This past week the Christian Church has been observing a most holy and sacred event, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection into heaven. While the Christian belief is the most prevalent in our country, it is not mandatory and should never be made mandatory. The United States was founded on freedoms, one being freedom to worship as we choose.

One important reason the early settlers came here was to escape religious persecution. The kings and queens of Europe forced their subjects to worship however they worshiped.

Even the earliest settlers had differences of opinion on how to worship, the Puritans were different from the Pilgrims who were different from the Quakers, the Spanish settlers, and so forth.

Within the Christian faith, there have been over the centuries, evolution, differences in interpretation, changes along with politics and society of the times, those who held on to tradition and those who broke off into other sects and denominations. Without going into a lot of history, as we know Emperor Constantine of Rome adopted the Christian religion and that spread the belief across the empire, establishing Rome as the holy center of what is now Catholicism with the Pope as the head.

Over time, dissatisfaction with the way things were going led to religious leaders such as Luther, Calvin, etc. to break away and lead their followers to different interpretations and different ways to worship.

The point is, even within the Christian religion, there are vast differences — not only around the world, but just in the United States. Immigrants over the years have come to this country bringing their beliefs and traditions, many Christian beliefs that developed in other parts of the world, and many from beliefs that developed from a past not connected with the development of Christianity.

If so many differences occurred prior to the ease with which we can travel and communicate around the globe today, maybe it is time we accepted differences, and embrace freedom of worship as is protected in our Constitution. Except for some radical cults, religions promote leading a good life, being kind, good human traits. All that should be embraced.

On this Easter weekend, when Jesus was resurrected, our country needs to be resurrected also. The people of this country are being taken advantage of and lied to. The money that taxpayers have put into our government is going for purposes of greed, power, manipulation, and destruction.

It is not being used to help average citizens afford food and health care, to build domestic infrastructure, to make the country a better place for all. It’s going into the pockets of the wealthy for their own benefit and interests, and it’s not going there legally by any means. The corruption is out in the open, they don’t care about us seeing it or being hurt by it.

The motives behind the “Operation Epic Fury” attack on Iran are a big question. The reasons and goals keep shifting. Originally it was to prevent Iran from ever having nuclear weapons, then a regime change, then to controlling the Straight of Hormuz; while announcing withdrawal then escalation then back and forth, to control the stock market and give insiders the chance to trade for major windfalls. Online betters even made fortunes with knowledge of what Trump was planning. Even Russia is benefiting. Secretary of the Defense Pete Hegseth is someone to be very worried about. We should have had a clue about his warmongering when he wanted to change his title to Secretary of War. He’s pumped up, not sober, and treating war like a video game without regard for real lives.

Also concerning are the references to Armageddon, which is a radical belief that destruction in the middle east will bring the second coming of Christ. According to the Bible, Jesus taught peace and goodwill, he welcomed the strangers and prayed for them, he did not pray for their death, as Hegseth has. Pope Leo has condemned this war and asked for a cease fire.

Along with Hegseth, we have to worry about Steven Miller, who is the mastermind of mass deportation, incarceration and many deaths of immigrants to this country. ICE agents terrorizing communities is not good immigration policy. Investing in the system of processing immigrants, controlling entry at borders in more efficient ways, treating these people humanely, is.

Trump is trying to end birthright citizenship which is constitutionally protected. We have to worry that former Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI’s Kash Patel are taking resources away from actual criminal investigations to go after opponents of the president. We have to worry about their protection of who’s who in the Epstein files.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to sign “executive orders” intended to undermine the midterm elections, the latest to order the USPS to follow a federally compiled list of who can vote by mail and who can’t, when Trump himself just voted in a Florida election that way. He and his sycophants in the Republican House want to pass a bill, the SAVE Act, which would make voting more difficult especially for married women and lower income voters who would not be likely to have a passport, it would discriminate against these voters. Republicans who follow Trump believe the only way they will not lose in the midterms is to rig the voting process against democrats. Voting regulations are a function of the states, per the Constitution, not the federal government.

The courts continue to rule against these unlawful edicts, but it takes someone to bring it before the courts, and the lengthy legal process involved, which is important to maintain our democratic system. Harm is done while this takes its course. Look at the horrible mess where the historic east wing stood. There was nothing wrong with it the way it was. Trump didn’t bother to consult the owners of the building, the American people, before he demolished it. He says we want a ballroom. We don’t.

He wants shrines to his legacy. His name in gold everywhere. When asked by a reporter about the war in Iran, he spoke two vague sentences, then proceeded to bring out pictures of how the ballroom will look.

How serious is this president about you putting food on your table, filling your gas tank, paying your doctor bills? How much does he care that your sons and daughters will be sent into an unnecessary war and risk their lives there? We had a perfectly good treaty with Iran that Trump tore up because it wasn’t his accomplishment.

The No Kings marches tell the story. Average Americans are not happy. We need to change the course this country is taking. This misuse of our government is affecting us all, D, R, I, it doesn’t matter. We need to come together for our own good. Our early settlers and the founders of our country were subjects of monarchies, and they weren’t happy either. No Kings allowed in the USA.

If you observe Easter, and believe in the power of resurrection, please pray for our country as Jesus would have – for love, compassion, and caring for our fellow human beings. For understanding and tolerance for our differences, be it religion, lifestyle, or the shade of our skin. We all have something to contribute. Continue to join in the protests, to contact our representatives frequently, to form communities to look after each other. Help resurrect the U.S.

Susan Bigler is a Sheridan resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com