I grew up watching my father and men like him "work hard and play by the rules." They worked long hours. They were loyal to their companies and proud of the work that they did. The men of my childhood believed that this blue collar work was the key to a better life for their families. For many years, this was true.

However, since about the mid-70s or so, this work ethic has stopped yielding results for these men. Many of them were laid-off or "downsized" by the corporations that they’d dedicated their lives to. Unions were broken or gutted. Good jobs were sent to the 3rd world. The gap between the wealthy and poor is growing wider than it’s been since before WWII. The middle class is shrinking.

I understand the desire to return to a time when blue collar work was way of life for the middle class. However, those jobs and that life are not available to most of us today. Now, it’s "every man for himself." No one under the ago of 30 knows what the word "pension" means. The working world has changed.

Holy cow! I've known since the 80's that Ralph Reed is a snake, but I had no idea he'd actually used churches in one state to essentially lobby for casinos in another. One must admire Mr. Reed for his creativity and chutzpah.

Mr. Keillor takes Reed to task for his religious hypocrisy (and rightly so). However, I think that it’s important to point out that stories like this are interpreted by the agnostics and atheists of the world (like me) as proof that organized religion is something that needs careful scrutiny by the public and the government.

Perhaps the government should investigate these churches, their pastors, and their connection to Ralph Reed. Have these churches violated any tax laws, for example?

I am for the freedom of religion. However, at some point, these churches crossed the line between religion and politics. If we are not vigilant, we'll end up living in a de facto theocracy.

I just want to say "bless you" for your kind treatment of an old sickly cat. A little salmon probably brought so much comfort to him.

I am not a religious person. To me, it all seems like a sales pitch for a time-share campground in West Virginia. However, if we are to be judged by God when we die, then one criterium will certainly be how we treated the least of us.

No one claims that science is perfect. However, the goal of science is to learn the factual truth about matters. On the other hand, the goal of religion is to advance a set of beliefs that are based on blind faith. Science and religion are not on the same intellectual level.

Also, Hadongus argues that science can't be trusted because academic research is funded by industry. In fact, the government, mainly the relatively agenda-free National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, funds most academic science research today. Industrial funding is important in only a few fields, such as pharmaceutical development. In any case, the peer-reviewed literature system serves as an effective check on faulty or biased research. Hadongus seems to imply that academia has sold out to industry, which simply isn’t true.

"It may be that for him the best thing to do is to sacrifice his own happiness in order to live by his code. It's not for us to say."

What if the friend was female and her husband was the abuser? Would the advice be the same? Probably not. There is no good reason to stay in an abusive marrage.

Any idealogy or religion that tells someone to stay in an abusive relationship is just part of the abuse. The idea that someone is supposed to accept abuse in a relationship for some abstract greater good is bullshit.

Normally, I am an advocate of counseling. However, I think in this case, the counseling is failing the LW. The LW only seems to be able to see this issue as something that affects her own life. She seems to lack empathy for anyone else’s viewpoint.

She needs to put this in perspective. A man, with a wife and children, has been diagnosed with a fatal illness. He is undergoing chemotherapy that, despite many advances, is rather unpleasant. In all likelihood, this difficult treatment will eventually fail. He will die, his death will not be easy, and he knows it.

The LW is considering having a discussion with this dying man about how 1.) he wasn’t there for her when their father died 50 years ago, and 2.) why he isn’t willing to discuss the effect of his own future death on her psyche. Eeeek!

I think the LW should deal with her issues on her own and attempt to make her brother’s last months as happy as she can.

I live in NM. I've been to Farmington and the big res. I know people in both places.

The attitude of many (though not all) long-time white Farmington residents is that the Navajos are lazy drunks, living on hand outs from the federal government. Some of these folks pity the Navajo for this misconception, while others hate them for it.

Its true that the white Farmington locals only see the worst of the Navajo. However, that's no excuse for racism and hate crimes. Additionally, most of this bad behavior has its origins in the awful, awful history of the white's domination and subjugation of the Native Americans.

Personally, I think this article is mostly correct. Thanks to Salon.com for publishing it.