I do no think that illegal immigrants should have access to a government-sponsored healthcare plan because it’s coming out of citizens’ taxes. I think that giving them access to it would be unfair to the people in this country who are not able to receive healthcare. People who are American citizens are sitting in emergency rooms dying because they are not covered, and doctors rather help the people who are covered. I think they should be allowed to live in this country, but they should become actual citizens before they try to receive all of the benefits that we as citizens have. I do believe everyone is entitled to healthcare, but people who do not pay taxes should not get a free ride.

I honestly do not think there is a problem with people who come here illegally, and try to make an honest living. What I mean by that is the people who come here and just try to work not the people who come and end up committing crimes. I think that they are the ones who deserve to be here. Honestly, it is not hurting us for them to be here. I wish people would stop saying they come here to take our jobs because the jobs they do are the ones that no American takes. So why should we deny them a right to a better life. I am pretty sure some of your family members were immigrants. In all actuality, the people who came here legally are the ones taking your jobs. That is something that all of you who oppose illegal immigration need to think about.

I think that students can just go on because it does not affect them directly, and to us college is the most important thing in our lives right now. Of course that would be important. The rest of the world however, may feel that its not important because it’s a dark country. This is the same thing that’s goes on in Africa everyday millions of people die because a small fraction of people want to kill a lot of people. I think that its sad, and I think we should help. How could we stand by and watch 300,000 people and do nothing about it? How could we watch young child not be able to find their parents, and parents unable to find their children and not be affected by it? I think we should want to help, but everyone thinks his or her situation is more important than the next that is the problem. We are so consumed by our selfishness that we are unable to see the real problems in this world. So to us 300,000 is not us, or we think that could never be us; however, just as fast as it was the Haitians it could have been someone in our family who was killed and buried under rubble. Our parents, our children, our friends could have been killed and it would have been the end of the world, but because it was no one that we knew we do not care. Just last week when Red Cross was hosting a blood drive for the people in Haiti I heard someone utter, “oh my god all of our blood is going to the people in Haiti.” I think that if we can donate over 1,000 pints of blood to defeat Michigan why can’t we donate some to help people who desperately need it? This to me is sad because people have not only lost their families; they have also lost their homes and their livelihood. How could we wake up each morning, and not think about it? I admit at first I was a little annoyed of hearing about Haiti, but this actually hit close to home because my niece’s family are Haitian. I thank God that none of her relatives were hurt in the earthquake, but they could have been one of the unlucky people who it did affect. For people in the media to look at them and say it’s their fault because they signed a treaty with the devil is outrageous. How could anyone’s death be the fault of something they did not do something you concocted to explain why they the people who won their freedom from France are doing so badly? If we all thought about just one of the children, one of the parents, one of the friends as our own I highly doubt that we would ignore the situation. Just think it could have been you!

I think that as of right now we cannot coexist because too much has happened, and I think both sides are afraid to let their guard down for fear of what might happen. The United States is in their country right now killing their people for oil; many of them are standing by as their friends and family die. Until we resolve this issue of oil, and stop invading their countries we will not be able, to coexist. After all, it is human nature to have that get him before he gets me mentality. If we continue to think way neither one of us will exist for much longer.

I actually can understand what she is saying because I know Muslims who have said that this is not what is taught. This is not what Islam is all about. This is why when Sam says they are fighting a war against Christians I have to disagree. I do agree with one thing Sam said, it is all about power. Power and Religion are two different things, and should not be viewed as one. If we all knew what the Muslim religion entailed we would not believe that. I have never heard a single Muslim person who was not a radical say, I need to kill in the name of Allah. So I hate the stigma that is being attached to the religion because of what those misguided people did to our country on September 11, 2001, and to countries across the world. That is not Islam, that is hate and thirst for control.

