Sometimes I peruse the comments section from the missives written just to glean feedback. I’m not looking for accolades, but suggestions on how to enhance our product. Recently I’ve noticed a trend, with folks complaining I write lengthy pieces.

Let me make myself clear: I am not about to devolve into a 140-character writer. One of the issues that concerns me about our nation is that we are no longer critical thinkers, no longer intense readers. We live our lives like a McDonald’s drive through and as a result, we only search for a soundbite, a headline.

And when the headline has a nuance that forces us to read, well, the complaints grow. I do not apologize. I actually read what I write upon finishing and mostly it takes from five to eight minutes. And if I write two pieces a day, that’s about 10 to16 minutes of your precious time I’m consuming. And we wonder why our kids in school have no reading comprehension capability or stamina beyond Twitter or Snapchat?

Part of why I write is also to train my mind, as I share with you my thoughts, perspectives, and insights. If we become a nation of shallow thinkers, well…you figure it out.

So, here is what I want to share for today.

As reported by United with Israel, “While the Vatican stressed the holiness of Jerusalem to “believers of all three Abrahamic religions,” Abbas referred to it as “the capital of Palestine.”

Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas met on Saturday with Pope Francis at the Vatican, where he inaugurated the Palestinian embassy to the Holy See. It was their third meeting. The Vatican stressed the sanctity of Jerusalem to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Abbas said during the 23-minute meeting that he had only heard through news reports of the proposal by President-elect Donald Trump to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. The Palestinians strongly oppose the embassy move, claiming it would kill any hopes for negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and rile the region by undercutting Muslim claims to the holy city.

“We hope that this news is not true, because it is not encouraging and will disrupt and hinder the peace process,” he said. In its communiqué after the meeting with Abbas, the Holy See did not refer to Jerusalem by name, but said that during the talks, “emphasis was placed on the importance of safeguarding the sanctity of the holy places for believers of all three of the Abrahamic religions.” Abbas referred to Jerusalem as “the capital of the State of Palestine,” adding that he and Francis “reaffirmed the importance of the city for the three monotheistic religions and our support for Jerusalem being an open city.”

Normally I would share with y’all a careful exegesis or interpretation of several statements here, such as “three Abrahamic religions.” Or analyze why we’re wrong in elevating diplomatic relations with a terrorist organization, Fatah, and welcoming them into embassies. I would draw a comparison to a real people, a culture, that deserves statehood, the Kurds. But, I will let y’all draw your own conclusions, and maybe you’ll do your own research — probably not. But that is what I took upon myself as an important mission.

Ok, there you have it. It shouldn’t take more than three minutes to read. Take care, have a great day.

Oh yeah, for those of you still here, just ask yourself how many Christians reside in Bethlehem now, or how many times is the name Jerusalem used in the Koran? And just for the edification of Mahmoud Abbas and the Pope, Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed Jerusalem, Aeolia Capitolina…and changed Judea to Palaestinia. Jerusalem is the City of David, it has nothing to do with Rome, or Fatah, i.e., the terrorist group formerly known as the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Still with me? Good. I’ll leave you with a couple more points — hope you can take a few more minutes out of your day to read them.

Just so you know, Islam is not an Abrahamic religion as it did not come until 610 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

And the only ties Muslims have to Jerusalem is via conquest by Salahuddin (Saladin).

Class dismissed.