So easily offended.

This whole Don Imus controversy has brought to mind some interesting characteristics of the human psyche. Our egos are totally incapable of insult, and even though other parts of our psychology are supposed to protect us and diffuse such comments, we appear to have lost that ability.

Muslims get offended when "Westerners" use the image of Muhammed (PBUH).

Christians get offended when Jesus is portrayed as a happily married man (or something less than the chaste western European that he really was).

People of color are offended when worthless old has-beens use racist language for the purpose of inciting controversy (looks like that worked out well), and white people get offended when black people call us out for having deep-seeded racism.

Illegal immigrants get mad when asked to learn English.

Telling a woman she is attractive in a workplace is tantamount to rape (if the perpetrator is ugly, of course).

Well, I believe Muhammed must have been really ugly (PBUH). I'll have my daughter draw a picture. Jesus was an unmarried 30-year-old Rabbi? With followers? Black people need to clean up their own racist language and stop worrying about what white people think, and white people need to stop over-compensating for what is obvious deep-seeded racism. Guilty! If immigrants, legal or illegal, can't learn to speak English, they don't deserve to be citizens. And if I weren't married, I would tell every woman how attractive she is and hope that I'm not so ugly that I get reprimanded.

We're not always going to get along, Rodney King, but that doesn't mean we have to crucify (no offense, Jesus) each other over the words or our mouths or the impulses of our primitive nature. When someone offends you to the core, wait for an apology. If an apology comes, do not treat it with disregard. "I'm sorry" is one of the hardest phrases to utter (especially if you haven't learned English). Remember, wise AND ignorant people have something in common: They've both pissed somebody off.

A little bit about myself....

Since the candidates aren't giving me much to work with, I thought I might share a little bit about my life and my views. I'll try to be brief for those of you with ADD like myself.

I had a confusing childhood, although pretty typical of a person in my part of the world. My parents were and are Southern Baptists, but raised me to be a staunch Democrat. Now, of course, they are big fans of Fox News Channel...

...Sorry, I blacked out for a minute. Something about Fox...

....I really apologize. Anyway, getting past that...

For a long time, I tried to harmonize my views on civil liberty (all very progressive) with my religious tradition (arch-conservative). I basically depended on those in my church who took a very simplistic view of our faith: Love God with all your heart, and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. It was easy enough to ignore all of those ugly social views while I was a teenager and more concerned with what the girls in the pew in front of me were wearing than what the Pastor was talking about. Then came college.

There is a reason religious people look upon organized education with disdain. I tried to insulate myself from non-Christian influence by attending a Baptist college. Big mistake. They force you to take religion courses to graduate. Add to that a gay roommate who wanted to become straight because his religion told him that was the thing to do. Begin my "crisis of faith."

Anyway, shorthand (very shorthand), I followed a new path that acknowledged the problem with organized religion. I became a humanist and a spiritualist with an agnostic theology (an oxymoron, I know). This freed me to look at solutions to the world's problems through more practical means. I no longer believe that right belief is the path to salvation. Taking care of your fellow man (just like Jesus taught) and giving of yourself (also as Jesus taught) is the true path to salvation. I cannot guarantee there will not be reward and punishment in the hereafter, but I feel certain enough that it doesn't concern me.

That's me in a very small nutshell. Feel free to comment and dig deeper. Let me know about your personal journey.