_{Image © Austin Cline
Original Poster: National Archives}

Conservative, evangelical Christianity in America may not be inherently or necessarily racist, but there has been significant convergence between racism, White Supremacy, and conservative Christianity throughout American history. Conservative evangelical Christians been leading defenders of slavery, racism, and segregation. What's more, there are aspects of evangelical doctrine which encourage the continuation of racist outcomes regardless of the existence of absence of racial bias among individuals.

Read Article: America as a Christian Nation, America as a White Nation

_{Pat Robertson
November 7, 2007
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images}

Pat Robertson is getting a lot of negative attention for recent comments he made supporting the idea of a man divorcing his wife who had (advanced) Alzheimer's. He definitely deserves some criticism for what he said, but I'm not sure that he deserves all of it -- and what's more, he deserves some praise for what he said as well. Read More...

_{Image courtesy
PriceGrabber.com}

For most, pain is something they'd rather avoid. Pain is a sign that something is wrong and that needs to be fixed. But for a few, at least some times, pain is something sought after. Some people even have religious reasons to seek pain and discomfort. Why would people do this? Are they insane, or do they know something the rest of us don't?

Book of the Week: Sacred Pain: Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul

_{Fundamental Civil Right
Anti-Prop 8 Protest in Pittsburgh
Photo © Bonnie Cline, 2008}

Are there secular arguments for the idea that gay marriage will undermine the institution of marriage? If so, they should be taken seriously. If one of our society's goals is to support and encourage marriage, then of course we should avoid sanctioning anything that would undermine that goal. Unfortunately for opponents of same-sex marriages, they have been unable to offer any secular arguments for their position that allowing gay couples to marry will have deleterious effects on marriage generally.

Read Article: A Fundamental Civil Right: Marriage is Regulated by Civil, Secular Law