This is what people used to say. By what criteria does one measure this statement?

Is it by how gullible we are?  Does it have something to do with having not studied history?  We are all ignorant of some things, but are we unteachable?

And if we are teachable, who do we trust to teach us?

Let's give this a whirl ...

What if ...

Someone told us that all our debt would be cancelled ...all our college debt wiped away, our home mortgage erased, our health care free.             

                                                  

Would we believe this? ...or ask, "What's the hitch?"

No hitch, they say.  Let's look at it.  

After the Twin Towers were destroyed on September 11, 2001 ...and let's look at those devastating figures:

Area of Attack/Deaths:

World Trade Center 2,606

Airlines 246

Pentagon Building 125

Hijackers 19

Total number of people who died in the 9/11 attacks 2,996

Casualties in the World Trade Center and Surrounding Area/Deaths: 

Residents of New York 1,762

Persons in North Tower (Tower 1) 1,402

Persons in South Tower (Tower 2) 614

Residents of New Jersey 674

Employees of Marsh Inc. 355

Firefighters 343

Employees of Aon Corporation 175

Port Authority police officers 37

Police officers 23

Paramedics 21

One firefighter was killed by a man who jumped off the top floors

Casualties on the Airplanes/Deaths:

American Airlines Flight 11 (North Tower) 87

United Airlines Flight 175 (South Tower) 60

American Airlines Flight 77 (Pentagon) 59

United Flight 93 (Shanksville, PA) 40

Casualties inside the Pentagon/Deaths:

Military and civilian deaths 125

And after much fighting in the Middle East by our brave soldiers, in 2005, the Real ID Act was signed.  It would have given us a National ID, with the spoken intent to provide security for our nation.  But, with 11 to 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country ...how could a genuine ID really be adopted, without first dealing with documenting the undocumented?

So, they tried to pass an immigration bill, but our administration at the time found it much harder than first anticipated.  And the time that allowed to implement a National ID expired.

A National ID is proposed to serve many functions, inclusive of curbing crime in our own country ...crimes committed by our own documented citizens.

It also comes in different forms, under different names. 

"E-Verify is a largely voluntary system where employers can check with the Department of Homeland Security to see if someone is allowed to work. Basically it's a giant list of everyone – immigrants and citizens – legally in the United States."

HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 9, 2005

HR 418- A National ID Bill Masquerading as Immigration Reform

Mr. Speaker:

I rise in strong opposition to HR 418, the REAL ID Act. This bill purports to make us safer from terrorists who may sneak into the United States, and from other illegal immigrants. While I agree that these issues are of vital importance, this bill will do very little to make us more secure. It will not address our real vulnerabilities. It will, however, make us much less free. In reality, this bill is a Trojan horse. It pretends to offer desperately needed border control in order to stampede Americans into sacrificing what is uniquely American: our constitutionally protected liberty.

What is wrong with this bill?

The REAL ID Act establishes a national ID card by mandating that states include certain minimum identification standards on driver’s licenses. It contains no limits on the government’s power to impose additional standards. Indeed, it gives authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to unilaterally add requirements as he sees fit.

Supporters claim it is not a national ID because it is voluntary. However, any state that opts out will automatically make non-persons out of its citizens. The citizens of that state will be unable to have any dealings with the federal government because their ID will not be accepted. They will not be able to fly or to take a train. In essence, in the eyes of the federal government they will cease to exist. It is absurd to call this voluntary.

But now, with the push for national health care ...wouldn't a similar system be convenient to efficiently solve the problem of the present inefficiencies??

Not everyone has a computer ...especially the poor, so how can they go on-line to sign up for something they desperately feel they need?

And not everyone watches the news, or reads a newspaper.  Wouldn't we need people to go door-to-door, to help find those poor people ...to help them out??

And there could be a good incentive ...they could earn money going door-to-door.  The more people they find who have not signed up, the more money they would get.  Many people would likely do this as most everyone could use the money nowadays ...with this struggling economy.

These assigned people could help the common people ...and they would have to show an ID if they wanted to shop.  Grocery stores could serve as areas to sign up. No need to worry about the fears that Ron Paul spoke of.  No need to fear government ...isn't government always the friend of the people?  All we have to do is look at history to convince ourselves of that.

Yes, trust is a good thing.  But, who should we trust??  

We would be well served to measure that idea, yet it cannot be measured by our means.  I suggest we trust Jesus ...who took care of our debt, and who already has an ID for us.  All we need to do is accept it ...and our name is listed in the Book of Life.

Anything other than that ...I'd hesitate to think may not be so sincere, and may even be aligned to some other program that God is not proposing.  And you likely could guess who is.