, "Well, if organic is the way to go, then why don't doctors prescribe it?" Because the pharmacies won't make any money if they did. Pharmacies don't grow food - farmers do. Why would the doctors prescribe natural medicine, they're not going to make any money off it.

I read an article on REALfarmancy.com a few days ago, it was about a woman who had cancer. She drank freshly juiced carrot juice for twice a day for one year and by the time the next year - her cancer was gone. Now for some reason a lot of people were like, "Oh, that's a scam!" Okay, think what you wish... but would you rather drink carrot juice or go through chemo? Chemo is the worst way to go. Why would you want to go through Chemo? It drains your life and kills half of your cells - the cancer ones, yes, but also the cancer free ones. Don't write off all organic cures, at least give them a try before you push them aside.

Just think about all the fruits and vegetables that you already know help you: Carrots help your eyes by increasing the blood flow to them. A tomato is good for your heart - they are loaded with Lycopine, which is basically heart and blood food. Walnuts are actually good for your brain - they help develop more than three dozen neuro transmitters to enhance brain functions. And beans help heal and maintain kidney functions.

Here are some organic foods that have been proven to help you:

Garlic - erases earaches.
Turmeric - tames chronic pain.
Ginger - helps relieve muscle and joint pain.
Peppermint - relaxes painful muscles.
Cloves - cures a toothache.
Horseradish - heals sinus problems.

Also two of my favorite organic products are Organic Coconut Oil and Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Both of these can do tons and tons of amazing things. I'll let you look it up. Just Google these two amazing things and see what they can do for you!

You can find out more on REALfarmancy.com

Thank you for reading my article, I hope after reading this - you won't think that natural and organic are scams.

Please comment below!

Stepping Into Christianity: How The Media Portrays Us

Good afternoon, this is my first article of a new series that I will be writing. In a lot of my past articles I've mainly focused on politics, the food system, and a mixture of foreign and domestic affairs. I will still be writing those as I continue my new series - Stepping Into Christianity.

In this new series I will be discussing an assortment of different topics, but my main focus, obviously, is Christianity. Before I get started on this particular article, I'd like to tell you a little about my faith with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and a little about my upbringing as well - just to let you know where I'm coming from.  

I was saved at a young age not really knowing or understanding what I had just done. I remember sitting at my kitchen table with my mom, she was explaining to me about Jesus and how He died for me. At the time, I didn't fully understand what she was talking about - perhaps I was too young to comprehend it, but I listened intently nonetheless. But it wasn't until high school where I officially accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.

Throughout elementary, I kind of just followed the crowd, thinking I was a Christian. When I reached junior high, there were a lot more temptations that I had to deal with. During this period of my life is when I realized what Christianity truly was and I accepted Jesus as my Savior. After doing so, I felt like a great burden was lifted and I was a much happier person. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true.

High School was a difficult time in my life, I was bullied for a part of it and it was definitely a tough period of my life, but I was so thankful to have Christ watching over me all the way through it. Knowing He was there protecting me and looking out for me, made my life a lot easier. Obviously, I still had rough patches here and there like every other teenager, but I knew I'd get through it because I remembered Philippians 4:13 ~ "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

I grew up in a Christian home and attended a Non-denominational church my entire life. I also attended a Baptist school my entire life as well. It was a private school, so it was relatively smaller than most other schools. Actually, my graduating class only had eight students, so that should give you a pretty clear picture of just how small my school was.

My school was considered to be an Independent Fundamental Baptist school which like most IFB schools, it had some pretty strict rules much like the many other IFB schools and colleges. I'm not going to go much into this topic today, but I will dig deeper into it in later articles.

In this article, I'd like to focus on how the media portrays us Christians. In an earlier article that I wrote, I mentioned a little bit about this subject. If you'd like to read that article, it is titled: America IS A Christian Nation.

Have you ever noticed on a TV show or a movie that the religious characters are ALWAYS portrayed as the crazy, hypocrite ones? I can honestly think of almost every single show that I have ever watched and recall an episode describing this exactly. Let me give you a few examples.

The Glades: In an episode of this show, the main character, Jim, inspects the death of a man in a church. The body is found in the pulpit - which happens to be a glass chest full of venomous snakes. The pastor of the church  believes that if you are bitten by the snakes and you live - you are protected by the Holy Spirit. If you are bitten and you die, well then I guess you weren't. The catch here, however, is that all the snakes have had the venom extracted from them - making their bite harmless. And making the pastor a complete scam.

Now obviously that plot is ridiculous. And practically every Christian knows that theory is ludicrous. Although I'm sure there is someone out there who probably believes in that sort of thing... clearly that person is lost. But things like the plot of this episode make non-believers believe that Christians are crazy like this and obviously we are not.

