Episode Five

The David Terhune Show comes to you today from Wellfleet, Massachusetts. My family and I are on vacation, enjoying the ponds and wildlife (see photo). Of course, there's plenty of time to relax and read the papers.

Theodore B. Olson is known for successfully arguing the case that sealed George Bush's election in 2000. A story about him in the New York Times this past week highlighted his current legal challenge - the nation-wide recognition of same-sex marriage.

www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/us/19olson.html

I wrote this letter in response:

Theodore B. Olson's support of same-sex marriage helps explode a myth that the issue is divided along party lines. The debate over marriage equality is not a confrontation between conservative and liberal ideologies. It is not a matter of politics or religion. It is a civil rights concern, as Mr. Olson deftly demonstrates in his legal challenges. His position makes it clear that the true dividing line is between fulfilling our Constitution's promise of equality and allowing the biases of the unenlightened to dictate what rights are available to Americans.

Another Times article that caught my attention concerned "prosperity preachers."

www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/us/16gospel.html

Apparently, when a person continuously donates money to these prosperity ministries, the prayers of the preachers ultimately reward the donor, who is seen, in the eyes of God, as extra-special and extra-deserving by virtue of the donations:

While reading your article on the Copelands and their fellow prosperity preachers, I was struck by their brazen appeal to greed and spiritual vulnerability. By claiming that those who give money to their ministries receive divine preferential treatment, they reduce God to a purveyor of snake oil, promising miraculous relief for a price. Perhaps their existence can be justified by the hope they provide their followers, but I think their cynical view of human nature overshadows any optimism they might offer.