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I have no problem with most of your post. And hey, I'm against the WOD myself. But you went over the line on one point.

"My biggest foes have been men like Rush and Bill Bennet. Men who claim to have a high regard for the law while they trample it into the ground."

Read this sentence again. See if you don't find the tiniest thing wrong with your implication and blanket accusation here.

What law did Bennet break to deserve to be invoked in this sentence? He never talked about gambling. His own religion doesn't even call gambling a sin. To claim he "tramples the law into the ground" is obscenely unjust, especially when you think about how harsh a microscope he has been under for over a decade. He probably -is- a bloody saint compared to most of us, cause most of us couldn't stand 1/100th the scrutiny he lives under for his crime of acknowledging right and wrong.

Separate but related thought:

Hypocrisy is the only sin I know of that one can commit over and over and over while simultaneously slamming everyone else guilty of it into the ground... without ever being called a hypocrite.

All other sins are open to the charge of hypocrisy... except hypocrisy itself. That charge can never be made to stick.

The implications are enormous. It is the only moral authority that remains in our culture, and it's free of charge to everyone, no matter how disgusting a life they may lead.

Qwinn

>>What law did Bennet break to deserve to be invoked in this sentence? He never talked about gambling. His own religion doesn't even call gambling a sin.<<

I apologize for lumping Bennet in to this statement. He has skirted the edges of the laws very carefully. I guess what has always upset me about Bennet was when he was appointed drug czar he jokingly said he probably should give up smoking. And he did. He is also well known to be a pretty serious two fisted drinker. Then when I find out he has a monster gambling addiction, it becomes pretty obvious he has an addictive personality. He has managed to barely keep it within the law. So I guess that deserves some kind of respect.

Addictive personalities are something like bipolar head cases. They are often brilliant, often very productive, but prone to self-destructive behaviors. The most brilliant man I ever met was a serious alcoholic. He was my mentor for over 10 years. I watched him waste most of his potential on his addiction. Rush fits that profile well, as does Bennet.

Both Rush and Bennet seem to approach things from a religious perspective, yet the use of addictive substances is not a sin. I wonder why they support putting people in jail for behavior that is not a sin?