Another example, Supernatural: There's an episode where Sam and Dean attend a church service in order for Dean to get healed by a "miracle pastor". After the pastor heals Dean, they discover that in order for them to heal, a reaper must take the life of another person. This other person the reaper kills is someone who has committed a great sin, according to the pastor's wife. She chooses the person for the reaper to target and when the reaper takes the life of that person, the pastor is able to heal the sick person with the life they had just taken. The pastor believes he has the power to heal and doesn't know the truth. The pastor's wife, however, believes she is doing God's will by punishing or in this case killing the wicked in order to heal the good. They list the reasons for the deaths of the chosen victims - one was a homosexual, one person was a drug user, and the list goes on.

So in this episode along with dozens of other shows, news channels, and movies tells non-believers that Christians hate homosexuals and think they should be killed. Except this is not how we feel at all. God specifically tells us to love your neighbor as yourself. We may not support or condone homosexuality, but we would never wish death on them or anyone who commits any sin.

The last TV example I'd like to share is from The Big Bang Theory: Sheldon's mother is a Southern Baptist - very strong in her faith. I respected the show because they made her a strong Christian mother. Her husband died a long time ago, but she remained strong in her faith. I was very pleased with how they displayed her character until in a later season when Sheldon witnesses his mother fornicating with a strange man. When Sheldon approaches her and calls her a hypocrite, I can't help but to agree with him... but why did they have to do this to her character? They made her into a hypocrite. Again causing all non-believers into believing that all Christians are just hypocrites.

I know that no one is perfect and that we all make mistakes. And everyone - even Christians fall to temptation, but why was it necessary to make the one and only Christian character on the show be the one to fall into temptation and give yet another reason for non-believers to not want to become a Christian.

I can give tons of more examples where Christians are mistreated in television, but I think you understand my point.

Another way the media mocks Christians, besides through TV shows and movies, is through Westboro Baptist Church. Westboro practically feeds the media lies about Christianity. What they do and say does NOT describe how Christians act and live nor do we believe in what they believe.

Westboro is the radical end of the Christianity spectrum. I honestly cannot even place them on the spectrum, their actions and methods are completely insane. They are not so much a church, but a radical protest group. Because of their actions, everyone including the media doesn't hesitate to mock and bash them and all Christians for that matter. Which in turn everyone sees this on the news and just figures if Westboro is like this then all Christians must be the same then.

A few examples of how Westboro has portrayed Christianity on the world: Protesting at military funerals - where the fallen soldier was a homosexual. And to make things even worse, the people of the church hold up signs that read: "God Hates Gays".

Okay, first off, causing a disruption at any funeral is very disrespectful - especially at a military one. Yeah, maybe we don't condone homosexuality, but that doesn't give anyone the right to protest at a military funeral where the person fought and died for this country. If you're in the military, no matter who you are, you've earned my respect. And if you die while fighting for this country, you deserve a so much more.

Second, God does NOT hate gays. He doesn't hate anyone. Homosexuality is a sin and He hates the sin, but He doesn't hate the sinner.

Westboro also protests at different concerts. They protested at a Lorde concert and at a Panic At The Disco one most recently. Both bands mocked them because of their protests, but Panic At The Disco really hit them hard. The band said that for every member of Westboro Baptist Church that shows up, we will donate $20 to the Human Right's Campaign. Although only 11 protesters showed up, the band still donated over $1000 anyway.

If you don't like someone's music, that's fine. Everyone has their own tastes. And yes, perhaps some music is vulgar. Obviously, I don't like music that is, but you can't protest at a concert and think that people will listen to you. It doesn't work that way. And with what Panic At The Disco did, they completely mocked them by donating money to a charity that Westboro probably hates... so what good did the protest do? None.

Westboro is making a mockery of Christianity and because of their stupidity, the media has taken advantage of the opportunity that so easily given to them and has used it to bash Christians all over the world.

If Westboro's mission is to witness to the world, they are going about it in the wrong way and that is an understatement. Not only are they going about it the wrong way, but they are making things a lot more difficult for the rest of the Christians in the world.

Unfortunately, there is not an easy way to stop the media from bashing us. Since that is what they do, that is what they have always done, and will continue to do. But we as Christians have to do our part in telling the world the truth about Christ and not the lies that the media conjurers up.

Thank you for reading my article! Please share, like, and comment below!  

What Is Actually The Best Energy Source?

Good afternoon, in this article I wish to discuss all the different energy sources involving vehicles.

I'm going to start off by saying, I do not believe that gas powered cars are ruining the ozone layer - in fact, nothing can ruin the ozone layers. It's been proven my scientists time and again. Also I do not believe in global warming nor do I believe in any other scam that Al Gore has created - Al Gore which by the way is being sued for his claims of global warming existing. Since they've proved that global warming doesn't exist at all.

