I must be living in an echo chamber but will repeat once again, THE UNITED STATES IS NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION. It is a representative republic in which a significant number of citizens profess to be Christians. This is not and never has been a religious government. Hopefully, it will never become one.

As to the news item in question, it was an extremely well done segment on how and why to carry out breast self examination. The female breast is a secondary sexual characteristic seen in females much a beard growth is a secondary sexual characteristic of men. Perhaps we males should ensheath our faces to prevent graphic pornographic display of our maleness.

As a retired colonel from the Army, I am disgusted by the continued denial of the right to help defend our Constitution by that segment of our society who are gay. I agree that Don't Ask Don't Tell is an abomination. There should be no such restriction for citizens desiring to serve our nation.

Other that not agreeing with pretty much anything you said above, I would like to welcome you to the center, MikeHammer. I look forward to engaging in debate and changing your mind where you are in error (LOL)

Man, if that was his first news item, he certainly showed where he's coming from!

Mike, if you don't want to watch it, change the channel. Unless you are one of the unlucky few that can't afford it, cable serves several hundred channels, including some that cater specifically to christians.

As for "Obama's plan for socialized medicine", its about time. Mind you, I was raised in Texas, and voted for the Gipper himself, but in recent years, I have found the Republican Party has abandoned almost everything that I believed in that kept me voting for them.

I am NOT a conservative religious fundamentalist, tho., but there are just too damn many people that can't afford insurance - and I don't know about you, but I damn sure can't afford medical care without insurance. I'd bet that 98% of Americans can't either. And I make a six figure salary!

As a country, we've tried the virtually unfettered capitalism bit for two hundred years, and if the recent downturn is any indication, it hasn't exactly been a rousing success. I'd like to see a little of that unfettered stuff get fettered, as I am tired of seeing CEOs of failing companies get rewarded with millions of dollars FOR FAILURE!!! The rest of the world gets fired for failure. What ever happened to that famous Republican value of personal responsibility??

As what used to be the leading nation of the industrialized world, we shouldn't have anybody that can't get adequate medical care, yet millions of Americans can't - to the point where their children grow up stunted in both physical and mental capabilities. We have millions more that go to schools that were inadequate back in the 19th century! We still send millions of dollars overseas that ends up in the coffers of selfish dictators.

And people wonder why this country has fallen behind in leading the world as a major scientific and economic innovator!

And yes, I'll join ethwc in the chorus - THIS IS NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION!! As a matter of fact, when the US was first created, there were actually FEWER christians here than there are now, as a percentage of the population.

The government of this country is a secular one, by design. The Constitution, as the founding document and the one that lays out the legal foundation of how this government operates, NEVER mentions the word "god" once, and only mentions religion twice - once to forbid the government from establishing a religion and religion from running the government, and once to forbid the use of a religious test for office.

You, as an individual, have the right to worship - or not - as you please. But you do NOT have the right to use the power of the government to spread your faith or to suppress another religion or those who do not even have one.

This is a large and diverse country, and it is getting more and more diverse as the years go by. If you are white, you are no longer a member of the majority, and in some cities, such as Atlanta, GA, you are a distinct minority. Those laws that your conservative buddies are working hard to dismantle may someday be invaluable in protecting YOUR rights - against a non-white majority!

Well, America was discovered by those of Christian faith. But that has changed now with the separation of church and state.

But in any event, the point of the program was not to promote pornography, but its intent was for educational purposes. Like some schools teach sex education. It's up to the parents to decide if they want their child to view the program or not.

Well, first of all, I doubt that it was intended for children, so I doubt that kids would even be interested. A lot might even say, "Ewww!" and just walk away. Kids do that. It only becomes interesting if the adults go ape over it.

Well, yes, if it matters, Columbus WAS christian, but Lief Ericsson most definitely wasn't!

The point is, Bridget, no matter what the religious affiliations of the populace, now or ever, the GOVERNMENT is secular, and is secular to prevent the kind of abuses heaped on religions of all stripes whenever and where ever a government has been seen meddling in religious affairs.

You can bet, should the Religious Right (who happen to be fundamentalist protestant) ever succeed in making this country into a theocracy, one of the first things they'll do is outlaw the catholic church, and the second is to outlaw most of the liberal denominations.

The next thing they'll do is find themselves in the middle of a religious war.

That is what the Founders wanted to spare this country from ever having to experience.

Look, I'm obviously an atheist. I don't believe in god. But I have no objection to YOU believing, or worshiping, however you wish.

I just object to the religious majority in this country using the power of the government to force the rest of us to listen to their religious ceremonies. That's all. The rest of you can go to church every day if you wish, give the church half of your money, sign your first born over to them, or drink Kool-aid for all it's worth. That's your business.

Just don't try to make your business MY business without my consent.

A breast examination is not sex, nor does showing one promote sex in any way, shape, or form. A lot of women do not perform or even know HOW to perform a breast exam themselves. I commend ABC. For all we know, a women, after seeing how a breast examination is done correctly via television, went home and performed one on herself. I've heard many stories of women finding lumps after such stories in the news occur and they never would have noticed if not for the program.

I feel sorry for the parent who has to explain to little Timmy what that woman was doing on TV without a shirt on.

I don't. Is it so uncomfortable to explain what breast cancer is and how it's prevented to a child? It shouldn't be. If it is, THAT truly boggles my mind.

Great title, disappointing piece. This ad is selling health, not sex. And teaching men to notice danger signals is a great idea. Men can have the problem themselves, rare, I know, but sometimes. More commonly, they are in a position to notice changes quickly in their partners.