The ambitions of the Office of Religious Freedom tap into a growing global challenge -- one that some in the general public seem intent on dismissing by caricaturing religious devotees as inherently fanatical whose weak acquiescence to a ragbag of delusional self-therapy fables is intellectually offensive.

While most of us never have to notice how much killing happens on our behalf, the social ethos of retribution and punishment behind the urge to execute infects much of our society and our souls.

Why did Jesus have to die? Was it to appease a wrathful God's demand for punishment? Does that mean Jesus died to save us from God? How could someone ever truly love or trust a God like that?

Conflating biblical understandings of forgiveness with individual, therapeutic notions distorts the biblical text and creates pressure on individual victims.

The key to dealing with most criminal behavior may well be the application of basic Christian principles: repent, make restitution, restore relationships and change your ways.