Okay, let's move on to electric cars and such. Okay, electric cars are not a bad idea. Although, if you expect me to drive around in a SMART car, you obviously don't know me too well. Besides the fact that these cars have a problem with catching on fire easily and you know the obvious of being blown down by a blink of an eye... They look stupid. I'm sorry, there I said it. They look stupid. And you forget about me driving around in a Toyota Prius as well. Everyone thinks that the Toyota Prius is the answer to the environmental problems, saying it will help with the pollution of basically "going green." Although the Toyota Prius may have a an outlet for the electric power to run the car, it also has a gas tank. Yes, this car gets about 40 miles to the gallon which is pretty good considering, but if this car is supposed to the "car of the future" with "going green", why does it have to rely on a gas tank? Isn't the whole environmentalist theory supposed to be going ALL electric? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Now, if someone were to make an electric car that actually looked cool and actually had speed quicker than 0-60 eventually, I'd take it. Actually there is a car EXACTLY like that and if the prices of it would come down a bit, I may take one.

It's called the Fisker Karma. It's sleek design and sporty look makes it look not only like an awesome sports car and it has the horsepower that I'm looking for. With 200 hp and a top speed of 125 mph, and with 0-60 times at 6.3 seconds which is the same as a Dodge Avenger R/T. Which honestly isn't that great, but I'd still take it over any of the other options. But even as cool as this car is, I don't think I'm going to be cashing out $100,000 any time soon...

Although like every other electric car, it had problems with the engine catching on fire. And all were recalled, so even if I was very wealthy, I couldn't be able to purchase one anyway.

So with electric cars catching on fire and apparently gas cars are "ruining" the environment. What source of energy do we look toward? An excellent question. A question I'm not sure how to answer. The easiest solution I can think of is perhaps solar power?

Solar power is one of those things we can always count on. The sun will never die out or at least we hope it won't... but anyway, solar energy is a good solution, but I don't know about you. But I really don't want to drive around in a car with solar panels on the roof...so scratch that idea...

Then there's wind power.... I have NEVER been a fan of those atrocious wind farms going on for miles and miles ruining the landscape. Yes, they definitely ruin the landscape. Have you not seen them? Who wants to look out there window and see the beautiful Smoky Mountains, except you can't because a giant wind farm is blocking your view?

Another thing bad about these wind farms - which for some reason environmentalists don't see as an issue, those giant wind turbines kill bald eagles and bats as well. It's true, Google it. So the environmentalists wouldn't allow the construction of a highway because an endangered moth was in the middle of it, but they'll build these wind turbines and kill off our already endangered national bird?? Tell me how that makes sense. So wind power isn't the solution either, unless you're talking about hover cars, but even then I don't think a wind turbine would be the solution to that either.

So what is the solution? You tell me, please leave your comments below and thanks for reading my article!  

The Rising Threat In America

Good afternoon, when I first thought of this topic I wanted to write about ISIS, but this article isn't about that. I will write an article on the threat of ISIS soon though.

This article is about Ebola. I'm sure most of you have heard of this quickly spreading disease and how dangerous it has become if you are infected with it.

From what the doctors and scientists are saying, Ebola originated somewhere in Africa. A man flew from Africa to the United States and suddenly people began to become affected with the virus.

There is a very simple way to prevent this from spreading anymore than it already has, but apparently our government doesn't care because this solution is so simple that an elementary student could figure it out.

When anyone flies from another country into our own they need to be tested for Ebola right there in the airport before they leave and go out into the world. This would solve pretty much the entire problem altogether. Kind of like how they do the drug/weapon random screenings when you board the planes.

Another thing we can do is to help prevent this is to quarantine the affected patients who do have it to keep it from spreading like is already has been. I know in order to quarantine something like this would be really difficult for the families of the affected patients, but in order to stop it from spreading action must be taken to prevent it from infecting the rest of the country.

Symptoms of Ebola start within 2 days to 3 weeks from getting in contact with someone who has it. It starts out with symptoms like headaches, fever, muscle pain, and sore throat making it difficult to tell between Ebola and and the flu. But then vomiting, diarrhea, and a rash follows along with a decreased function of the livers and kidneys. Soon after people began to bleed internally as well as externally.

Hopefully our government will come to its senses and began to screen people flying into America from other countries and continue to quarantine them if they do have the virus as the scientists are hard at work trying to discover a cure for this awful disease.

Thanks for reading my article, I hope it has made you become more aware of this quickly spreading disease and please help raise awareness for the dangers of it as well. The American people need to know what's going on in our own country!

How I've Achieved A Healthier Diet

Good afternoon, this article is going to be a little bit different than all my previous ones. In this article, I will be sharing my experiences with eating healthier. I do want to add that I am not 100% eating healthy, but I am working towards it!

Like most of you probably reading this, I started out not really understanding the differences between eating healthy and actually eating healthy. Now that statement might not make any sense at first and it didn't make any sense to me either until only recently.

If you asked me a year ago, are you eating healthy? I would just say yes, because I thought I was eating healthy. I had sweets from time to time and I ate nice meals with my family and I wasn't one of those people who sits on the couch eating chips all day watching TV. I was thin and tall, so I appeared healthy as well.

My diet last year was the typical American diet. You know what I mean. I ate like everyone else did. Nothing over the top and from time to time I would enjoy the leafy foods as well. Just "normal" American foods.

This year I am very proud to say that my diet has improved. I'm not exactly where I want to be yet, but I'm taking a step by step route to reach my goal.

