Just two days after the U.S. House of Representatives decided that a religious icon in San Diego needed federal protection, California’s two ‘liberal Democratic’ senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, appear to have joined ranks with the bible thumpers as a bill heads to the Senate in defense of the Mt. Soledad Cross. Excuse me, […]

It’s the dominant religion in the U.S. claiming around 80% of the population as followers- clearly a majority. And they’ve got the government to do their bidding. Not a day goes by, it seems, that the world’s most powerful, secular-democratic legislative body in the world isn’t pandering to the Christian crowd. (Okay, to be fair, […]

60 Minutes, the popular CBS news magazine show, recently did a story on the issue of frozen embryos, stem cell research, and the seeming discrepancy between President Bush’s ‘pro-life’ policy which prohibits federal dollars for embryonic stem cell research because it causes the destruction of the embryo and the fact that thousands of embryos are […]

The long holiday weekend was blissfully spent avoiding any real news beyond learning that the turkey was indeed done. Returning to a mound of newspapers to be read quickly brought me up to speed on some of the more noticed comings and goings in the world. Some reflect positive steps by governments to improve the […]

One of the basic tenets of American society is the right to privacy. Or at least, it used to be. With advances in technology though, it seems as if privacy is a passé idea in an information age where every transaction is digitally stored, every report is saved in bits and bytes, every communication traceable. […]

Democracy is a concept of government whereby the general population consents to abide by rules of society set in place by elected representatives. In a democracy, everyone is supposed to have a chance to speak their mind on any given issue through their vote or through direct petition to the government. In a democracy, government […]

Religion should be defined as a relationship between a person and their god, whether that god is a single supernatural being or a multi-faceted force of life or a really tall evergreen tree. Religion, in this form, can be a powerful force for good in a persons life, offering them comfort in times of trouble, […]

Religion, in its purest form, is an individual quest for the answers to life’s most elusive questions: How did we get here? What happens when we die? What is the purpose of life? Is there a higher being or greater power than ourselves? To what do we owe our existence? What do we owe each […]

If you ever watched Seinfeld, the title of this essay will immediately reveal the nature of the topic. For those of you who haven’t, this essay is about homosexuality and its quest for equal recognition under the law. As previously inferred in the essay Sex, Morality, and the Law, the practice of homosexuality in and […]

The next several essays will attempt to underscore the difference between religious morality and legal morality. In doing so, I fully understand that these next essays will probably bring about much contentious hand-wringing among my readers who will try to assert that their personal religious morals supercede social legal issues. So, before I dive into […]