One happy family.

         In the depth of American suburbs, there is high-middle-class suburb. It is a perfect American neighborhood, just like the kind that you always see on television. The yards have grass so green it almost looks like a rug. Also the yards have heavenly flowers. The kids are playing catch. And the adults are cooking something on the grill. Oh, it is a almost like paradise. Everything about this neighborhood is perfect; the houses, the lawns, the people and their ideas. Some people in this perfect neighborhood thought that there is no need to strive for heaven, since they already have heaven on earth.
          In this perfect neighborhood, there was also a perfect family. The father is a pastor at the local church. Also he runs an inherited family business. The mother is an elementary school teacher. There are two sons. Tim is ten years old, he is a perfect child. Joseph is seventeen. The parents are having some problems with him. But you know those teenagers, its just a phase that will pass soon enough.
         It was a hot summer afternoon. All of the family, except the older son, was sitting in the living room. The air-conditioning created a perfect environment, it was neither too hot nor too cold. The mother was sitting in a leather recliner chair. In her hand she had a news magazine . She was reading about how great the US did in war on Iraq, about how Americans are the best people in the world. Also that America’s ideas and values are the greatest in the world, and everyone should accept them anyone disagrees with them is the “Axis of Evil”. The father was reading a newspaper, with similar topics. The young boy was sitting on the floor, also looking at a news magazine. But he was not interested in reading, he was looking at all the cool pictures of the guns that the American soldiers get to use, and the charts that show how little Americans die compared to the evil Iraqis. After Tim was done was the magazine, he put it down and went over to his mother’s chair.
         “Mom, why are we in a war with Iraq?”
         The mother looked up from the magazine. She put on a faint smile and said:
         “Because they are very bad people. They are all terrorist.”
         “Will we win the war?”
         She went back to reading the magazine.
         “Of course we will. God will help us win the war. And then we will destroy all the other evil terrorists in the world.”
         Little Tim picked up another magazine. This one contained even more cool pictures. However after a minute or two he got bored of it , his curiosity increased even more.
         “Mom, what exactly did the Iraqis do to us?.”
         This time she did not lift her eyes off the magazine.
         “I already told you, they are all terrorists.”
         “Do we have a lot of soldiers over there.”
         “Yes, Timmy, there are a lot of brave and honorable men in Iraq defending our country. You should never criticize our troops, or even our great, democratic government. The army is protecting us from all of those terrorists. ”
         “How many Iraqis are protecting their country?”
         Mother replied in a slightly higher tone, with a slight increase of anger in her voice:
         “No, Tim you do not understand. Only WE are protecting our country. All of THEM are just a bunch of terrorists with weapons of mass destruction.”
         “How come other countries do not agree with us?”
         While still reading the magazine, she quickly replied:
         “Because they are all stupid and selfish. They do not understand that we have a noble cause given to us by God. We need to free the world from all the terrorists.”
         “Are we also in the war to get more oil, so then the gas in daddy’s car would not cost so much?”
         Mother is still reading, now she is very annoyed, but trying her hardest not to show it.
         “No, it is because they are all terrorists.”
         “What exactly is a terrorist?”
         “It is people like them, they are all terrorists.”
         “Joe told me that terrorism is basically violence with a political purpose. He said that there is a lot of terrorism in the world. He told me that when a Palestinian suicide bomber kills Israeli civilians, it is an act of terrorism because it is done with a political purpose. When the Israeli army kills the Palestinian extremists, whatever that means, it is also an act of terrorism, because it is also violence done with a political purpose. Also he said that September 11 was an act of terrorism, but so is any kind of war. He said that the war on Afghanistan and on Iraq are horrible acts of terrorism – “
         Mother stopped reading. She quickly looked up with a terrified expression on her face. Father threw the paper down.
         ”Why, that little idiot! Do you see what horrible lies he is telling Tim?. I mean, no logical person would compare horrible acts like the 9-11, with the war that we are having now. The September 11 was a horrible, unprovoked act of terrorism. While the war is a very just cause. God is using our great nation as a tool to get rid of all the evil in the world.”
         Mother nodded her head.
         ”Yes, that is true. They are all terrorists.”
         Father was very angry now.
         ”It must be those friends of his. They are all brainwashed into believing in radical politics. Also it must all those stupid books that he is reading. Can you imagine, he thinks that our great democratic government should be replace by a socialist regime! God was always with our country, and he is with us now. He will help us destroy all of the evil on earth. ”
         “But Dad, in the Bible it says that it is wrong to kill other people.”
         The father’s face turned a different color, he was yelling now.
         “Don’t you ever talk back to me! Our great country has a mission, from God. Before we our nation needed to expand so we had Manifest Destiny. Now our nation has a greater mission. That is to kill of all the evil terrorists, with the help of God of course. Our president always prays to God so that we can take over Iraq and kill Sadam. See we are the only moral people in the world. It is our obligation to “help” other people become just as “good” as us. Sometimes people are morons and do not accept our great ideas and values. So we force our moral ideas onto them. God has no problem with this. ”
         “But Dad, -“
         “No “buts”, Tim. Listen to me, your father. Do not buy into those evil radical ideas. It is best to be conservative. Never criticize your country, your president, or your government. They are all perfect. They will never be wrong. Other nations, presidents, and governments might be wrong but not us. Conservative is the way that God wants us to be.”
         “But Dad, how do you know that God isn’t radical?”
         Father sprang up from the couch and shouted:
         ”I told you not to talk back to me! Tim! Go play outside!”
         Tim got up with out saying a word, and quickly went out of the front door.
About fifteen minutes have passed. There was a loud scream heard outside. Mother and father recognized the voice, it was their neighbor Maggie. They both ran outside , their hearts were racing. On the road in front of their beautiful green lawn, they saw a man and Maggie leaning over a life less body of a child. Next to them was a large pick-up truck. The body was Tim’s. The poor little boy will never again ask his parents about questions about their “perfect nation” or the “perfect government.” He will never again listen, with curiosity, to his brothers “evil and radical” ideas about our perfect nation, and our perfect government. He will not get to be a radical or a conservative.
         In the evening the parents finally got home. Their legs felt like jelly they could barely hold their weight. Father sat down on the living room couch. There was a cold breeze, it had a sent of evil and death. The house was no longer perfect, neither was the family , nor the neighborhood. Maybe they were never perfect to begin with? On the table next to the couch, father found an open Bible. He used the Bible this morning to prepare for tomorrow’s sermon. Inside it he read the words: ”Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taken his name in vain.”