How badly do the Republicans want to win the White House? I suspect they don't. Nor do I think they are particularly worried about the dire state of the economy and the lingering recession.

What they care about is theocracy, not freedom. They want to score moral points with the...

The last time I looked at Deseret News, they were touting a poll purporting to show that most Americans oppose marriage equality -- something in conflict with all other polls. An investigation showed that the poll used an unrepresentative sampling, skewed to disproportionately include those people most likely...

As most people will know, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that overturned Proposition 8. The Proposition was an initiative that stripped away marriage rights from California's same-sex couples and was funded heavily by Mormons responding to a call by church leaders. Mormon...

It. Some people have it, some don't. The "it" factor is undefined. It refers to a personal radiance that surpasses looks alone. It is part charisma, but not entirely that. We often say they just have "something" that turns every head when they walk into the room.

David had...

No doubt, by now, you are aware of the run-in Senator Randal Paul had with the Transportation Security Administration. For the record, I have no horse in this race. I'm not particularly smitten with Paul and think the TSA ought to be replaced.

In this incident, the Senator was...

Scott Moody of Cornerstone Policy Research, a religious-right organization, wants to regulate marriage in New Hampshire in order to prevent same-sex couples from marrying.

Moody claims same-sex marriage "devalues" marriage, a claim that has never been precisely explained. How one couple's marriage "devalues" other marriages seems to...

If you want an illustration as to what is wrong with politics, look no further than the debate on marriage equality in the state of Washington and the views of Sen. Brian Hatfield (D). First a little background: a measure deregulating marriage to allow same-sex marriage contracts is going to...

One of the most extreme things Rick Santorum said in his campaign to be elected Moralist-in-Chief is also something largely ignored by the media. In yet another anti-gay rant, Santorum promised that as president he would get involved in a national campaign to strip gay couples of their marriage licenses....

One of the more prevalent arguments waged against marriage equality is historically equivalent to creationism. Creationists ignore science and argue, based entirely on their reading of Bible mythology, that the world is 7,000 years old and that species don't evolve. For them, reality has to fit their theology, not the...

Like most kids, I grew up celebrating Christmas and I didn't give it up when I became an adult. Even though I gave up religion and a belief in a god, I still celebrated in Christmas.

What I mean is I continued with what Christmas had become in the modern...

Rodney Dangerfield said he got such little respect that as a kid his yo-yo wouldn't come back. Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson can identify. He's been excluded from 14 of the 16 Republican presidential debates, even when his poll numbers were better than candidates being included.

While I...

Recently, Australia's ruling Labor Party has been fighting off an attempt to legalize same-sex marriage. The problem was that rank-and-file members, and most voters, support marriage equality, while left-wing Prime Minister Julia Gillard does not. She is quite adamant in her opposition.

She claims that she is protecting "traditional" marriage,...

This is an open letter to Jonah, and others in a similar situation, who is about to enter 8th grade and is emotionally tormented by bullies. His heart-wrenching video had this writer in tears, and I want to address him in a way I can't on YouTube. I urge you...

If Janice Crouse of Concerned Woman for America is to be believed, the alleged "decline in marriage and breakdown of the family" hasn't merely hurt individuals but "undermined social institutions and shaken the stability and economic viability of nations."

We know, of course, that "decline in marriage...

Two major figures from the religious right can be seen in the video below. Tamara Scott is Michele Bachmann's campaign chair in Iowa, and Bob Vander Plaats is a leader of the anti-gay movement in the state. Ms. Scott is worrying about how gay marriage will lead to all sorts...

Most of the world's poverty is not self-inflicted, yet apparently many seem to think it is.

My experience, living in Africa, tells me otherwise. Much of global poverty is imposed and I don't mean by evil "multi-national corporations" or "globalization." Those myths are easily debunked. The real causes of...

When American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a Queens neighborhood, it took away the breath of the nation; it was one month after the 9/11 attacks. For William Valentine, it took away more than that -- it took his partner of 20 years, Joe Lopes.

An Associated Press

Conservatives frequently talk about the cost of regulations. For instance, Freedomworks, a well-known conservative organization, published a piece called The Hidden Cost of Regulation. It said, "Complying with regulations is not cheap," noting that regulations aren't paid for by just corporations, but by "the entire economy." It notes...

For about six months, I have immersed myself in the study of the history of marriage and the debate around equality for same-sex couples. The reason is simple: it is the civil rights battle of our age.

The first thing I discovered is that I had to unlearn much...

Contrary to almost every other national poll regarding marriage equality, Deseret News, a newspaper owned by the Mormon Church, claims that two thirds of Americans oppose marriage equality.

When the mouthpiece of the Mormon Church publishes a new poll showing that two thirds of Americans now oppose...