Executions have been on hold in California since early 2006, when death row inmate [a convicted murderer] successfully challenged lethal-injection procedures as cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose ruled the three-drug sequence unconstitutional after hearing expert testimony that some of those put to death in the state hadn't been fully anesthetized before the final-- and intensely painful -- dose of potassium chloride that induces cardiac arrest.

But further legal challenges have been threatened and pressure is mounting on state officials to take the cost-cutting step of commuting death sentences to life without the possibility of parole, a change estimated to save $1 billion over five years.

There are 680 inmates on death row, where the condemned now spend an average of 25 years while exhausting state and federal appeals.

Leaders of the country's largest Lutheran denomination began discussing Monday whether or not to allow people in same-sex relationships to serve as clergy.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is meeting this week in Minneapolis, plans to decide whether to approve a proposal that would allow individual congregations to let gay and lesbian people in committed relationships serve as clergy.

Nearly 13,000 servicemen and servicewomen have been discharged under the policy -- 287 since President Obama took office.

But those who should be ashamed -- the Republicans, the Blue Dog Democrats and the mindless screaming minority determined to disrupt the dialogue -- apparently have no shame. Nor do they seem to have compassion for their fellow Americans.

Our elected representatives have the responsibility to follow the guiding principals of our Constitution: "Establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity ... [and] promote the general welfare."

What is it about this they do not get?

I want profit taken out of healthcare.

Chin dismissed Stern's claims that statements implying he was homosexual were defamatory, although he acknowledged that gays and lesbians still suffered prejudice.

"I respectfully disagree that the existence of this continued prejudice leads to the conclusion that there is a widespread view of gays and lesbians as contemptible and disgraceful," the judge said.

California has battled such negative perceptions for years. But its huge consumer base, great weather and dynamic entrepreneurial culture have kept many businesses anchored here. Still, in a tough economy when companies are looking to slash costs, some industry leaders fear poachers will be more successful this time around.

...

The Nevada campaign touts the fact that the Silver State has no corporate or personal income tax, no inventory tax, and lower workers' compensation costs. A light-industrial facility that costs $405,478 a year to operate in Las Vegas would cost $625,774 to operate in Los Angeles County, according to the Nevada Development Authority.

These religious adherents often view science itself as an assault on their faith and doggedly refuse to accept evolution because they fear it so utterly denies God that it will lead them, and their children, straight into a world of moral depravity and meaninglessness.

It often appears as though Dawkins and his followers -- often dubbed the New Atheists, though some object to the term -- want to change the country's science community in a lasting way. They'd have scientists and defenders of reason be far more confrontational and blunt: No more coddling the faithful, no tolerating nonscientific beliefs.

About 46% of Americans in polls agree with this stunning statement: "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so."

Liberal religious groups announced on Monday they are teaming up with President Barack Obama in a national campaign to counter the surprisingly vehement conservative opposition to his plan for overhaul of the U.S. healthcare industry this year.

"As a pastor I believe access to healthcare is a profoundly moral issue," Rev. Stevie Wakes of Olivet Institutional Baptist in Kansas City, said in a news teleconference announcing the "40 days for Health Reform" campaign.

Protestors have confronted members of Congress across the country in town hall meetings held to take the public pulse on the various healthcare overhaul plans being written in Congress.

What lawmakers found was anger fueled in part by Christian and conservative radio that healthcare would lead to taxpayer funded abortion and even euthanasia for the old, have incited much of the loudest and most dramatic reaction.

Conservative Catholics often side with Republican-leaning evangelicals in opposition to abortion rights but the biblical call to help the sick and the poor is also an important part of the faith.

Some of the opposition is being fueled by leaders of the "religious right," the conservative Christian movement that remains a key base for the opposition Republican Party.

The groups behind the effort include Faith in Public Life, Faithful America and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.

If political ideology was the scourge of the 20th century, religious fundamentalism could be the greatest threat in the 21st. But how do we fight it?

And that burden can send people straight back to the absolutes.

But how can you be firm in your convictions while allowing others to be firm in theirs?

For example, Christian theologians generally define the resurrection of Christ as a core belief. But the virgin birth or the story of Lazarus rising from the dead? Not so much.