An open letter to the people who are fighting for freedom in the middle east...

First let me tell you who I am, I am a Christian and a conservative, born in the United States of America.  Many of you probably assume that people like me hate people like you.  First I want to clear this up, speaking for myself and fellow Christians and conservatives that I know personally.  We do not hate you, in fact we pray for you and read the news about you and hope for you and your families freedom and prosperity every day.  We respect your faith and your desire to simply be left alone.  The challenge we face is that there are people amongst you that would have us and many of our other friends literally wiped off the map.  So what do we do?  What would you do?

I personally have a large family by western standards, 8 children and a wife, I married young and have gone through many struggles, from losing a house, to having a child with epilepsy, to homeschooling my children, the daily struggle to feed them among countless others..  I have been blessed with the freedom to live as I choose and do what I will, that blessing, although I personally have not had to spill blood to maintain it, was bought with the sweat, blood and treasure of my ancestors and other great people in this country.

You now stand at a precipice, what do you do?   Do you make the leap over of your own free will?  Do you grab the powerful hand of the fundamentalists groups to help you over just to find out that they want to limit your freedoms, just as has been done thus far by the various dictators and nobility in your country?

I want you, each and every one of you to be happy.  I firmly believe that happiness can only truly be obtained by individuals when you have the liberty to do as you wish in your life and to work towards the goals you set for yourself.  You deserve to be able to worship freely!  You deserve to be able to raise your children, care for them and see them become who they want to be.  The only thing I ask of you is to not impose your specific religious doctrine on others, let them choose and be happy. 

Your God and my God are the same, let us live as children of that God not mortal enemies.  Peace be with with you my brothers and sisters.