OUR COLUMNISTS Repent or Resign -- What to Say and Not Say from the Evangelical Pulpit Commentary by Matt Friedeman Pastors ought to have the constitutional right to say whatever they want from their pulpits. Even inappropriate and stupid things. But a political right doesn't necessary mean the better part of wisdom. Liberty or Libertine? Commentary by Jane Jimenez As we work to teach our children the value of saving sex until marriage, we must look ourselves full face in the mirror. We must admit that our culture has used our love affair with liberty to enslave us to our passions. Dysfunctional Accountability Commentary by Brad Locke For all the qualities lacking among our big-time athletes, the most striking absence seems to be that of accountability. When you make so much money, and so much is expected of you, you can't afford to fail. And if you do, you'd better find a scapegoat quick. Amnesia Commentary by David Sisler What would it be like to wake up and not remember the evil that you had done, the people you had hurt, the sins you had committed? What would you pay for a little selective amnesia? 'The One Supreme Asset of the National Life' Commentary by Mark Creech Echoing the words of the great preacher Peter Marshall, columnist Mark Creech says "a mother's role in the family is pivotal to the nation." Indeed ... moms are, as Marshall stated, the "keepers of the springs."

...The Texas Senate has approved placing a constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage on the November 2005 ballot. The senators voted 21-8 on Saturday to approve the proposed constitutional ban on same-sex "marriage," sending the issue on to the state's voters. The Texas House narrowly passed the amendment proposal last month. The amendment prohibits cities, counties, or the State of Texas from recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage that is not between one man and one woman. Supporters of the ban feel it is a necessary move to keep the state's courts from thwarting the will of the citizens and redefining marriage. Opponents criticize the measure as discriminatory and warn that it could hurt heterosexual families if domestic partner benefits, powers of attorney, and common law marriage are called into question. Meanwhile, representatives of the American Psychiatric Association are urging legal recognition of same-sex marriage. On Sunday, the first day of their weeklong annual meeting in Atlanta, APA members approved a statement supporting same-sex marriage "in the interest of maintaining and promoting mental health." The document states that the APA is addressing same-sex civil marriage, not religious unions, and takes no position on any religion's views on marriage. [Mary Rettig and Jenni Parker]

...A one-hour special soon to air on Nick at Nite's "TV Land" network will examine how homosexuals have influenced and reacted to various television shows, characters, and celebrities over the last 40 years. On June 1, the cable network will premier Inside TV Land: Tickled Pink, a show focusing on celebrated TV shows, characters and personalities that homosexuals have closely identified with or gravitated towards and why. A Viacom.com article on the special quotes TV Land/Nick at Night president Larry Jones as saying that many of the shows and characters mainstream America has embraced -- from Uncle Arthur on "Bewitched" to the women of "Sex & the City" -- have "also meant a great deal to gay Americans," a group whose members, Jones says, "have had their own way of watching and creating classic comedy." Produced for TV Land by Linda Ellerbee's Lucky Duck Productions, the 60-minute special will feature commentary from such show business notables as Sandra Bernhard, Kelsey Grammer, Rue McClanahan, Diahann Carroll, Bruce Vilanch, and others. Ellerbee, an outspoken journalist, author, and former NBC News Overnight co-anchor, has recently been the host of Nick News, a "kid's issues" TV program on Nickelodeon. [Jenni Parker]

...Child safety advocates have again appealed to the U.S. government to do more to stop the spread of pornography. The appeal came at a recent summit in Washington, DC, put together by Penny Nance of the Kids First Coalition. She says the summit was called "to examine the connection between the proliferation of pornography in our culture and what's happening to our children. We're seeing a spike in incidence of our children being hurt and stolen and corrupted, whether it's through the computer or whether they've been raped and murdered." Nance and a host of experts on the subject maintain that pornography is a stepping stone toward violence against women and children. Those attending the Washington, DC, summit urged Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice to increase efforts and enact laws to end the menace posed by pornography. [Bill Fancher]

...A weekend gathering in San Francisco may have seemed like a church revival, full of zeal and fervor. But worshiping God was most decidedly not part of the agenda. The estimated 250 attendees of the "All Atheists Weekend" gathered to discuss what they call the rise of fundamentalism in the U.S. and the blurring of lines between church and state. Attendees also took time to view documentaries that question the historical accuracy of the Bible, and to hear lectures about the dangers of religious icons on public property and problems with President Bush's "faith-based initiative." Organizers say the religious right's increasing involvement in politics has triggered an angry backlash among the godless. [AP]

...Jesse Lee Peterson, founder of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND) is blasting Jesse Jackson for meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox and pledging to "work together to improve race relations." Fox and Jackson met in Mexico City, where they discussed the Mexican president's recent remarks that Mexicans take jobs in the U.S. that "not even blacks want." Peterson says there is a better way for Fox to improve race relations than meeting with "a racist demagogue" like Jackson. "There are clear-thinking black Americans who don't hate this country and who are not blaming white folks for their problems," the BOND spokesman says. Those black Americans, he continues, "love America, they believe the borders should be closed, they are upset that these illegal aliens are coming into the black communities across the country." Peterson says if Fox really wants to improve relationships between blacks and Hispanics, "he should stop undermining U.S. immigration policies and efforts to secure the borders." The one thing the founder of BOND says he realizes from Vicente Fox's statement is that "this is really how he and illegals see black people, and that's why they don't mind coming in and taking over the communities, taking over the jobs and the schools, because they really see black people as the underclass -- as the low-lifes of America." The president of Mexico truly looks down on America's black community, Peterson contends, and he says meeting with Jesse Jackson is not going to change that. [Chad Groening]

...Thousands of Muslims have protested outside the United States Embassy in Indonesia over a now retracted report that American prison guards had flushed a Quran down a toilet. About 7,000 activists held anti-American banners and posters Sunday while chanting "Allahu Akbar!" or "Allah is most great!" Newsweek has since retracted the report based on an anonymous source, which sparked three days of violent protests in Afghanistan that killed at least 15 people. Anti-American protests also have broken out in India and Pakistan. [AP]

...Last July, Leslie Burke, a British man with a degenerative brain disease, won an important legal battle. The court ruled that, if he is incapacitated, his healthcare providers must keep giving him food and water artificially until he dies of natural causes. But now, the British General Medical Council (GMC) is appealing the decision. A representative said the ruling goes against the GMC's policy for withholding or withdrawing treatment. But American physician Dr. David Stevens of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations says the GMC is trying to redefine "treatment." The confusion taking place, he says, is "they're seeing hydration and food as therapy -- as treatment -- and hydration and food is just basic comfort care. Unfortunately, because it can be artificially administered, more and more doctors and scientists are saying we should not have to be giving that if we don't want to, just like we don't have to give penicillin." However, the CMDA spokesman points out, a UK court ruled that a patient has the right to establish an advance directive "and the doctor is bound by that advance directive when it comes to providing food and hydration." But the GMC members, he explains, "are claiming food and water is no different from any other treatment, and therefore the doctor should decide whether it's appropriate or not. If they decide it's not appropriate, then they have no obligation to give it to the patient." According to Stevens, this Great Britain case underscores the need for patients everywhere to establish written advance directives for their medical care. [Mary Rettig]

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