but also, when all the paranoia, all the fear mongering, all the hysterical scenarios whipped up the the psychologically disturbed underbelly of the Republican slime machine turns out not to be prophetic - when all their loudest, most strident leaders turn out to be false prophets, and the mainstream Protestant/Catholic denominations turn out to be the truer prophets, will those who claim to be the followers of Jesus seek after the truth, which was there all along, or will they continue to follow those who say "Lord! Lord!" but don't know and don't want to know the Jesus of the Gospels?

Likely some will, but no matter what the shift in religious truth or even scientific reality, there will always be those who cling to the false worldview they share with a number of other, equally psychologically dysfunctional folks. After all, there are gatherings of folks who still believe the world to be flat (which is the picture painted by the Biblical creation story, though the "creations science" folks don't seem to want to push things that far).

There are also prominent scientists who have never made it past Newtonian Physics to discover the miraculous things allowed by the theories of quantum mechanics or the latest discoveries in subatomic particle physics.

Probably the best we can hope for is the admission on all sides of every issue, that no one has the full picture or complete understanding of anything. We humans are simply too limited in our own internal computing power, not to mention our ability to take in and comprehend all relevant data on the subjects at hand.

It is when we refuse to acknowledge our limitations and insist that "my" point of view is completely, totally, unassailably right and correct that we run into the kinds of troubles we've lately had whether in politics, science, or church denominations.

I fully expect Mr./Mrs. Palin to go home, meet with their religious/political advisors (in other words, go to church for emotional support, then talk to each other across the kitchen table in good old Wasilla), then start pushing in earnest for Alaska to seceded from the union. That'll show Barack Obama and the rest of America that they can't push the Palin's around!

We boomers have given you so many bad and difficult lessons in what happens when you place your trust in those who promise you everything, but never deliver, nor intend to deliver anything but their own agendas. Don't forget this as we did.

PLEASE remember, that those who are most likely to say the equivalent of "Trust me," whether they be friends, lovers, used car salesman, bankers in credit card disclosure statements with "fixed" interest rates that aren't fixed at all or the most honest looking, sincere, clear-eyed politicians; all those who say, in a thousand ways, "trust me," are precisely those who can and should never be trusted.

Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, all said "trust me" in a million different ways, then betrayed that trust at every turn. Clinton didn't say it until his problem with women of a certain age with whom he couldn't seem to keep his pants zipped came to light, but other than that, not at all. Meanwhile, all those who called him "slick willy" and impeached him proclaiming how morally superior they were (while doing similar things to him in their own lives, it has been revealed) were exactly those who should never have been trusted.

I never heard Obama say "trust me" or the equivalent of it even once in this campaign. He didn't need to, but all those who raised questions about his trustworthiness are the people we still need to watch out for... and those who, due to their own dysfunctions, can't be trusted and yet, at the same time, can't judge who else can and should be trusted.

It's been a long time since we had a leader who was worthy of so much trust. Even if Obama makes a few mistakes along the way, we can still trust him, because we'll know that what's beneath his surface is exactly the same as what's up front. Unlike so many most recently before him, his agenda is exactly what he's told us it is. This, of course, will not prevent all those who have ulterior motives themselves, which he's preventing from being accomplished, from accusing him of having ulterior motives for everything he does. They can't imagine anyone would be different from themselves.

Still, despite what they'll try to do to him, let's help Obama make his dreams and ours a reality and not be a bit afraid to verbally, at least, slap down those who can't trust him or anyone else, and because they can't trust, nor imagine what it would be like to be someone else, always feel completely justified in seeking for ways to accomplish their own selfish ends to the spiritual, physical, or economic impoverishment of everyone else.

1) Salty Pappy has evidently not been to Europe or South Africa lately, but perhaps he speaks of the countries he'd be more comfortable in... Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan... you know, the places where they have theocratic governments or groups trying desperately to accomplish theocratic governments... the Taliban, Al Qaida, the Wahabi sect of Islam... of course he could always emigrate to a place where love between two people of the same gender "dare not speak its name" because the punishment is death...but Christians get the same treatment in some parts of those same countries so, maybe not...

2) The majority black Christian Church which Barak Obama attended for years, Trinity in Chicago, is a member of the United Church of Christ, a liberal protestant denomination that believes "God is Still Speaking" in our world today and that God is bigger than the Bible. The UCC is on record totally supporting gay marriage and encouraging its legalization across the nation. There were many Christians working AGAINST Proposition 8 in California. Please don't lump us all together.