A few things I have improved on:

I have stopped drinking dairy milk all together and have been going strong for almost 4 months now. If you've read my previous articles on dairy milk and why it is unhealthy for you, you will understand this. I now drink soy milk and almond milk. Both very delicious. I was a little hesitant at first, but after trying both I was very pleased with them. The brand I buy is Silk because they are a non-GMO product.

I have cut back on pop or soda for all you west coast people. I used to be one of those people who drink like two cans a day - one for lunch and one for dinner. Pop has a lot of added sugars and other ingredients. I have only just begun this new step, but I am happy to say that I've gone a week so far with out any pop. Instead I drink water with all my meals, except breakfast then I drink either soy or almond milk. Now, like you, I asked the same questions myself before trying this. My question was, how can I drink water with foods like pizza or pasta? A lot of Italian foods for some reason really needed pop to wash them down with, but I never understood why. Water does the job wonderfully. Just think about water for a minute. Water is the only liquid that doesn't contain any added ingredients. It's just water - plain and simple.

The feeling you get when you feel the urge to drink pop with certain meals is because your body is used to having that extra shot of sweetness. Almost like a routine for your brain, but you don't actually need to drink pop with foods, but I'm not saying you shouldn't either. This is only my opinion of how I can stay healthy. But like I was saying, it's only because your body is used to it, but it doesn't mean that it's good for your body.

The third thing I've been improving on is I've been trying to eat healthier foods. I'm consuming much more fruits and vegetables, but not the kind with the added sugars and other artificial ingredients. A lot products will say natural fruits like for juices and such, but don't be deceived. Check the labels and the fine print. I'm trying my best not to anymore, but I used to buy a lot of Naked Juice, Minute Maid, Ocean Spray, and other products until I realized that many of them add a lot of different ingredients to them. So now I just stick with water. But getting back to my original point, I've been eating a lot more salads, vegetables, and fruits recently.

The thing I still want to accomplish is my hardest goal, cutting back on meats. Now I don't want to become a vegan, more just like a vegetarian who still eats meats, but just not all the time. I know this will be my hardest step, because I absolutely love meat and can't imagine myself not eating it, but I think I can start with lowering my intake of it. Perhaps by starting out as a every other day thing and then push it for once every few days and so on.

It was honestly pretty simple for me to give up dairy milk and it's been so far so good giving up pop as well. So I know I can accomplish my goals. I also want to add that I don't think there is anything wrong with eating meats, I just don't agree with how they go about to get them with the factory farms and such. If you're interested in learning more about the factory farms I just mentioned, check out my earlier article called Farms Don't Look Like They Used To.

Thanks for reading my article, I hope you enjoyed it. These are just some of the ways I have improved my diet and I hope it will give you some suggestions on eating healthier as well.

Please leave any comments below in the comment section!

NFL Recap: Seahawks vs. Packers - Week 1

Hey, I know it has been quite some time since my last blog and I apologize for that - I've been pretty busy recently. And I know this recap is like a week late, but I still wanted to share my thoughts on it. 

So let's begin...

This was by far the game of the week last week. The Superbowl champs - the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Green Bay Packers 36 to 16. This game's conclusion came as a surprise to many, but some expected it. 

I for one was thinking the game's final score would be closer even maybe with the Packers coming out on top. The Packers were an excellent team last season, but then again the Seahawks won the Superbowl.

I wanted to explain key reasons why the game ended with the score that it ended in. There are many things the Packers need to improve on. Let's start with a huge issue...

Defense. Specifically cornerbacks and safeties. When Russel Wilson would throw touchdown passes, where were the Packer's defensive players in the backfield? Those receivers were wide open and no one was even close by. If they want to stop deep touchdown passes - those corners and safeties need to step it up.

Julius Peppers. Now for those of you who don't know who Julius Peppers is, let me give you a little insight on his past career. Peppers is one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. He played on the Carolina Panthers for many years, then the Chicago Bears up until last year and this year he is on the Green Bay Packers. He has A LOT of sacks as a defensive tackle. So.... why would the Packers move him to linebacker?? Yes, he's got speed, but as a defensive tackle not as a linebacker! At linebacker, he's like three steps behind where he would be. There's only so much time they can have to rush a quarterback and especially a quarterback like Wilson - they have even less time. MOVE HIM BACK TO DEFENSIVE END! 

Receivers. All the Packers currently have are Jordy Nelson and Randle Cobb. Two good receivers, but not enough. Aaron Rodgers is an excellent quarterback - probably one of the best in the league. He needs more reliable targets to throw to. And only having two isn't enough. Yes, Eddie Lacy is in the backfield too, I know... but he's always getting injured, so you can't exactly count on him. Pick up another receiver or a tight end!

Eddie Lacy. Eddie Lacy is NOT a speed back. He is a power back. So stop giving him outside runs! He can't make it around the corner and pick up 10+ yards.... he's not Adrian Peterson! Every time they gave him outside runs, either he lost yardage, got stopped at the line of scrimmage, or only gained like a yard. Give him up the middle runs, he can plow a defensive line.  

