Laser -- who has worked for abortion-rights groups in the past -- introduced a group of evangelical leaders at a press conference announcing the project, titled "Come Let Us Reason Together." Sponsored by Third Way and Faith in Public Life, the effort began with a paper outlining reasons why both sides believe they can have civil conversations -- and perhaps even cooperate -- on social issues as controversial as abortion and homosexuality.

2. Relationships are unstable: One-sixth of cohabiting couples stay together for only three years; one in ten survives five or more years (Bennett, W.J., The Broken Hearth: Reversing the Moral Collapse of the American Family, 2001).

3. Greater risk of divorce: The rate of divorce among those who cohabit prior to marriage is nearly double (39 percent vs. 21 percent) that of couples who marry without prior cohabitation (ibid.).

In August, Dom Anthony Sutch, a Benedictine monk, announced that he would hear eco-confessions of sins against the environment at the Waveney Greenpeace festival, in a confessional booth carefully constructed from recycled materials. The good monk clearly practices what he preaches. He tries 'very hard' to live a green lifestyle and is proud of his principal achievement - reducing his electricity bill by 30 per cent.

While Heston, then serving as the NRA President, made those remarks in response to calls for more gun control laws at the time, those words live on. Heston's declaration captured a truly American value: An over-arching desire to protect our freedoms.