Beliefnet

The Ashcroft nomination flap ushered in a new religious correctness.

America is reveling in its open-mindedness in (more or less) embracing the Democratic vice-presidential candidate's Judaism, but is giving ketchup a chance after an entrenched tradition of mustard domination really so bold?

If Republican efforts to woo blacks fail, it may be because of Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman. The two Jewish civil rights workers, murdered along with James Chaney in Philadelphia, Mississippi, symbolize the historical alliance between blacks and Jews--and expect to hear about them a lot in the next two months.

Let's be honest. If Al Gore's selection of a Jew as his running mate costs him votes, it's not going to be with Southern rednecks, who weren't going to vote for him anyway--or with evangelicals, who seem to like Joe Lieberman's religiosity. It's going to be with African-Americans.

This is a hard thing to contemplate or talk about so let's start with two caveats. Most blacks are not anti-Semitic, and even those who are might not like George W. Bush any better.

In movie theaters since Independence Day, Mel Gibson's "The Patriot" is a smash hit. This weekend, Gibson was tomahawking Redcoats, splashing blue blood across 2,751 movie screens nationwide and grossing $6.2 million. Premiere week, I was one of the faithful, munching popcorn and getting misty-eyed at the sight of a teenaged colonist painstakingly hand-stitching an American flag to carry into battle.

Imagine being 6 years old and living in hell.

The bad news is that one first grader, from a family so dysfunctional that the thought of him trapped in it breaks your heart, shot and killed another. Two already fragile families are now traumatized beyond any near-term redemption. The good news? Buell Elementary, the school in Flint, Michigan, where this horror unfolded, has received a state-of-the-art security system. Free!

"Rescue those unjustly sentenced to death."Proverbs 24:11

"They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters...and the land was polluted with the blood."Psalm 106:38