For the Seahawks... not too much bad to say against them, except for special teams...

Earl Thomas. He needs to call the fair catch. That was just a bad judgement call on his part. He didn't call the fair catch, he fumbled the football, and the Packers scored on the following drive. 

Well, that about wraps up my recap of the game. I hope you enjoyed it, please leave your thoughts below in the comment section. Thanks for reading! 

What Happened To Friendly Debates?

Good afternoon, this article discusses the long gone friendly debates and focuses on the new "hate debates". And this article will also clarify what Conservatives and Christians, alike, believe in.

Do you remember a few years ago when a conservative and a liberal would have a debate? It wouldn't be heated and covered with hatred like it is today. No one plays by the rules anymore. People used to accept people's own opinions and would just discuss their opinions with each other. Yes, sometimes it would get defensive, but that was only because people really believed in what they believed in. 

Today, things are much different. A liberal will use anything they can to bash a conservative. I'm not saying all conservatives are angels either, but it's usually the liberals who take the cheap shots. Like if a conservative doesn't vote or like President Obama, the liberals call us "racists", but that isn't true. It's not that we don't like him because of his skin color, we don't like him because of his policies. He could be any skin color, and conservatives still wouldn't like him. It's not a matter of skin color. If it were, conservatives wouldn't support strong African-American men and woman like, Allen West, Condoleezza Rice, Clarence Thomas, Ben Carson, etc.. Conservatives are not "racist".

Another cheap shot liberals will take at conservatives, especially conservative Christians is that they will call us "bigots". Everyone has their own beliefs. Just because we don't believe in the same things as liberals or that we are against some things they stand for, doesn't mean we don't have the right to stand for those things. 

Conservatives are pro-life, meaning we don't support abortion. We believe that abortion is murder. There are many, many accounts of abortion doctors who stopped performing abortions because they couldn't stand killing little innocent babies anymore, don't believe me, Google it. We are against same-sex relationships, because of our religious beliefs and I can't make this more clear, it doesn't mean we hate homosexuals. We just don't agree with it and since we don't agree with it, we will not support it. 

We have so many more beliefs, but I wanted to focus this article more on the debates between the two parties. We, as in both parties, need to stop all this hate bashing. Everyone has a right to their own opinion. We have the freedom of speech, but people tend to abuse it when they start spilling out things that are hurtful. 

Recently, liberals have been comparing conservatives to terrorists because of our beliefs. First off, we are NOTHING like terrorists. And the fact that someone can even say that about another American just because they have different views is childish. A perfect example: Say you are a big Star Trek fan and your friend is a big Star Wars fan. And your friend tells you that you're stupid because you like Star Trek and that would be uncalled for, right? In your opinion you like Star Trek better. It's your opinion.

We need to go back to the civilized discussions/debates instead of these hateful bashing of each other, everyone in this country is equal. No matter what they believe in. Everyone has a right to voice their opinion, but what these liberals are doing to the conservatives is considered hate speech in my book and that needs to stop. And that goes for conservatives as well, this article isn't just about liberals, but conservatives as well. Especially if you're a Christian, you should know better than to bash people for what they believe. That isn't Christ-like and you know that Christ wouldn't want you to be doing that either. 

So before you bash someone for not believing in the same thing you believe, stop and ask yourself, "Would I like it if someone were to bash me for my beliefs?" And if you're answer is no, then stop yourself and don't bash the other person for what they believe in. 

I hope you enjoyed reading my article! Please leave your thoughts below in the comment section. Thanks for reading! 

Why You Should Stand With Israel

Good afternoon, this article discusses the current war in Israel and why you should stand with them. After reading this article, I hope you will the understand the importance of standing with Israel.

I'm sure everyone has heard about the war in Israel these last few weeks. Israel is a lonely Jewish nation surrounded by Arab countries. All they want is peace and to live in their country, but the Arab nations surrounding Israel will not allow that to happen. The Arab nations continually try to barrage Israel to destroy it, but since Israel's Iron Dome is impregnable that will never happen.

                                          Photograph by Jack Guez. www.businessweek.com.

Do you want to know why Israel will never fall? Because God is protecting His chosen people. God promises that He will protect Israel many, many times in the Bible. Don't believe me, just Google "God promises to protect Israel." You'll find many verses where God promises to protect them and you'll also find verses that God says, He will bless those who bless them.

If you don't want to believe that God is protecting them, just look at the facts. Israel has been under siege for centuries and they have never once fallen. Think about that. Israel has NEVER fallen. Not once. What else could it be, besides the power of God protecting them?

                                          1389blog.com.

Why should we stand with Israel? It's simple, Israel are God's chosen people. And God says in Genesis 12:3, "And I will bless those who bless you (Israel), and the one who curses you I will curse." Makes sense to me, doesn't it to you? The United States is currently not supporting Israel as a nation and look where we are. Our country is in ruin, but I'll go more into that in a later article.

