Think back to the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 bombings. Recall the many pronouncements that sought to separate that bloody terrorist act from Islam. Yet eight years later such widely recognized symbols of Islam as the burqa and the minaret have become Islamic Brands for religious intolerance and terror. We see the brand for Coke and we think cola-based soft drink. We see golden arches and we think Big Macs. We see burqas and we think crazed terrorists. To us burqas represent buildings being bombed and people jumping to their deaths. And each time we wonder if the person underneath is just a harmless housewife, or a suicide bomber seeking to bring death to our world.

We constantly hear how most Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding citizens. That’s probably true. Yet the Koran, the holy book of Islam, makes no pretense of its fundamental motivation to assimilate all people. And at its essence, it is not a peaceful book. Terror and bloodshed are freely condoned by the Koran as morally justifiable practices in the quest to force Islam on the rest of the world. In fact the Koran is arguably the ultimate roadmap for global terrorism. Think that’s a bit harsh? Just look around the globe. Virtually every major contemporary human conflict in the world is rooted in some form of Muslim aggression. So is it any wonder that the impending advance of radical Islam is finally causing people to lash out at its symbols of hate?

But what if the situation was exactly opposite? What if you knew with absolute certainty that you could cheat on your lover and never be caught? Ever! Furthermore, what if it is was also guaranteed that you would never experience any “fallout” whatsoever. No STD’s. No undesired contact with the other man/woman. No impact to your life in any way. If this were the situation…what would YOU do?

Would you cheat on your mate/partner if you knew you wouldn’t get caught?(polls)

But the real crime is its attempt to “dumb down” the extraordinary truth and wisdom of the Bible and turn back the clock on spiritual enlightenment. The coming of Jesus and the realization that humanity has a moral reality and destiny apart from the rule of force are among the most defining aspects of Christianity. Jesus followed up on this promise with revolutionary notions of compassion, charity and justice, and in doing so is arguably the greatest advocate ever of natural and human rights.

And yet the ignoramuses who participate on Conservapedia.com actually think that by perverting the word of Christ they are furthering the cause of spiritual enlightenment. And the really scary thing is that this site mirrors the hateful, un-Christian garbage being preached throughout the fundamentalist community and passing for the Word of Christ. Instead of being caretakers of the Christian Word these people complain like the Pharisees and Sadducees for whom Jesus reserved his harshest criticism. Even more disturbing is that these Christian voices are becoming indistinguishable from the militant hatred spewing from radical Muslims. It is as if they are seeking to unleash a kind Christian Taliban and return the free world to the morality of the Inquisition. Although many will never see it coming, this is precisely the kind of Animal House-style attack on reason that is the greatest threat to the future of Jesus’ Christianity. The mission of Conservapedia.com represents the spiritual and moral equivalent of burning the Bible. We can only hope God will rescue Christianity from the fiery furnace of ignorance one more time.

So what did the prosecutors have on Miss Knox? First, there’s the DNA on the knife they found in her boyfriend’s apartment, not the crime scene at all. And how many girlfriends prepare meals for the guys they’re nuts about? That connection falls apart pretty easy.

Then there were the conflicting statements from a terrified 20-year old girl thousands of miles from home in another country. A little iffy if you ask me. Hardly any more conflicting than the prosecutor who changed his theory of the crime when the first one fell apart. This prosecutor is himself at the center of a controversy for misconduct. In any real court the evidence would be laughable and never hold up. Hell, the charges never would have been brought in the first place.

It doesn’t take a genius to see what went on here. Between the overwhelmingly negative Italian and British press combined with an un-sequestered jury exposed to this garbage during the trial it’s easy to see that the “fix” was in from the very start. Regardless of the positive spin about U.S./Italian relations there unfortunately exists a deep resentment about America, even from our so-called friends. And they got back at America by sending an innocent girl to jail in a foreign land for most of her life.

Amanda Knox was convicted of only one thing…being an American!

Oh, gee, I don’t know. How about the waves of militant fundamentalist Islam currently sweeping Europe and the world? Or maybe it’s because Islamic beliefs are at direct odds with core non-Islamic concepts of freedom and human rights. Just consider the flap a few years back over the cartoons of Muhammad! This alone resulted in violent protests and death threats. Over a cartoon? This same warped sense of reality caused a director to be murdered for a 10-minute movie critical of the treatment of women because the Koran allows husbands to beat their wives! Hell, imagine what would happen if Monty Python followed up Life of Brian with Life of Muhammad? How about WWIII?

