... I do have another point to explore. I was previously married to an African-American woman who was very devout in the AME and in the Assemblies of God, and I did attend a few services in those churches as an observer and knew many of the congregants.

This may be much more about the LW's marriage than about his faith.

These kind of churches are often heavily into "tithing", i.e. donating 10% of gross income to the church, so a conversion of a middle-class person is equivalent to a large sale. Conversely, the loss of the same is a big hit in the budget. If the LW backs out and stops paying, then the minister may put a lot of pressure on wifey to get him back on board.

Result misery.

The other factor is that AA churches are full of single women, and married AA women see church membership as the best way to keep their husbands monogamous, through a combination of direct observation and peer pressure through the church community. Hence, if hubby says he ain't going to church on Sunday no more, then wifey's first assumption is that he has a piece of ass on the side.

Result misery.

Hence, as I said in my first letter, the LW's best bet is to just shut up and suffer for his faith or lack of. And remember that he is not alone. Half the congregation at the church will feel the same way, and even the pastors are not immune.

My ex-wife's AME pastor, who was married with a baby, contracted AIDS while servicing his fellow man in church-financed missionary work in Haiti, and was dead within five years. Fortunately he was "saved", otherwise eternity could have gone badly for him.

... and he should be arrested immediately. The UN Convention Against Torture is perfectly clear that claiming effectiveness is no legal defence against using torture. Cheney is just shooting himself in the foot and basically asking to be arrested.

I think the pressure, plus a guilty conscience, is turning Cheney insane.

Of course, it is likely that Cheney is being driven insane by a guilty conscience, which may account for some of his outpourings.

Clearly it is Al Quaida that has won the so-called War on Terror as it has succeeded in showing that America's claims to be a nation of laws are a sham and it has managed to turn the US into a nation that tortures and then protects the torturers, contrary to international treaties against torture signed willingly by the US.

It is all very well (but illegal) to forgive and forget, but what we are seeing now is that some, like Richard Cheney, are unrepentant and willing to publicly make an illegal defence of torture on the grounds that it is effective.

An incident happened recently in a prison here in Florida, as follows:

The incident occurred during a power outage at the facility on April 8. The six officers, apparently believing that the video cameras in solitary confinement were disabled by the power outage, allegedly pulled an inmate from his cell and beat him.

However, the cameras were on a backup charger and captured the beating on tape. After administration received a tip from another officer, the camera was checked and revealed the abuse of the inmate.

As I have a certain amount of inside information on this story, I can tell you that several people have told me that the inmate "deserved" the beating for sexually exposing himself to employees and other disciplinary offenses.

Some officers have been arrested, some fired, and some suspended. But supposing the state authorities just decided that the inmate got what he deserved and decided that was the end of the matter, wouldn't it soon become standard practice to administer ad hoc beatings?

Obama has to make it clear that torture is a never again thing. This means going after those responsible.

Cheney is defiant and unrepentant. It is time to arrest him.

And if so, what does that mean?

Probably not very much. Obviously Barack Obama is the new model for American masculinity, and Todd Palin is picking up a few crumbs that fall from the political table in the form of celebrity modeling gigs.

Obama can also multitask. He has won a nationwide campaign, fathered two daughters, ended torture in the US, been invited to the palace to meet the Queen, met Tiger Woods, survived British cuisine and a trip to Iraq, and still found time to play with a puppy. Due to an accident of birth, he was raised in Hawaii where opportunities for snowmobiling are limited, but he made up for it by body surfing.

And if Palin can change the tires on a snowmobile his name ought to be Merlin, because those rubbery thingies are called tracks, not tires.

Dear LW, I feel for you, but there is no easy answer. I work with many devout African-Americans, and as far as they are concerned being agnostic is approximately the same as devil-worship.

You just have to lie and agree that when Jesus comes back the wicked will be punished, without actually defining the wicked.

Don't say anything to your wife, because you will only make her unhappy. She will think you are hell-bound.

You see, you have eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and now you are to be punished for the rest of your life. It's all in Genesis, and now you can see that it is true, but not quite in the same way that you used to think.

Anyhow, Barack Obama and I welcome you to the club.