Who are the real heretics in this country? The people challenging corporate power and greed or the people who have made Wall Street their god?

Thirteen years ago today, Matthew Shepard died because he was gay.

What has only come to light in the last day with the publication of pictures from the confrontation, is that the protesters were incited to enter the museum. An assertive member of their group egged them on.

Did you know that President Obama’s jobs bill is really a covert effort to destroy marriage in America!! You didn’t? Well you’re obviously not listening to the paranoid, delusional thinking of some of those wise Texas politicians who are quite sure they are more in touch with God and the truth than anyone else.

Chris Sigler is a 17-year old student at Sequoyah High School in Madisonville, Tennessee. Concerned about the bullying of gay students, Chris and some of his friends were interested in starting up a gay-straight student alliance (GSA). The idea did not go over well with the High School Principal, Maurice Moser.

No one would be surprised to learn that there are right-wing Christians in this country who disapprove of homosexuality. Neither would it come as a surprise that in rural parts of this country, Christianity and homosexuality when brought together, can create a highly combustible mix. But who could imagine the hate and rage that would motivate a Pastor to instruct deacons and members of his congregation, Grace Fellowship Church in Fruitland, TN. to physically attack a couple arriving in the church parking lot last Wednesday?

What would you say to a school teacher who fails your child on every test, not because his/her answers were wrong, but because the teacher just doesn’t like him/her, and tells you so? What would you say about a boss who tells you that you are doing a good job, but he/she has to fire you because you have shifty eyes and he just doesn’t trust you?

Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is so prone to spouting lies about people and history that few if any literate citizens of the world take what he has to say seriously any more. The only remaining question many of us have about President Loonie-Tunes: is he really that stupid as to believe the nonsense coming out of his mouth, or, is he just very lame at the propaganda shtick?

Regardless of your politics, for those of us who support the existence of the Jewish State of Israel, watching events on the world stage in the past week has been tantamount to helplessly watching your own child get bullied on the school yard.

The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) in partnership with the Religion News Service has released the results of a study, the results of which should come as no surprise to those people who are well aware of the intellectual limitations of some of the most outspoken people engaged in the American national dialogue.

End capital punishment because it’s the right thing to do.