Why is it that many of those Con Men are so call men of God? Many of them born again and again christians. It might be because it is easy to cover their crime with religious cloth

Congressman DeLay is on the Journey of the Three "Uns". Progress is made each time he loses an "Un" So far he has completed one. Let us hope the other two are accomplished quickly. The "Uns" of course are:

1) Unindicted

2) Unconvicted

2) Unincarcerated.

Alan J. Weissburg MD

Providence, RI

Loved the article. The hypocrisy of this crew just makes one gag. What's puzzling is why so many have bought it for so long.

People who care about -- rather than just talk about -- morality and integrity in government can only hope that the mid-term elections bounce these "religious"-right affiliated idiots out on their caviar-engorged asses.

What is more Christian than taking money from people and giving nothing in return? Come on for the "moral majority" this is a non-story.

Right on the mark!

As for the Colson skeptics of long ago, his story and life are certainly now more profound in the long run than the "rise" of Robertson from a dedicated servant of humility in an inner-city New York apartment to an ego-driven PR man for a God he claims to know but I cannot recognize in Pat's venomous take on the "punishment" of Sharon, who has enough actions to explain to the Master without being vilified for "giving away" His land.

"Perhaps it is worth expressing a small hope that the good religious people of this country will rise up in outrage against the abuse of their faith by all these pious hypocrites."

I fear Mr. Conanson's hope may be misplaced. My father was a conservative evangelical preacher, who traveled around the country doing week-long "revivals" at evangelical churches. The whole time I was growing up, I would travel with my father (when possible), so I have a lot of experience with the folks that are "guided" by the likes of Falwell, Reed, and Robertson. In my estimation, the "faithful" will never question the abuse of their faith by pious politicians, because for decades they have not ever questioned the abuse of their faith by pious preachers. In the mind of the typical evangelical believer/church-goer, Tom DeLay is as righteous as their local funamentalist shepherd, and for whatever reason, this means he is not to be questioned, even at the expense of the abuse of the very faith the believer professes to follow.

I don't know for sure how this "ends justifies the means" impulse got into the Christian church; that certainly is not a sentiment the Bible posits as ideal, or even permissible. But the basic idea is that if, in the long run, these slick politicians who have allied themselves with the fundamentalists can make some headway against abortion, gay marriage, and all the other perceived ills that the fundies believe befall modern-day America, the manner in which that headway is made is less than important, and can be ignored completely.

"God works in mysterious ways," indeed.

"Let Us Prey" is a terrific encapsulation of the religious hypocrisy of the right. But I'm afraid Joe's preaching to the choir. True believers in Delay, Reed and company will not be swayed by all the clear facts assembled in this piece. No, they are the Christian faithful, the same ones who disenfranchised themselves when they voted for Bush, and they will continue to support these dumb ass crooks even after they are convicted. Now if somehow - by the grace of the corporate gods - these facts were repeated again and again on Fox News, then perhaps some right leaning, good Christian minds could be swayed. But then, that would indeed be a miracle!

During the Crusades, when the political and religious leaders used Christianity to justify an unjust war, Francis of Assisi traveled to the front lines and preached to his own side, convincing many crusaders to trade chain mail for monk's robes. In 16th-century Germany, when religious leaders used their position to justify extortion, Martin Luther gave the people a Bible they could read and a church structure accountable to everyone. In 1940s Germany, when Hitler demanded -- and got -- allegiance from most church leaders, pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer started a new denomination devoted to social justice, and worked against the Nazi regime until they executed him.

I don't mean to say that these guys were all perfect. But it's encouraging to remember that individual thought and resistance is possible even within an ideology that looks monolithic from the outside.

Another option is not giving full trust to anyone who is (or claims to be) deeply superstitious. But in America, if you are not any kind of mystic then you are regarded as less trustworthy.

http://www.the-brights.net/

I want to thank razajac for his eloquent post.

The lock-step gang mentality that pervades these organizations is truly frightening. The lack of ability to question the belief systems that are handed out to be worn on the sleeves of these "true believers" should be the first red herring.

Whenever a large group of people believes themselves to be right, or "on the side of God", life becomes very simple for them. We good, they bad. There are a large number of people that would rather be intellectually lazy and lie there bloated with a feeling of self righteousness after feasting on a buffet of lies.

I only wonder how bad it's going to have to get before most of us fat, apathetic Americans wake the hell up.

If this Abramoff case isn't a wake up and smell the stench of corruption, I honestly don't know what is...

Well presented and timely. Should be read from every pulpit in the nation, or failing that at least distributed in front of every church following services.

Reed, Robertson, et al, give credence to the existence of an Anti-Christ. After all, how many of their followers have discarded the words of Christ for the words of these charlatans and warmongers.