Hi Virgil, Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I am going to go through your mail with a fine toothcomb.

First of all, I feel the need to level the ground a little between us and ask you to remember that we are not the same age, you are a young man who has more time to ask questions about life and its many possible meanings, I am a middle aged man and my time for asking questions is shorter and and more urgent and as an english minister, the late David Green said " as I get older I believe more and more in less and less"

Tony,

Again, your reply is full of presuppositions that I don't necessarily agree with. (You are displaying the classic Eropean arrogance that I so much hate. I am also a foreigner living in a foreign land. I am a Romanian living in the United States. I spent most of my life in Europe (Romania, Germany and France), which is now literally a spiritual wasteland, readily embracing Islam and everything else BUT Christianity.

France is not really a foriegn land to me, no more than the next state along is to an American, there are differences between England and France, but very slight differences, it is run differently, I'll grant you, but then in America too, each state has a certain autonomy ( ie: death penalty, taxes etc).
If we take that verse in revelation that says ' I would rather you were cold than luke warm' then England would be lukewarm and France cold, England still claims to be a christian country ( though with little evidence to prove it ) whereas France most surely doesn't.
France has a long history of 'chucking' christians out, and hasn't had a revival in over 600 years... which was was led me to come and plant a church here 16 years ago. ( I was young and optimistic once)
Anyway, ' wilderness ' experiences seem to quite popular in the bible, Moses, the children of Isreal, John the Baptist and Jesus of course, and often it's an experience one has to go through before entering something better... so maybe there's hope for France.

We have countries like France a "Christian nation," ( not christian !) which makes deals under the table with the Communists in China, selling them weapons that will most likely end up killing Americans or innocent people in Hong Kong, or in Singapore. We have unions in France robbing their employers so they can get in their 30 days on the beach every year, causing the economy to grow at what now...less than 1% per year, causing most of the country to live at the mercy of the allmighty government instead of their own choices.

Oh come on, Virgil, All western nations have people that make a living selling arms and their argument ( to help them sleep at night ) is that they don't actually do the the shooting ! Arms dealing is on the same level as prostitution and drugs dealing, it cares little who buys and less who gets hurt.
You are right though, that people in France live on less money than other western nations, ( but it's also true that all western nations live on too much and greedily gobble far more than their share of the worlds resources ) but on the other hand France has the best medical system in the world, sick children aren't left to die here because they haven't got medical insurance.

Look - if you want to talk social impact, we can talk social impact. The United States of America sends more aid to the world than France,Germany and Britain combined, and that doesn't even include private donations from ministries, Churches and individuals.

There are nearly twice as many people in the U.S.A and I think that per head you will find that your figures are wrong, plus you shouldn't include aid sent to lands that the America has invaded, the oil for food scheme can't be seen as foreign aid as the Irakian people are paying for it.

When the United States speaks up about solving poverty in Africa, it is being criticized as being too intrusive in other countries' affairs when we all very well know that the cause of poverty in those countries is their political system, and the thugs masquerading as "presidents." When last did the wonderful nations of Europe do anything about those countries? When did they attempt to do something about the thugs running things in Zimbabwe, thugs who so far have killed thousands of their own countrymen while stealing the aide given to them? If the "doing" part of it lacks, then why isn't France or England taking the helm and DOING something about Mugabe?

I will also give you the answer: they will not do anything about Mugabe because they don't give a damn about the people suffering in Europe. Europeans have found their groove now, trying to talk terrorists out of doing terrorist things and talk Iran out of making nukes. It is now catching up with them, so I am quite looking forward to them enjoying the bitter fruits of their talking.

As Ghandi said and as recent history of events in Irak is again proving 'what country wouldn't prefer it's own bad government to an alien government imposed upon it" I would have thourght that as a Romanian you would agree with Ghandi on this point.
Many of the African countries you speak about were once part of some european countrys empire, and the reason we don't just march in and overthrow dictators is that that would be re installing foriegn rule on countries that have fought for their independance ( read again the quote from Ghandi) We are seeing the same thing in the former ' Eastern block' countries who are also suffering from thugs and gangsters taking advantage of the difficulties those countries are having adapting to Democracy... but very few would accept outside interference from the old mother Russia.
What American foriegn policy lacks is sensitivity, diplomacy and an intelligent understanding & respect for historical and cultural differences.( it is all heart and no head)
They have always had a clumsy and tactless foriegn policy.
America was built on violence, pushing out the native population with force, diplomacy was only ever used to fool the Indians and they never kept promises.... always shoot first & ask question later !
I think this way of sorting out differences has become well and truly engrained into the way American treat anyone who isn't white, who doesn't embrace democracy and doesn't speak english.I could add some quotes from Micheal Moore about the gun thing in America, but I suspect many Americans are sick of hearing bad press from him.

