While Pastor David Hegg (March 23) was admiring the united spirit of Israelis despite their many differences, and lamenting the fragmentation of the United States because of our many differences, he briefly touched on the main reason for this: They are all Israelis, but we are not all Americans.
Despite the fact that those living in Israel come from different countries, they share a common religious and cultural heritage. The same cannot be said for “Americans.” For example, a lot of people risk their very lives to come live here, and yet they have little to no interest in becoming citizens or even learning how to speak English. Their children learn English only because they go to school. Otherwise, who knows. When you come to think about it, people living here don’t even worship the same god(s). Perhaps Pastor Hegg’s solution to this problem would be if everyone became Baptists. Then we would be more like the Israelis and our common “faith” would overcome all the rest of our differences.
Was Pastor Hegg’s letter a subconscious recruitment pitch for his church? Nah, I think he’s above that. But it’s kinda funny to think of it that way.
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
