Overheard

[The battlefield might be the greatest equalizer.] Agnostics, atheists and bigots suddenly lose all that when their life is on the line.

Army Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum
Bigoted remarks to NAACP
July 19, 2006
American Forces Press Service
July 20, 2006

We believe that there is a God who gives basic rights to all people, and it is the job of the government to protect those rights.

U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo.
Re: Pledge "Protection" Act
Associated Press, July 20, 2006

We should not and cannot rewrite history to ignore our spiritual heritage. It surrounds us. It cries out for our country to honor God.

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.
Re: Pledge "Protection" Act
Associated Press, July 20, 2006

It wasn't our idea [banning gay marriage], it was God's.

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.
Washington Post, July 19, 2006

I think God has spoken very clearly on this issue [banning gay marriage]. This is probably the best message we can give to the Middle East in regards to the trouble we are having over there right now.

U.S. Rep. Phil Gingry, R-Ga.
Washington Post, July 19, 2006

This statue [the Statue of Liberation Through Christ, a $200,000 replica of the Statue of Liberty holding a cross instead of a torch, and a tablet of the Ten Commandments, with Jehovah inscribed on her crown and a tear falling for the "nation's ills"] proves that Jesus Christ is Lord over America, he is Lord over Tennessee, he is Lord over Memphis.

Apostle Alton R. Williams
Outreach Ministries (mega)Church
Memphis, Tenn.
New York Times, July 5, 2006

The Scripture says, 'We have all sinned and all fall short of the glory of God,' so if we withhold constitutional liberties from people because we judge them to be sinners, then none of us will have constitutional liberties, right? . . . to selectively pass laws in support of our religious beliefs about other people's behavior is to make us vulnerable to any number of encroachments on the wall of church/state separation.

Author James Autry
"Iowa View"
Des Moines Register, June 27, 2006

There's another force that wants to keep us from going to Washington, D.C. It's the devil is what it is.

John Jacob, Utah
GOP House candidate
Salt Lake Tribune, June 23, 2006