I understand that maybe they see Americans or people of western civilization as the problem, but I do not believe its Christians. If that were the case why did the radicals in their countries, the same ones who decimated the World Trade Centers, destroy the Christian churches in their own countries? When they attacked places in the United States and other countries around the world they did not attack churches or even seek out Christians; they attacked landmarks in westernized countries. I understand that they want to drive western influences out of their countries, but I do not agree the way they are going about it. The war in Iraq is largely about oil, and I could understand that any one would be upset if someone were invading your country and killing innocent people; however, that works both ways. Some of the soldiers are mistreating them, and do not get me wrong I actually stepped into the shoes of the Middle Eastern people. I get how they could view as a threat to their country, but not to their religion. Although, the websites did show images that could have been misinterpreted they were not images of children with weapons. If these people fear that we are threatening their religion why would these people turn to violence? I have not heard of anywhere in any holy book that God, of any name, condones the murder of his children. In the bible when people were being persecuted God told them to trust in him, not murder thy neighbor. So that part to me is just a little bit ridiculous.
The murder of civilians in Iraq is horrible. I do not think that civilians should be brought into a war. I also do not think that those people should have murdered innocent people in all of those countries. I think a lot of what is going on with this war is miscommunication and lack of understanding. If both parties understood exactly what each other wanted everything could be avoided. Why would any parent want to teach their young child to hold a gun and murder another human being? That to me is just unheard of. Somebody has to be completely brainwashing the people to believe that it is right to allow an innocent child to get into an adult problem. Children do fully grasp the situation let alone partially grasp the situation. So why should they be allowed to participate in this problem? I do not believe that people actually believe that the war they are fighting is a war against Christians; I believe it is a war against westerners. I have actually heard of Middle Eastern people say they are trying to expel all western influence from their country, and western influence does not mean Christian influence.

I actually find this man amusing, especially after reading that he has signs posted on his club that says if you cannot speak English get out. I am almost certain that when his family immigrated to the United States they did not speak English, and I am sure that some members of his family still do not speak English. The only reason he is find with immigration is because his family emigrated otherwise he would be against it. I did find it wrong when he said that if a child is born in the United States to foreign parents they should not be considered United States citizens. In that case he should not be considered a citizen and neither should most of America. I did not agree with him saying that the troops should be in the U.S. to protect the borders because I feel that if they were here and not in those foreign countries the United States would be more vulnerable. By our troops being stationed in foreign countries we have the ability to gain more knowledge about the people we are fighting. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinions, but I wish people would actually see the world with a wide lens before they start to judge.

I think that if you fully understand your religion, and how your God deals with sin then you would not even questioned what Sam said. I am a Christian and I believe that God forgives all of your sins if you ask forgiveness, and if you are truly sorry. After all, Jesus did die on the cross to save us from our sins. I know we all probably know that slavery existed around the world, but if we did not know what was going on and how we were directly affected the way these people live we would not be perpetuating it. Of course now it is too late, because the chocolate business is so enormous that it would take millions and millions of people to stop slavery. I think that Sam should not have spoken on such a topic if he did not know exactly what he was speaking of. I feel like he was trying to call anyone who believes in God a hypocrite in a way because he is saying do we think we’re going to go to heaven as if the slaves had never committed a sin in their life. NO matter how hard your life is no matter what sin you committed, God will forgive you for it if you are truly in the bottom of your heart sorry. One of those slaves could have stolen something or did something much worst; does that mean that he should go to heaven over me because I helped his slave owner prosper? I am not saying that what we are doing is right, but Sam has not right to judge anyone or their actions. I believe that slavery is wrong because no one has the right to exploit another human being. However, I also believe that when judgment day comes we will be judge based on our sins individually so I am pretty sure that these slaves are not exempt from judgment. Even if they were slaves and had a horrible life that does not make them any better of a person than I am. I do know that in the Beatitudes we should help those that are less fortunate than we are, and I am totally fine with doing that. I feel that that’s what people are here to do; however, I think the only one who should able to judge us is God. I think that no human has the right to tell me what God is going to me come judgment day if I do not do something that pleases them. I believe that people in glass houses should not throw stones, and yeah Sam is telling us all of these things but how much of this stuff does he actually live by?

I feel that the second step might be the hardest thing to do because it means that we would have to stop helping slavery flourish, and we may say that’s easy. How easy is it when everything we own was most likely a product made by a slave? How can we stop fueling slavery when slave made products are so popular. Before walking into that class I am pretty sure that many of us did not know that people had to live that way in order for us to enjoy something so trivial as chocolate. I think that if we all honestly wanted to do something about it we could stop eating that chocolate, and start eating fair trade chocolate. What about everything else made by a slave; are we going to also stop eating or using those things? This is why this step may be the hardest, and why it does not have a clear answer or solution.

For me I believe I am probably pseudo-communitarian because I can acknowledge that other people have similar problems and I want to help, but at the end of the day I feel that I also need to help people in my ethnic group advance. I sometimes feel like it’s a duty. Why would you want to see someone like you struggle when you know there is something you could do about? Jesse Jackson lived through the civil rights era so I could understand why his primary goal would be to help those in his ethnic group. I want to become a doctor so naturally I would like to help people of all races, but in other aspects of life I really want to help people who belong to my background, to me its just like something I have to do.