What are our first amendment rights?  To do this we first have to know what the First Amendment to the Constitution actually states.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

This does not ever use the words, separation of Church and State.  However, it does say that Congress (the legislative branch) shall make no law "respecting" an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.  While there are many moral truths in each religion that we can follow in our lives, the above does not say that the State can not use a moral law and make it into a State law.  If this were the case, then "Thou Shalt Not Steal" could not be made into laws against burglary and theft.  "Thou Shalt Not Kill" would remove all laws that are associated with murder.  The arguments of some of our more liberal population that religious morals should not be applied to law can be perceived as silliness when comparing the two commandments above.  These commandments are common sense and not associated to any one religion.

So, of course, you probably already know where I am heading with my reasoning but being explicit is better when sharing information over the internet.  Various faiths have the same moral beliefs of the National Catholic Apostolic Church.  So, what I say going forward is not just the belief of one faith and, just like my two examples above, if the United States Congress were to ever create a law to solidify the standing on these moral issues, it would have nothing to do with the baseless argument of "separation of Church and State".

Abortion is murder.  Why can I firmly say this?  A human being is formed at conception.  There is brain function in the fertilized egg.  This embryo has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness just like any of us who is not in our mother's wombs any more.  Just like any moral issue, it comes down to selfishness vs. selfless-ness.  The selfish will put themselves first.  "I can not afford a baby right now!"  "I don't want a baby!  That's too much responsibility!"  "A baby is just going to weigh me down."  "My body is just going to look awful!"  You should have thought of all that before having pre-marital sex with someone who may "love" you for one year, three months or just one night.  I saw a shirt that a young lady was wearing that said: "I'm a virgin.  I'm already loving my husband and I haven't even met him yet."  Saving yourself for the person that you marry is an act of love.  Saving an innocent baby whose only life sustaining measure is his mother's umbilical cord is an act of love.  We see children outside the womb being hurt by their own parents and we say "How could a mother do that to her own child?"  This comment should be said while their baby is inside the womb.  Some people actually do comment on the care of babies in the womb by saying things like "How could you be smoking, drinking, taking drugs, etc. while you are pregnant?!"  How could you even think of taking food, drink and oxygen from your baby by removing it from your own womb?  This baby is a part of you and is innocently counting on you, his mother, to be there for him or her.  Protect these innocents and vote for a politician that believes as you do.

Embryotic Stem Cell research is murder.  Taking stem cells from embryos removes a vital piece of information from these children that is key to their development.  Selfishness wins out here again.  A person is willingly saying "My life is more important than the life of a newborn child."  Who are we to ever say that?  Do we know the potential of that child?  This is a life that was created and discarded.  I could say the same of me.  I was created and discarded but a loving family took me in and adopted me and treated me as their own.  My life has now progressed 42 years and I hope that I have contributed positively to many lives.  I hope that my life has been worth something and that I have made a difference by me being here on this earth.  I could have been aborted and no one would have blamed my biological mother for it if she had chosen that path because many believe that abortion is not murder.  Abortion is murder.  Embryotic Stem Cell research is murder.  Michael J. Fox, who has an illness and wishes that embryotic stem cell research was permitted so that he may be cured, is saying that his life is more important than a baby's life.  If there were two lives in front of you and a man placed a gun in your hand and told you that you must shoot one of them, who would you choose?  They are both strangers.  They are both human.  They are both contributors to society.  One of them has to die.  Which one?  Could you choose?  If not, then how could you choose when you don't even know the potential of the embryotic version of the child?  Protect the innocents and vote for a politician that believes as you do.

Marriage is a Sacrament.  It was instituted at the beginning of our history when God created them man and woman and made them one flesh.  We can take a man and a woman and continue the human race without the help of science.  We can not take a man and a man or a woman and a woman and continue with the procreation of life without the involvement of science.  Now I will argue that Jesus said "Render unto Caesar's what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's."  In this case I am fine with "civil unions" recognized by the state but this Church will never approve of this religiously and no religion should be forced to violate their faith and is protected by their First Amendment rights and I repeat, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"  Our free exercise of our religion is that we believe homosexual acts to be sinful and that Marriage, a Holy Sacrament, is a religious ceremony that is ONLY between a man and a woman.  Religions should not be forced to deviate from their religious beliefs by Congressional laws.  Protect the Religious Institution of Marriage and vote for a politician that believes as you do.

As for the real political issues...

1. Have these wasteful "pork" projects removed.  You can cut taxes and not have the same amount of money coming into government but you also need to make cuts.  Cuts should be made BEFORE reducing taxes.
2. Do not ever raise taxes until after you have raised the minimum wage and the economy has improved.
3. Do not send our military into harm's way without the concensus of the world's leadership unless the world's leadership can be perceived as not having our nation's best interest in mind.  We should take George Washington's stand on involvement in issues related to foreign countries.  Aid where we can and where it makes sense.  Always defend our nation.  However, never make our nation look like a criminal or a bully.  Our nation has been and always should be perceived and fully represented as the world's best example of goodness in the world.
4. The government is not a charity.  If people need to be fed, housed or are in need of money, then donate to charitable organizations who have taken this responsibility to focus their goals to educate, feed, clothe and/or house the needy.    The government needs to run the government and not take from the rich and give to the poor.  Leave this a choice of the people to give as they can and what is within their means to give.
5. While foreigners have a right to immigrate to this country, they also have to follow the rules the same as any one else does.  Fine the owners of these companies who hire illegal immigrants.  Fine the people who permit them to work for them.  Assist these immigrants in filling out the proper paperwork to come to this country and then deport them until there immigration application comes through.  Work with them in order to get things done properly but at the same time, we can not permit the unfair treatment of those immigrants who actually followed the rules by permitting the illegals to get away with cheating the system.  It hurts all of us.  It hurts our Social Security benefits as well as our future.  Protect our borders.

Please vote for a politician that believes as you do.  I know I will vote for the politician that I believe represents my beliefs and the issues that I feel should be addressed above.  God bless you all!