1.  God is not vengeful, jealous, arrogant or petty.  These qualities are the sole property of man.

2.  God did not create man in his own image.  If you need proof, take a look around.  (The White House would be a good place to start)

3.  Man created God in his own image.  (See point 1)

4.  God doesn't care if you believe in him.  

 There is an honest distinction to be made between religion and faith. One does not need to be religious in order to be spiritual, or to have faith and moral values. Our party seems to have pretty firm support from this constituency. We must reach out to Hispanic and white church-going people. How do we do that without coming across as political pandering? Pres Clinton, it seems to me, despite his peccadillos, remains our great example in this area. He communicates very well that he is a person of faith. His faith isn't something "added on." It is a part of who is as person. Barak Obama is this same way. Both these men speak the language of faith very convincingly. Senator-elect Obama trounced a right-wing religious nut in a mid-Western state. This is encouraging.

 The wonderful support the Democratic Party has received over the years from the Black Church is a foundation on which to build. It is also support that should not be taken for granted. There are specific issues that need to be addressed, such as abortion and marriage. I like the distinction Pres. Clinton articulated back in August: "I have never met anybody that was pro-abortion, and that's not what pro-choice means, it just means we don't want to criminalize mothers
and their doctors." As a Catholic deacon, I can say that Sen. Kerry would have been well-served to have somebody on his campaign conversant with Catholic moral teaching. It would not have taken much effort to shut down criticisms of extreme bishops, like Archbishop Chaput of Denver, by invoking sound Catholic teaching, to include statements by, among others, Cardinal McCarrick of Washinton, D.C.

 I read a posting earlier in which somebody wrote that Pres. Clinton had advised Sen. Kerry to come out against civil unions. He gave no such advice. He advised Sen. Kerry to come out, generally, in support states regulating marriage, as 11 states had initiatives on the ballots to amend state Constitutions. Many of these amendments have gone too far, but party organizations in those states could have advised the campaign. Why? Because marriage is a state issue. Also, there is victory in this advise in that state's, like Massachusetts and Vermont, that either allow marriage or civil unions, will remain free to do so by foreclosing the need for an amendment to the federal Constitution.

 Now, not all initiatives are the same. For example, the one here in Utah, which was adopted verbatim by Michigan, forecloses the possibility of same-sex couples receiving any of the close to 1,100 specific benefits that married couples enjoy. While it passed overwhelmingly, the people who thought about how drastic this amendment is voted against it- even many conservatives. Our Catholic bishop opposed in publicly. Even the very conservative, Republican attorney general opposed it. Why? Many people who oppose full-blown same-sex marriage (i.e., giving all marital benefits to same-sex couples) recognize that by denying all benefits there are fundamental issues of justice and equality at stake. Democrats must speak intelligently to these issues.

 In short, we need to motivate our base and educate voters. Let's continue this conversation.

I think these GOPers should all go out and re-take Basic Science 101.  I think they were all too busy with their cheerleading duties first time around.