Whether you are a Christian or an unbeliever, you have to admit that there is a greater power at work in Israel. That power is God. How else has Israel been able to withstand war after war and never falling?

                                          Headline of the British Telegraph on July 18, 2014.

Why can't Israel and the surrounding Arab nations just get along? Because they never have and they never will. Arabs hate Jews, it's as simple as that. If the Jews were to surrender, they would be slaughtered by the Arabs, but if the Arabs were to surrender. There would be peace.

Why can't the Jews defend themselves? Ever noticed the liberal newspaper/media headlines saying things like "Israel kills innocent children in missile strike"? It's more like Hamas purposefully placed children with their soldiers so they could die and blame Israel for attacking them.

Each time Israel defends itself, they get blamed for killing people. So the Arabs can kill Jews at will without retaliation, but as soon as the Jews defend themselves, they're the bad guys? Does that make any sense to you? It doesn't make any sense to me.

I stand with Israel, do you? I hope this video sheds some light on the subject, it pretty much explains the facts in a nutshell.

I hope you enjoyed reading my article! Please leave your thoughts below in the comment section. Thanks for reading!

Healthier Ways To Consume Calcium

Good afternoon, this article discusses healthier ways to consume calcium. In a recent article I did, "Healthier Ways To Consume Protein", this article will be much like that one and I hope it will be helpful to all you readers out there.

When people think of calcium, the number one thought is milk. Milk has a lot of calcium, which is very true. But is the milk you're drinking healthy? It may be hard to believe, but the go-to dairy source of calcium isn't as healthy as you might think.

Most people will say their go-to source will be cow milk, cheese, and yogurt. An eight ounce glass of cow milk contains 300 mg of calcium, which is a lot. But what people don't know is that soy milk contains the exact same amount! That's right, 300 mg in a glass of soy milk. So do you want to continue drinking your cow milk filled with bleach and other ingredients or do you want to drink something healthy like soy milk?

There are actually other ways to consume calcium other than the typical dairy and other milk substitutes. Take spinach for example, not only is it a green vegetable that's good for you. It also has 245mg of calcium. That's almost as much as a glass of milk. There are other foods that are good sources of calcium too, such as:

Almonds - 1 cup = 378 mg of calcium. (That's more than a glass of milk!)
Tofu - 1/2 cup = 350 mg of calcium. (Also more than glass of milk.)
Chia Seeds - 1.5 ounces = 300 mg of calcium. (Same as a glass of milk.)
Kale - 1 cup = 205 mg of calcium.
Bok Choy - 1/2 cup = 190 mg of calcium.
Figs - 5 figs = 135 mg of calcium.
White Beans - 1/2 cup = 120 mg of calcium.

There are many, many more sources. If you want to find more, just Google "Good sources of calcium besides dairy."

If you want to start eating healthy and have a healthier body, start eating the right foods. Start one step at a time, just by switching from dairy milk to soy milk would be a great improvement for you. So what are you waiting for, make the switch!

I hope you enjoyed reading my article! Please leave your thoughts below in the comment section. Thanks for reading!

Why A Minimum Wage Increase Is A Bad Thing

Good afternoon, this article discusses why raising the minimum wage is would be a step in the wrong direction for our country and what troubles we will have if it is raised.

I know everyone's first reaction to the minimum raise increase was probably, "Hallelujah!", but when you stop and really think about it. It isn't a good thing. Would I like to earn more money at my job, of course I would, but that isn't the issue here.

The government wants to raise the minimum wage from $8.25 to $11.00. That is one drastic step up. Now if it was a slight raise like $8.25 to $8.50, it wouldn't be a problem. Minimum wage jobs are NOT career jobs. Jobs like McDonalds, Wal-Mart, etc.. these jobs are mostly taken my high schoolers and college kids, for the most part. These jobs are not meant to live off of. There is a reason there are degrees and hundreds of career jobs out there in the world, where you CAN make a living.

An big issue with raising the minimum wage is this, if the minimum wage is increased to $11 an hour. Yes, you will get your $11 an hour, but I guarantee your hours will be cut way down. So no more 8 hour shifts, you'll start seeing a lot more of 5 hour shifts. So in reality, you'll be making the same amount of money as you were before with your $8.25 an hour rate.

Why will this happen? Because companies pay you and if a company cannot reach their annual income, they cannot pay you all that money. A few things will happen: 1, your hours will get cut like I mentioned earlier. 2, you'll get laid off because the company will no longer be able to afford you. Or 3, the company all together will shut down and everyone will lose their jobs.

If you don't believe me with this, put your thinking caps on. Imagine this, say you run a lemonade stand with your friend. You split the profit with him that you make everyday. Say you make $50 a day and each of you receive $25 a piece. Then you decide you want more money, so you decide, "Lets raise our wages." Except, you can't because you still only receive $50 a day. The only way you will get more money is if you fire your friend and take the $50 all to yourself. Understand it now?

