NEWSPAPER COLUMNS

As I write this introduction in June of 2006, I've had some of these newspaper columns on my website for several years now. Part of me thinks I should take them down--after all, they were mostly written when I was in my early twenties and there's plenty that I would say differently, disagree with, or even find embarassing today. However, each column accurately represents my views at a particular period in my life

Blasphemy Law Should Be Repealed
Topic: Canada's Ongoing Prohibition of Blasphemy
Published in: Toronto Star
Date: July 6, 2008

Separating Church and State Our Tradition
Topic: Church and State in Canada
Published in: The Windsor Star
Date: November 27, 2006

Sexual Exploitation Laws Need Revising
Topic: Canada's Criminal Code Offence of Sexual Exploitation
Published in: The Calgary Herald
Date: June 19, 2006

Even Prison Inmates Deserve a Fair Hearing
Topic: Creating a Federal Inmate Grievance Tribunal
Published in: The Globe and Mail
Date: August 22, 2005

Commandments Can't Stay in Park
Topic: The Plattsmouth Ten Commandments Monument and the ACLU
Published in: The Omaha World-Herald (www.omaha.com)
Date: 2001
Written with Tim Butz

Patriotism Can Exist Without Bows to God
Topic: Religion in Public Life after 9/11
Published in: The Omaha World-Herald (www.omaha.com)
Date: October 16, 2001

Don't Forget, GLBT People Have Children, Too
Topic: Gay Parents and Civil Rights Laws
Published in: The Lincoln Journal-Star (www.journalstar.com)
Date: December 2, 2000

Crusade Against Dr. John's Nonsensical, Oppresive
Topic: Omaha's attempt to censor an adult bookstore owner
Published in: The Lincoln Journal-Star (www.journalstar.com)
Date: September 2, 2000

Group's Proposed Ban On Gay Unions will be Harmful for Nebraska
Topic: Nebraska's Initiative 416 Defense of Marriage Amendment
Published in: The Lincoln Journal-Star (www.journalstar.com)
Date: June 3, 2000

STUDENT and COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS

Fire and Brimstone
Topic: Religion and its effect on children
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: October 14, 1999

Reading Between the Lines
Topic: Bar Associations Limiting Free Speech
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: January 14, 2000

Gender Chasing
Topic: Bisexuality and Chasing Amy
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: January 18, 2000

Columbine Myth an Example of Lazy News Reading
Topic: The Cassie Bernall Columbine Myth
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: January 26, 2000

Gone But Not Forgotten
Topic: NU College of Law's Discrimination on the Basis of Hair Length
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: February 1, 2000

Lucifer's Courage
Topic: A different spin on the legend of Lucifer's rebellion
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: February 7, 2000

Meat of the Matter
Topic: Vegetarianism
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: February 16, 2000

Mixed Media
Topic: The Year of the Queer in Media
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: February 21, 2000

Twisted Logic
Topic: The military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: February 28, 2000

Primary Predictions
Topic: The 2000 Super Tuesday Primaries
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: March 6, 2000

The Bible Tells Me So
Topic: How Christianity adopts secular values to stay alive
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: March 20, 2000

Cheap Talk
Topic: NU Mouths Diversity But Won't Commit
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: March 27, 2000

Substance Over Symbolism
Topic: Flag burning
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: April 3, 2000

Social Studies
Topic: Socialism's erasure from the lives of many of America's greatest heroes in the history textbooks
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: April 10, 2000

Skeletons in the Closet
Topic: The importance of Coming Out
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: April 17, 2000

Suppressed Evidence
Topic: Legal system's failure to consider social science research
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: April 24, 2000

Empty Words and Empty Minds
Topic: Queer "Spirituality"
Published in: Stepping Out v. 1, n. 3
Date: June, 2000

Scouts Case Emphasizes Values Over Precedent
Topic: James Dale Gay Boy Scout Case
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: August 21, 2000

Big Brother's Gaze Widens
Topic: Echelon, Carnivore, and Government Eavesdropping
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: August 28, 2000

The Purpose Behind the Pen
Topic: Why I Write
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: September 11, 2000

Political Hypocrisy Draws Fire
Topic: Nebraska Politicians and Their Hypocrisy
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: September 18, 2000

No Room for Gay Blood Donors
Topic: Red Cross' Ban on Gay or Bisexual Blood Donors
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: September 25, 2000

A Question of States' Rights
Topic: The Doctrine of "States' Rights"
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: October 2, 2000

The Maker of Beauty and His World's Atrocities
Topic: God, Beauty, and Horror
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: October 9, 2000

Freedom Requires the Breath of a Living Constitution
Topic: Competing Methods of Constitutional Interpretation
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: October 23, 2000

The Death of Liberalism
Topic: The rise and fall of Liberalism
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: October 30, 2000

After 416
Topic: Nebraska's anti-queer Proposition 416
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: November 6, 2000

Drug Reforms Significant
Topic: Recent changes in the War on Drugs
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: November 13, 2000

A Conversation with God
Topic: God and Man talk shop
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: November 20, 2000

Punishing the Rich and Poor, Equally
Topic: Fines proportioned to income
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: December 1, 2000

Does Government Still Advocate Religion?
Topic: Ceremonial Deisms
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: December 4, 2000

Death Comes for the Arch-Villains
Topic: Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: January 8, 2001

Catholicism at the Crossroads
Topic: Nebraska's Archbishop Elden Curtiss
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: January 22, 2001

The Rules of Engagement
Topic: The Harm Principle
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: January 29, 2001

A Chance to Say Goodbye
Topic: A Letter to a Former Lover
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: February 5, 2001

The Paradox of (un)Intelligent Design
Topic: The Intelligent Design Movement
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: February 12, 2001

Behind Closed Doors
Topic: The Morality of Public Executions
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: February 19, 2001

I ain't 'fraid of no (holy) ghost
Topic: Blaspheming the Holy Ghost
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: February 26, 2001

The Deserts of Meaningless Words
Topic: The Word "Desert" in Capital Punishment Jurisprudence
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: March 5, 2001

Ideas Don't Make a Tyrant
Topic: The link between economic and political systems
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: March 19, 2001

Behind the Waxy Myths
Topic: Critical Thinking
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: March 26, 2001

Domestic Partner Catch-22
Topic: NU's Refusal to Institute Domestic Partner Benefits
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: April 2, 2001

The Necessity of Latex Seat Belts
Topic: Condoms and Abstinence-only Education
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: April 9, 2001

Finding a God-less Morality
Topic: Whether Morality Can Exist Without Religious Belief
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: April 16, 2001

A Student's Random Musings
Topic: My Last Student Newspaper Column
Published in: The Daily Nebraskan (www.dailyneb.com)
Date: April 23, 2001