Addressing the comments (they deserved an entry of their own):
FightingFemale - I'm glad you mentioned that book. I've had it on my wish list for awhile now but haven't picked it up yet. I'm a true crime enthusiast (okay, fanatic) and find stories like that fascinating, mainly from a forensics POV, but the religious angle is intriguing as well. There's something about this that reminds me of the Jeffrey Lundgren cult murders. Are you at all familiar with them? If not, I have to warn you before you read about it, it makes for some disturbing dreams. I saw a documentary about it and had terrible nightmares for two nights. Thanks for the heads-up on the Krakauer book - I'll pick that up the next time I go to Borders.

DutchBoy - I absolutely agree. This is something I have been warning people about for years, because it gets to the point that every decision, every thought is preceded by religious consideration and the ability to think independently goes (pardon the pun) straight to hell. The church I belonged to in Virginia many years ago was just like that. The pastor was a nice enough man, but he wouldn't do anything (or even make the tiniest decision) without running it by his 'christianity meter' first and insisted we all do the same.

Heather, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support. It really means the world to me that you'd go to battle for me like that, and I hope you know I'd do the exact same thing for you. I love you like a sister, you know. In fact, I'm really concerned about you right now because I think you might be working yourself to death. Please take a break, okay? You've got two jobs, the democrats, your mom and your baby girl and I worry that you'll collapse, so please take some time to rest soon even if it means one of the jobs or the democrats get put on hold. I know your baby girl will never get out on hold (nor should she), but some of the other things on your extraordinarily full plate will be okay sitting in the fridge for a night or two. :o)

Jason - okay, fair enough. I have assumed perhaps too much in thinking that every fundamentalist christian holds the exact same beliefs. That concept was born from thinking that if fundamentalists each interpret the bible the same way (as in, literally and as written), then it logically follows that you all share the same beliefs such an interpretation creates. To me, it makes perfect sense that the shared collective interpretation creates indentical beliefs, and part of the reason I came to that conclusion was because of my own personal experiences within different types of christianity, all but one of which have not only insisted upon a herd mentality but been overwhelmingly negative and harmful. However, I am completely open to finding out how your beliefs differ from those presented, and in fact from other fundamentalists. This is not to say that you owe me some kind of explanation, rationale or justification for your beliefs. Not at all. Just like mine, they are what they are. But as you said a few months ago, I am not completely aware of what your beliefs actually are and I am just letting you know that should you feel like discussing them I am open to that. A friendly conversation, my blog or yours, email is fine, dress shirt is optional.

P.S. - Thank you for bopping over to discuss the Mattel recall. My children had yet another one of the toys on that damnable list, and I'm sorry to see yours did too. I'm not sure how old your children are, but the risk of lead poisoning is significantly decreased if they have reached the age at which they don't put toys in their mouth and chew on them any more. As a parent, I know that small reassurance does little to help us feel better, though. It's good to see you'll be getting them tested any way at their next check-up. We're going to be doing the same thing. I had the link to the Maryland site with all of the lead information and I seem to have misplaced it, but if I can find it I'll forward it to you or post it here.

Update:
Here's that link.