Another issue with raising the wage, besides getting your hours cut or loosing your job all together, is all the striking that will happen with the higher paying jobs. Think about it, if you start making $11 an hour at your McDonalds job and a full-time employee at McDonalds makes $11 an hour too, don't you think they will want a wage increase? Yes, they most certainly will. This is will put a lot of pressure on the company, thus "releasing" a lot of it's minimum wage employees. Do you see the cycle?

If the minimum wage increases, it will NOT be a good thing. Everyone will start loosing their jobs or getting their hours cut, one way or another. It will happen, I promise you that.

So if you want to keep your job, don't support the wage increase. Especially, if you work at the minimum wage. You really don't want the increase. Instead go to college, get a degree, and make a living at a CAREER job. Trust me, you'll live a much happier life if you do that. I mean, honestly, do you really want to work at McDonalds for the rest of your life? I didn't think so.

I hope you enjoyed reading my article and I hope this has made you aware of the consequences of raising the minimum wage. Please leave your thoughts below in the comment section. Thanks for reading!

America IS A Christian Nation

Good afternoon, this article discusses the importance of standing up for our religious freedom. In this article, I hope to be able to show you why protecting our freedom of religion is so much more important than you might already think.

I am a Christian and as a Christian, I face many difficult obstacles everyday of my life. Whether it is the many temptations or the criticism of the people around me. My faith is very important to me and it is something I will NEVER give up, but I didn't write this article to talk about my faith.

No matter what denomination you are, all Christians face criticism every day of their life. I remember it didn't use to be quite as bad as it is now. People wouldn't get kicked out of school for reading a Bible or praying, but they were respected for their faith even if they didn't agree with it. Or if you said, "Praise God." in public, you wouldn't get shunned. People would just accept it or they would either just ignore you or say something nice in return. Not until a few years ago, did it start to crumble the most.

We are loosing our freedom of religion little by little every day and we need to put an end to it. The media doesn't help us at all nor do these radical groups like Westboro Baptist Church. We Christians are peaceful, loving people, but when movies, TV, and churches like Westboro display us as something we are not. The world sees us as people who hate everyone and that just isn't true.

Have you ever noticed whenever Christians are portrayed on TV, we are always the crazy, mean, bad characters? They portray us as these characters, but it just isn't true.

Then Westboro, those people really need to tone it down. With all of their "God Hates Gays" signs, disrupting military funerals, rioting at concerts, etc.. That needs to stop. They are hurting themselves and every other Christian in America.

Yes, we do not agree with same-sex relationships, but that is our opinion. Last time I checked, we still had the freedom of speech in this country. But the media portrays us as "gay haters" or "anti-gay". Well, this is the thing. We don't care what you do, it's your life, we cannot control you. But don't shove your way of life that we don't agree with down our throats and make us accept it. Our opinions are just as valuable as everyone else's. If we don't agree with you, it doesn't mean we hate you. But because of the "tolerant" liberals don't like us, they hate and bash us. Then they make us into these most wanted criminals. So much for being, tolerant, huh?

Our country was built on Christian faith and IS a Christian nation. I don't care what anyone politician says to disregard that. America was founded by Christians and it will always remain a Christian nation in my opinion.

If our government decides to rip away our freedom of religion, we might as well become just like China. In China, their government will kill you for being a Christian. Do you really want that here? I didn't think so. Do you really want our country to have another revolution? Because if this continues, that will happen.

We need to stand up for our faith and help keep our country a Christian nation. We need to stop the media from bashing us and we need to stop the government from taking away our freedoms. If you cherish your faith and your love for God as much as I do, I know you will do the right thing.

God Bless America!

I hope you enjoyed reading my article and I hope this had made you become more aware of what is actually going on here. Please leave your comments below. Thanks for reading!

Healthier Ways To Consume Protein

Good afternoon, this article is sort of a sub-category of my previous article, "Farms Don't Look Like They Used To". In this article, it discusses healthier ways to consuming protein.

Have you ever wondered, "How do vegetarians consume protein without eating meat?" It's simple, you see a lot of people don't realize there are other ways to get protein. Yes, there are protein shakes, but that isn't what I'm going to be talking about.

There are a few way to get protein without eating meat or drinking protein shakes or eating protein bars. A popular way for vegetarians to get a lot of protein is by eating beans. Yes, beans. Beans are a very high source of protein, in fact one-half cup of beans contains as much protein as an ounce of broiled steak. Don't believe me, Google it.

There are also a lot of other ways to consume protein without eating meat, such as:
Quinoa - 1 cup = 8 grams of protein (Plus it's good to add to salads.)
Buckwheat - 1 cup = 6 grams of protein (Good substitute for flour.)
Hempseed - 2 tbsp = 10 grams of protein (Good to top off yogurt, just make sure it's Greek yogurt.)
Soy Beans - 1/2 cup = 10 grams of protein (Good substitute for meat in Asian dishes.)
Rice And Beans - 1 cup = 7 grams of protein (Good side dish.)
Ezekiel Bread - 2 slices = 8 grams of protein (Good substitute for your go-to bread.)
Hummas and Pita - 1 whole wheat pita and 2 tbsp hummas = 15 grams of protein (Good snack.)
Peanut Butter Sandwich - 2 slices of bread with 2 tbsp of peanut butter = 15 grams of protein (Good pre or post workout snack.)

