Ersatz historian and "Christian nation" booster David Barton is at it again. This time he's claiming that the city of Las Vegas cut violent crime by 75 percent after the police department adopted "biblical principles" and began working with conservative churches.

There are a couple of problems with Barton's claim. First off, any assertion that a violent crime rate anywhere dropped so dramatically should be met with great skepticism. Crime rates fluctuate depending on several factors (the state of the economy being a big one), but a 75 percent plunge over a short period of time would be pretty remarkable. It's not impossible, but some evidence would be nice.

If you have children, there's a good chance you've worked hard to instill in them the values you hold, whether those values are religious or secular.

If you're a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu, a Pagan, a humanist, etc. you probably raised your children in that faith or philosophy. If it was important to you, you likely wanted it to be important to them.

Be strong. Have each other's backs. Defend every target of demonizing right-wing rhetoric threatening our allies and those facing oppression or repression. Leave no one behind: build a society where no one is thrown under the bus or out of the lifeboat. Take time for yourself and those close to you. Let the next generation grow into leaders. Pass it forward so that the circle remains unbroken.

During the seventies I was a seminary student and national attention turned to the growing menace of cult groups.  It was a cultural trend that wealthy adolescent debutantes were joining cult groups.  The most noted was the Unification Church led by notorious Rev. Moon.  Baptists in the South organized research studies and the word "deprogrammer" became part of the modern culture.  Walter Martin was a noted expert on cults and produced many videos identifying the groups and came up with common links that identified cult groups.  One item used to designate cult groups was the fact they did not receive any information that did not come from the official version of reality that came from the group's founder or his selected understudies.

Last week, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane released a damning grand jury report about the rampant sexual abuse of minors by priests in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese - and the failure of anyone in authority to stop it.

News of the report hit me hard. I was born and raised in Altoona. For 16 years I attended a Catholic church in that diocese. I spent eight years in a Catholic school appended to one of its churches.

For political junkies, the Super Tuesday results offered a sumptuous repast.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) continue to duel for the Democratic nomination, although Clinton appears to be pulling away. On the Republican side, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) remained alive with victories in Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) looks to be on life support after winning only in Minnesota. Ohio Gov. John Kasich failed to carry a single state but has not dropped out. Ben Carson is an afterthought.

Praise and tribune is being given to the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Among the most common accolades accorded him are the following: "an extraordinary jurist, "consistent" as well as, "a devout Catholic."

While I express sadness at the death of Justice Scalia - as I would any fellow human being, I have a different assessment of his legacy. And it is one I offer as an American, as a Catholic, and an attorney.

In light of recent discussions about dominionism and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, it seems like a good moment to refresh our memories about the denial campaign of 2011. -- FC

In recent weeks, a variety of mainstream journalists and conservative writers have treated us to a remarkable display of ignorance, incompetence, and outright sleaze -- and various combinations thereof -- regarding dominionism.  I have collected a sampler of quotes from such writing, not to slam all journalists, but to point out that dominionism is, in fact, central to our current political situation,  not fringe as some would have it,and that the tropes promoted by journalists and op-ed columnists, are not much different than those of hack political operatives.  The attacks on Michelle Goldberg and others of us are unfair, unjustified and frankly unconscionable. And we will continue to respond.

It all began with the massive prayer rally that served as Rick Perry's de facto campaign launch a few weeks ago, and the critical magazine coverage that discussed the role of the New Apostolic Reformation and the dominionist movement powering the Perry and Michelle Bachmann presidential campaigns.

Below are ten quotes from ten different writers or television commentators addressing the matter of dominionism. See if you can identify who was responsible for each quote. Ten points for each correct answer.  Answers for each question at the links.

     One of the most famous quotes in Texas history comes from a state Attorney General.  His quote is regarding complaints from parents about beatings at a girls home in Texas.  Baptist minister Lester Roloff was accused of the offenses at his unlicensed home.  He replied the state would be not be hurt with a few wayward girls having some pink bottoms.  The state prosecuting attorney replied it was not pink, but black and blue as well as bleeding bottoms he saw.  At the time Phil Sticklin was the state Baptist lobbyist working for the Baptist Building.  Phil told me he listened to Roloff radio broadcasts harshly attacking him because Phil favored the idea of receiving a license from the state to have a home for residents.

As I sift through the news in the wake of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death, there's one word I keep seeing over and over again:  Brilliant.

We're told that even if you disagreed with Scalia's extremely conservative views, you must stand in awe of his brilliance, his genius, his searing wit.

Dominionism is one of the little remarked upon features of modern American politics. As someone who has written a great deal about it, I can report that it has generally been a topic that has been off limits in mainstream -- and even a good bit of liberal/left discourse, and when it was raised, it was mostly as a grade B scare the kids around the campfire story, not to be taken too seriously.   Then in 2011, it was obvious that at least two candidates for the GOP presidential nomination were strongly influenced by dominionist thought -- Rep. Michele Bachman (R-MN) and the original front runner, Gov. Rick Perry.  Journalists were noticing and writing about it in ways that threatened to become a campaign issue.   A national smear campaign was subsequently waged against those of us who had written about these things; some of us by name, and all of us by implication.  We managed to stop the smear campaign, but the damage was done.

That is why I was so surprised the other day, when the Dominionism of Ted Cruz was suddenly written about in The Washington Post as it if were a routine matter, and the controversy had never happened.

Today President Barack Obama, who is the world's worst Muslim - he drinks alcohol and eats bacon - will do something many Muslims do regularly: visit a mosque in America.

Now, sensible people know that the president is not a Muslim. Those rumors have been circulating on the kook fringes of the far right since Obama rose to national prominence as a political figure. They stem from the racist assumption that since the president is a black man with a name some consider unusual, he must be a Muslim. The "Obama-is-secretly-a-Muslim" claim is the twisted cousin of the equally deranged belief that he wasn't born in America.