This is an example of the way Egyptians are taught to think about current events -- the paranoid conspiracy of the week way of understanding the world. The Egyptians believe and trust nobody, and so they are really having trouble getting their democracy off the ground.

They lose, or never develop, any sense of what is implausible or impossible in political matters, so they have no way of telling what is real or logical.

In a way, they are good sources, since sooner or later they will say just about anything for a week or two, so you can quote them.

What if the rich got their money by rigging the game, tilting the playing field, c***ting the rest of us? It's clear Jesus would not approve, but we are not sure what he would want us to do about it.

I think God wants us to adjust the tax code because He sees it as unfair the way it is now.

What if there are many poor willing to work, who used to work five or ten years ago and tried to find new jobs if they were laid off and usually succeeded quickly, but they cant find jobs any more because there arent enough jobs?

I think God wants us to support these people until the economy creates something for them to do. And to do what we can to get the economy to create something for them to do.

We were a Christian nation and a s***eowning nation with many s***eowning Christians. That was the sort of Christian that founded our country, and they do not exist any more, thank God. There are no Christians in this country who would defend s***eowning or think a Christian could do such a thing.

This is not a Christian country in their sense of Christian or in yours. America was always a refuge for various people looking for freedom of worship, so American Christianity is tolerant -- of Christians, Jews, and also of the beliefs and moralities of the native Americans. If your Christianity is not tolerant, then it is not American Christianity, but it is still welcome here because we are tolerant.

Some of the states had state religions (like Congregationalism) for the first few years of our existence, but they gave them up. The God of most of the Founders was the watchmaker God who started the watch ticking and then just observed it. Their talk of God was mainly boilerplate; the Chinese government talks about c*******m, but it doesnt mean anything.

If we were a christian nation, it was certainly not an Evangelical one any more than it was a Catholic one. It would be conservative mainline Protestant, which believes in science and evolution and the Social Gospel when not pushed to extremes.

Actually, we are doing pretty well. We got rid of s***ery and are working on discrimination. We arent doing as well on social justice as other countries with our money, but most of us still think of ourselves as our brothers' keeper. We are beginning to worry about how we have been exercising the stewardship of this magnificent planet, and are making motions to stop trashing the place. We have finally figured out that women should be encouraged to be equal to men rather than prevented by law and custom, as they were in the Bible. We are finally figuring out that since gayness is not a choice, it is immoral to act as if it were and God would not want us to do so.

We are finally committing ourselves to sharing the burden of ill health financially (we have always shared it on the level of the immediate family, and now we are extending that sharing). Since we cannot take on the physical pain or worries about infirmity of others, we can at least share the financial burden and leave the sick person with only the problem of getting well and not also the problem of paying for the care.

And we are beginning to address the fact that great disparities of wealth are not good for society or for the possessors of that wealth as well as not good for the needy.

We are realizing that as children of God, we are growing older and it is time for us to make up our own minds about good and bad using the guidance of our Father rather than having that guidance (or what we think it is) be the last or only word. We are no longer toddlers of God. We are perhaps more God's preteens, preparing to separate and live our own lives while keeping close to our Father.

On a******n, the best solution is for women not to want to get a******ns rather than not be able. In that case, they will take care not to get pregnant. If they do, they should have help taking care of the child, or someone they can entrust with the child. That way, there are good alternatives to a******n and few will want to get one. This is already the policy in some of our states.

Of course, if we returned to segregation or not letting women have decent jobs or forcing gays back into the closet, we will have failed God's test and will be deserving of an unpleasant end.

There is a history of trying to use the Bible like this. Study it and you will see that it doesnt work. For example, the end of the world has been forecast many times based on the Bible. Most of the dates have already past.

Using the Bible like this is one way the Devil seduces or tempts us into not seeking its true message, which Jesus summed up in a sentence or two. People who use the Bible like this are proud that they have figured out the meaning that others have missed. This p***e gives the Devil all the opening he needs to work much mischief.