The Swiss vote was less about Muslim architecture than it was the very real fear of how Islamic demands are impacting western constitutional societies. Consider the case of a judge in Frankfurt, Germany who refused to grant legal aid for a wife of Moroccan origin seeking an immediate divorce because she was severely beaten by her Moroccan husband. The judge, apparently in a grossly misguided attempt to be “sensitive” to Islamic traditions, denied the women her claim because according to the provision in Qur’ān Sūrah 4, 34, beating wives was common in the culture of origin of the parties!

Then there’s Sharia Law, the Islamic legal code that mandates horrendous, beastly practices including bodily dismemberment, flogging and stoning. Muslims continue to practice female genital mutilation, forced adolescent marriages (underage rape) and polygamy. They seek to force, violently if necessary, non-Muslim societies to adopt their vial practices. The really scary thing is that they are succeeding far too often.

The Islamic world has made it clear that it will tolerate no other religions or legal codes that conflict with their beliefs, which is basically any non-Muslim. No constitutional freedoms of speech, expression or association are to be allowed. What’s more they expect the rest of world to fall into line with their intolerance. This religion continues to aggressively export their culture of violence, hate and intolerance. Although Switzerland has so far had it much better than the rest of Europe, they see it coming and they are scared to death! Given the stakes how can one blame them?

But it’s not. This is a clear attempt by The Church to exploit spiritual control of Catholic politicians to manipulate public policy. It is not only insidious; it smacks of Undue Influence. This is a legal doctrine that involves one person taking advantage of a position of power over another person. It is where free will to bargain is not possible. You know…like people indoctrinated at a young age to believe that the eternal salvation of their souls rests with the being “good practicing Catholics!” In fact, as a matter or law, undue influence is presumed in cases where such influence comes from a priest.

So it should come as no surprise that when John Kennedy ran for President it was seriously debated if he would take orders from the Pope? Now some fifty years later The Church is finally using spiritual blackmail against JFK’s nephew to subvert the Legislative process of the US Government. Kind of makes one wonder where the real Government is anymore.

In a blog post responding to the cover, Palin complains that Newsweek “has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant.” The problem with this argument is that Palin is politically irrelevant to begin with. This woman is a laughable buffoon who can’t possibly be taken seriously. Certainly not as our next President. In this context what’s more relevant than a photo depicting the cheerleader image she’s blatantly exploited to promote her public image?

But ultimately, her protests have nothing to do with sexism. How do I know this? Simple. I’m nearing 12 years of marriage with decades of experience around the fairer sex. The problem is not sexism at all. The problem is that the picture makes her thighs look fat!

A simple check of the weather on the day of the event revealed that the footage Fox showed was not of the health care protest at all, but actually of an earlier event that drew some 45,000. Now Fox, having been caught red-handed misrepresenting the news, rightly figured that the only thing left was an on air mea culpa using the time-tested “oops” defense. You know the one. The “ah, gosh, shucks” and “it was just an honest mistake” excuse.

And maybe that’s all it was. Then again, maybe it wasn’t. After all, do you really think Fox would have come clean if they hadn’t been outed by Stewart? Not likely. And given Fox’s reputation for conveniently stretching the news to fit their conservative agenda my money’s on it being anything but a mistake. Looks like the only mistake here is that they got caught with their journalistic pants down.

Jon Stewart Video Clip Catches Fox Airing Bogus Video Footage

But the last time I checked America was established as a nation of tolerance, civil liberties and human rights. It is inherent in our constitution, our traditions, and our history. Yet for a country that sells itself to the world as a sanctuary of liberty and human rights we sure have hard time reconciling this with our own rhetoric. The issue now is whether or not homosexuals should receive equal civil treatment when it comes to marriage. Both sides continue to launch vehement attacks on one another to support their respective positions. Yet all the struggles in court rooms, legislatures and voting booths over gay-marriage have simply been a precursor for the real conflict looming on the horizon; the battle over who owns marriage.

On the offensive are the traditional marriage people. This group believes marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman that is blessed and sanctified by God. For them, marriage “belongs” to God; meaning churches and religions. And the very idea of a man-man or woman-woman marriage is pure blasphemy.

But aside from all the blessing and sanctity stuff, marriage is essentially a legal union; a special kind of partnership that defines the relationship between two people joined in wedlock. This legal institution of marriage spans numerous laws, decisions, precedents and opinions, which are generally written for each state. But after the wedding, the ceremony, the holy water and whatever else each religion deems necessary to bless the union…the government steps in. It mediates marital rights and responsibilities during marriage, including the custody of minors and the division of property when marriages end in divorce. Like or not, marriage is essentially an institution of law, not religion. And as such the scope of marriage should be decided by the constitution, not the Bible! Apparently the bigots sodomizing civil rights across the country didn’t get the message.