You miss the point. FN is biased. MSNBC is biased. CNN less so. It's not a matter of agreeing with the source, it's about whether the source is reporting facts or opinions to further an agenda. Facts are facts whether you, I, or anyone else agrees or disagrees.

I doubt that anyone would defend the Taliban, certainly not me. But they represent an extreme sect of fundamentalism. You do not need to look halfway around the world for examples of reprehensible behavior in the name religious fundamentalism. There is the cretin who just last year was arrested for marrying underage girls (under 14). His church has at least 10000 members.

Using the Taliban's actions to paint a picture of all muslims is as crazy and ignorant as using Mr. Jeff's actions to characterize all christians. Most of us recognize the behavior of extremists for what it is and don't try to use those kinds of "facts" to further an agenda of hatred.

Wow I had to get my popcorn out and read through (most) of this.

Personally, having Muslims infiltrate my town and throw hijabs on unwary females is not my highest concern (having a sound economy, balanced budget, and a safety net for ALL Americans is). I personally feel politics are too political right now. It used to be that representatives on both sides of the aisle could work together to pass bills and work for the common good. But poltics ESPECIALLY the political right have got that reversed. Then you have situations like Gov Christie being chastized and threatend by Murdoch. It is politically dangerous for Christie to do his job and serve his constituents, if that meant working for the "enemy". The people behind the GOP (including Murdoch) would rather have him score political points, than actually help his people.

I do have to admit, the same unease I hear about those incidents in European countries, in which a religious minority is not "blending" with the majority and using different rules, I feel the same way when I hear about protesters blocking women from using Planned Parenthood, or rules that forces women to have a transvaginal ultrasounds (for NO medical reason whatsoever) for anyone who is considering an abortion (I thought conservatives were for governmental NONinterference), censoring health textbooks during the first Bush administration, to suppression about human effects of climate change during the second Bush administration. It is crazy, and for me scary.

I was raised Greek Orthodox, and though I am not practising, one of the people I most deeply admire in all my life is my grandmother. She was a devout Greek Orthodox, and she lived her life consistent with those values; taking care of her family, being productive, frugal, and all the while humble. Despite the fact I was not a traditional stay at home mom in turn she was supportive and very proud of me. I don't always live up to her principals but I aspire towards them but as I was raised, one's religion is a deeply PERSONAL thing. I would never impose my religious beliefs on other people, it is not for me to do so. I guess what I'm saying, religion can be a good thing. Government can be a good thing, and has a certain function. But they are two seperate things.

As a Christian, I don't believe that the exact age of the Earth can be determined. Many of us are adamant that the Earth is 6000 years old & by extension mankind has also been around for 6000 years...plus or minus a couple of centuries as a margin of error.

My question is if 6000 is correct then that would make the Earth's creation date approximately 4000 BC, wouldn't? If that's correct then how do you reconcile time, as we know it, before & afterwards to fit in that 6000 year timeframe?

The answer is that you can't.

That's true, but it goes WAY beyond that. There are man-made structures way older than that.

I suppose science could be grossly wrong about everything, even though the scientific evidence for a broad range of knowledge is both overwhelming and consistent.

Maybe god is trying to trick us by planting all kinds of confounding evidence.

Doesn't it make more sense that the earth is billions of years old, and all that other stuff, and that maybe someone's watch/calendar wasn't quite using the same units as we do these days?

All it takes is a little bit of critical thinking. But I realize that critical thinking is actively discouraged by certain groups.

I'll admit that some Christian groups discourage any way of thinking outside of what fits in their little box. I even get some really strange looks in my own church when I open my mouth.