There are many other great sources of protein besides eating meat, just Google "Great sources of protein besides meat." Yes, meat is a great source of protein, but after my last article I hope you now see the dangers of eating meat. Especially when it comes from those horrible warehouse farms.

How you can eat more protein and stay healthier: A great way to top off the morning, is to eat some Greek yogurt. Just make sure it's low on sugar. And why not top it off with some hempseed? Sounds good to me. Or perhaps you're in a rush in the morning and don't have time for breakfast, then grab a protein bar on the go. Remember check the labels, make sure it's low on sugar.

There are so many little things you can do to change your eating lifestyle into a healthy lifestyle. Switching from dairy milk to soy or almond is a great improvement for your health. Not consuming as much meat or no meat at all, is also a great way to improve your health.

A lot of people don't realize how important certain foods are until you get sick. So act now, change your eating lifestyle one step at a time. You'll be healthier because of it, I promise you that!

I hope you enjoyed reading my article! Please leave your thoughts below in the comment section. Thanks for reading!

Farms Don't Look Like They Used To

Good afternoon, this article discusses the importance of checking the labels on the food you purchase from the grocery stores where you shop and what you are actually consuming when you eat them.

I'm sure everyone has seen something whether it was a commercial, an old movie, or perhaps even a new movie featuring a location on a farm. A farm where cows, pigs, and chicken are peacefully grazing in the fields. The environment looks like something out of a children's book, the animals look happy and at ease, the farm workers look kind and happy. BUT these illusions are NOT true. 

Yes, there are a few farms like this left in the world, but oh so very few of them. You see, most farms nowadays are not the peaceful Old Macdonald type farms you remember from your childhood. Farms today are giant warehouses with hundreds of thousands of tiny little cells for the animals. The animals cannot move around, all they can do is stand in these tightly enclosed spaces. The workers use a pumping system to drain the milk from a cow. Yep, a pumping system. No longer done by hand. 

Pigs, goats, and chicken are treated the same way. All the animals are fed with steroids in their food, making the animals grow faster into their primed adulthood. The quicker they become full grown, the quicker the workers can chop them up and make them into food. Not only does the food you buy come from these disgusting places, the food you buy also has those same exact genetically enhanced ingredients in them. Yes, the same ones the animals had to eat to grow faster, yes you are eating those too. 

Am I against eating meat, no. Am I against eating meat from farms like this, yes. I believe God put these animals on earth for us to eat or else he wouldn't have given us teeth called canines. Canines: ripping or taring teeth. Last time I checked, I didn't need to rip lettuce with my teeth to eat it. But back to the point, God wouldn't want us to treat these animals like this. Farms like these need to be put to an end. We need to bring back the old classic farms and we need to shut down these warehouse farms. 

If you are still not convinced, let me share a few stats with you. The United States of America is the only country who uses genetically enhanced ingredients in their food. The U.S. also has the highest food allergy and asthma rate than any other country. If you stop and think, "Why am I allergic to food like peanuts? Peanuts are made of the earth." The reasons behind it are there are GMOs in your food. (Genetically Modified Organisms) 

The U.S. also has a higher risk of getting diseases like cancer, diabetes, strokes, Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and food allergies/asthma. Would you like to know why all these diseases are higher here than in any other country around the world? It's because every other country doesn't use GMOs in their foods. Also the obesity rate is much higher here than any other country as well.    

The increase of food allergies has sky rocketed since more and more companies have been using GMOs in their foods. You may be asking, "Why doesn't the government stop this?" Because the government is running it. They get millions of more dollars from these genetically enhanced foods than they would off of farm foods. Think about it. Places like McDonalds. McDonalds is a huge chain fast food restaurant. Places like McDonalds have become extremely popular, everywhere you turn there's a McDonalds. Imagine if McDonalds started randomly selling healthy food. Oh and don't be fooled by their "Healthy Foods", because they are just as unhealthy as their fattening foods. Would people still go there? Probably not.

There are a few places that are serving only healthy foods and don't have any GMOs in their foods at all. Restaurants like Chipotle for example. Chipotle doesn't serve their food with GMOs. Have you ever wondered why their food tastes so good? It is because of that reason. 

Step away from the greasy burgers from McDonalds and eat at places like Chipotle. To find more places like Chipotle, Google "Restaurants that support non-GMO" You're not going to find any cow milk with a "Non-GMO" sticker on it, but no worries. Try out SILK's almond or soy milk. At first you're going to think it tastes weird, but after you start drinking it more and more often you'll start to really enjoy the tastes of them. And when you do decide to drink cow milk again, you'll realize how gross it tastes. 

Fact: Did you know industries add bleach into cow milk to make it more white. Its true, Google it.   

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog, please share your thoughts below in the comment section. Thanks for reading!