Buffalo Kaplinski:

It sounds like you’re accusing atheists of not helping others in need.  I say that is why we pay taxes so that our collective revenues help the less fortunate, thereby disengaging the religious ideology that one is doing more than the other.

With that in mind, since President Bush and many of those in the Republican Party so valiently proclaim their christian morality, why are they so quick to drastically cutting those very programs?  Medicaid, Medicare, Student Loans, Regulatory Agencies, etc. while at the same time escellating our national debt to extremes in the name of a war on a country that had no connection, whatsoever, to 9/11?

Since our leaders who have pandered to the Christian Conservatives have left (most of) New Orleans residents destitute from a natural disaster with minimal help, severely decreased employment in various regulatory agencies of which 2 disasters occurred in January (mining, West Virginia), passed and implemented a drug program that is more confusing and costly to our senior citizens, and conducted a war of which billions of dollars are unaccounted for by companies (closely related to this administration) who received no-bid contracts, I would say that these leaders are wolves in sheeps clothing.

They have manipulated the American People, stolen from our tax coffers, and continue to degrade our nation.  I would rather see secular individuals, who do not lie to their constituents, resume control of our government so that we can effectively help those in need, hold accountable corporations to their misdeeds and enforce regulations that protect our citizens, institute restrictions that begin to wean us from our petroleum addiction, and support endeavors that sustain our energy needs in an environmentally friendly way.

It’s a small, but hopeful, sign that Evangelicals are starting to understand that we need to start treating terra-firma with a bit more respect than we have.  The “rapture” is still (and always has been) a myth; until it has happened, we either learn to co-exist with the environment we have, heal what we are destroying, and learn to live with each other in a peaceful and respectful manner, no matter what our religious ideology is or isn’t or we all die for our transgressions.

I fear you are right! I hope more people join me in pursuing Jeezus outside the mainstream.

THIS IS VERY INTERESTING that so many EXCELLENT CHRISTIAN LEADERS are behind this move . THE WORD reminds us that we are our BROTHERS KEEPER [ GEN. 4 : 9 ] &[ 1 JOHN 3 : 11 - 13 ]MANY CHRISTIANS are concerned with ISSUES besides serving JESUS . how many ATHEISTS are helping THE HOMELESS , UNWED MOTHERS ETC. ? IT’S TOO BAD -THE ENVIRONMENT has to suffer because of GREED & GLUTTONOUS LIVING and WE’RE ALL GUILTY - LET’S FESS UP & DO SOMETHING - LIKE CUT BACK on OIL CONSUMPTION & UNNEEDED CONSUMER GOODS ! this is a SERIOUS PROBLEM - BUFFALO KAPLINSKI ,ELIZABETH , COLORADO

Give me a break.

When these snake-oil salesmen unite behind a good cause, it’s time to keep your hand on your wallet. I’m sure they will offer to intervene with the Invisible Man in the Sky—for a hefty price.