I can't understand people calling themselves religious and being hateful. If a preacher is preaching hate to fear God that's not religion that's not helping humanity that's organizing an army to defeat somebody.

In my family we let our boys have a say in what veggie side they want for dinner that night. We list off a handful of options and get them excited about helping to plan the dinner menu. They're much more inclined to finish their plates when they've helped decide what goes on them.

We need to recognise that what really matters isn't buying more and more consumer goods but family friends and knowing that we are doing something worthwhile with our lives. Helping to reduce the appalling consequences of world poverty should be part of that reassessment.

I grew up in a very religious family and it is the motivating force to every thing I do. I am fortunate to have had adults all around me who really lived their faith in helping other people and doing the best you can do.

I realized that my truest passion was for helping people change through faith in a higher power. That meant for me belonging to the church. Using my abilities to bring Christian doctrine to a postmodern world.

In thinking about religion and society in the 21st century we should broaden the conversation about faith from doctrinal debates to the larger question of how it might inspire us to strengthen the bonds of belonging that redeem us from our solitude helping us to construct together a gracious and generous social order.

The Bush Administration's failure to be consistently involved in helping Israel achieve peace with the Palestinians has been both wrong for our friendship with Israel as well as badly damaging to our standing in the Arab world.

We certainly want those at the top to do well but if you base your entire presidency and your entire economic platform on helping them do even better you're missing what makes the economy tick. Because not everyone has been as fortunate as Mitt Romney you cannot base your whole approach on a life experience as rarified as his.

Parents of recovered children and I've met hundreds all share the same experience of doubters and deniers telling us our child must have never even had autism or that the recovery was simply nature's course. We all know better and frankly we're too busy helping other parents to really care.

Most of all we should remember all of us are capable of individually helping advance the spirit of equality for all.