At last, ( do you mean alas ? I hope so !) this has little to do with Christianity. It has a lot to do with being decent human beings, with a decent understanding of freedom, economics and politics. One doesn't have to be a Christian or a Preterist to understand that all men have been created with unalienable right, such as life, liberty and property. No other country on earth recognizes these rights as the United States does. The system may not be perfect, but it does a great job.

Virgil, your head is moving dangerously towards that dark place again. It is precisely because of the teachings of Christ that we in the west, weither we call ourselves christian or not have any sense of decency and human rights, so it has a great deal to do with christianity.
It may be hard to define what a christian nation is and maybe we should just drop the term altogether, but it is an undeniable fact that our laws regarding human rights are greatly influenced by the idea that all men are equal in the eyes of God and that we should love one another.
I won't say anything about 'loving your enemies' as I have a sneaky feeling that that verse has been blacked out by the C.I.A from all American bibles.

Let's take life, liberty and property as you have mentioned them.

a) In order to save life it should be everyones right to have free medical care if they can not afford health insurance.especially children.
b) Liberty... it's against the law to pray in school, what kind of liberty is that ?
c) Property...please take your next vacation in Philadelphia and see how people there respect property. Why should the havenots respect the property of the haves, how can one respect people having far more than their share when others have so little.

America, the home of the brave, the land of the free, who trust in God, If you believe that you will believe that France is all about ' liberty, fraternaty, equality ' too, these are great mottos but largely ignored, and anyone who still believes that these are widely adhered to, have their heads well inserted into that aforementioned lower region of their anatomy.

I would think that as a Brit living in France you would be familiar with John Locke's philosophy on natural law and Frederic Bastiat's essay titled "The Law" - if you are not familiar with either author, I encourage you do read both of them because it seems to me that the French socialism is affecting your thinking...and this is not intended as an offense.

I am a monachist, I would like Jesus to rule the planet and this is what mostly affects my thinking, but given that that won't happen for a while then, until that day comes I will be a socialist, I am for fair pay, equal opportunities, medical care for all who need it, government sponsored housing for the underpriviledged and free education, and for taxing the haves instead of the havenots to pay for all that. Yet I am also for demanding that the french government make it easier for employers to employ, so I am not blind to the advantages of capitalism either.
Yes, I am familiar with John Locke but alas, not Frederic Bastiats essay.

And ultimately I take offense with you calling my president "stupid" - stupid people don't become the leaders of the greatest countries on this planet. He may not have his eschatology right and he may be in some way pandering to the Christian right, but that's what politicians do. If he was after votes from the Dispensationalists, he would not have put pressure on Israel to close down illegal settlements in Gaza. As you may know, this is taking place now, and it's a huge blow to the dispensationalist whackos that do anything in their power to start a war in the Middle East. So far George W. Bush is the only American President who has shown a willingness to make positive changes in the Middle East. Past presidents, like Reagan have totally missed the boat in that regard mostly because of their view that Israel is the chosen people of God and they can get away with murder. Bush doesn't believe that...he has a positive mindset, as I do.

Nero was the leader of one of the greatest countries in the world, Hitler was also, Mussolini too, as well as good old, mad as a hatter, King George ( once ruler of what was then, the un-United States of America) There was also an english king who thourght that he could turn back the tide with a royal command and he got his feet wet.
Some of these leaders were very clever at politics, but stupid in as much as their worldview was madness.
Not all the leaders I just mentioned were voted into power (except Hitler and Mussolini) some got there through family connections (inherited power)... a little like George Bush, in fact.
The last thing America wants is a war in the middle east as that would get in the way of them shipping out all that precious Irakian oil .( perhaps you are right, George may not be as stupid as I thought)
Actually, I agree with you, I don't think George Bush gives a fig about what the whacko right wing christians believe... so long as they vote for him.
I think that if one comes from the right social background, has the right connections and lots of money, then even a stupid man can become the leader of the most powerful nation in the world.

I hope you'll come around and not let the communists in France influence your thinking in such a way that you are becoming one of them.

and I hope you'll come around and not let the rebulicans in America influence your thinking in such a way that you are becoming one of them.