First, the Beagle of Doom hit it on the head! I had to read that comment twice to fully embrace the depth of his insight.

Second, American Christians need to ask themselves, Would God be against liberty and civil rights? Why would the church go against God?

Third: My 99.5 year grandma said, "I think all people should be treated equally, because,...she pauses....because they are people."

Lastly: Grandma said gay keep getting born and they are still here. New ones get born and they are here. She doesn't know what God is up too, but, grandma says that gays are people. She worries about the preachers who use their status to harm people.

Major Maurice

Thanks Beagle. I love my nanna too. She is so amazing. Your comments about meeting Jesus are really quite profound. I don't know if you gave that some thought or if it just tumbled out of your sub-conscious, but, it is spot on. If we really want to meet Jesus, we would be out there in the streets, so to speak, taking risks. Not hiding behind theology and whatever else good Christians define as good.

My parting thought: What would God do? Would he be against civil rights, fairness, equality, liberty? So, lets coin a new phrase: WWGD.

Power to the Beagle!

Hey Beagle, I sent this email out to everyone two days ago. How timely to read your comments. As an aside, Prepaid Legal of Washington State wrote me and asked me to remove them from my mail list. I thought they would be interested in civil rights, considering I am a member and they have such a huge membership base. You have inspired me Beagle. This is what I sent to my loved ones and all:

I recently read the latest Box Turtle Bulletin and learned something new, about Sen. Barry Goldwater. His voices rises from back in the day when Republicans actually believed in liberty for all.

This current mind set, which caters to the 'born-again' crowd, isn't concerned about religion. They just want the religious VOTE. The last time we had a socially conscience president was LBJ. Then Nixon came in- and brought in his vice and his self serving behavior to the Republican party and it spread to the Democrats too.

It seems politicians are afraid of losing the fanatical religious vote if they stand up and say, HEY! Liberty, civil rights, for ALL! Lets stop for a minute and ask ourselves, would God actually be against liberty and civil rights for all?

There is a small possibility that the Democrats have the first socially conscience nomination since LBJ. I am asking my friends to vote for a social conscience and I am asking my California and Arizona friends to vote No on Prop 8 and Prop 2. I have donated a small amount of money to these two Props so I am not asking you to do anything I wouldn't do.

So, get out and vote and vote for change. There is a good possibility we will see a truly socially conscience presidency.

I couldn't agree with you more. Evangelicals need to change their ways. You hit every point succinctly. I can't even find words to expound further. I am not often speechless, so, Thank you- very much.

This is in response to Not Blind's Fundamentalism. I am refreshed by you and a few other writers on Salon. The zealot Christian born again crowd has re-defined the true meaning of love. It is time to cry foul.

God is not against equality, fairness, civil rights and freedom! Your comments reflect the true meaning of compassion and understanding.

The Republicans have been slutting with the born-agains for the sake of money. No more please.

Does anyone else feel this way? Are you tired of Jerry Falwell, Ted Haggard, Pat Robertson, Ken Hagee, and that whole crowd of look-a-likes dictating public policy? They mock God in the name of God.

Those men serve money. I hope Obama doesn't sell out to the money-changers. Please let me know what you think.

The sad thing about that, is, if he were allowed to be gay, he might have accomplished some great things for the sake of his community. But no. Gays can't be Christians, and Christians can't be gay. So off into the closet we go. Until we bust out like leaking acid from a poorly cared for battery. Grandma says that gays keep getting born, and they are people. New gays are born and they are people. So, people should be treated equally because, they, are, people.

Can't the church get it into their heads that this is biology? The French study on fertility suggests that the gay gene is actually a fertility gene that is passed down from DNA to BOTH sexes to insure its survival. That would explain androgeny and sexual attraction. Gayness is not a moral issue. It is part of how DNA is constantly encoding traits for survival of the species.

When we see a recurring trait in the DNA pool, we know that the trait must be important to the survival of the gene pool. God wasn't an idiot. Love triumphs in the spirit, and in the gene pool.