I have a really really really normal family. And by normal I mean we're all nuts on some level. I think you've gotta be a little nuts to pursue any kind of creative job. I was also a really good kid. I know that sounds really dull but I didn't rebel in the traditional sense.

The traditional spokespersons for the Evangelicals such as Chuck Colson and James Dobson have become alarmed about this drift away from the 'Family Values' issues that they believe should be the overwhelming concerns of Evangelicals. They have expressed their displeasure in letters of protest circulated through the religious media.

Whenever I have friends over we end up eating and talking and losing track of time and once in a while singing karaoke. It reminds me of the family meals we had in Russia which always lasted a very long time. That's a tradition I miss.

My kids say if there's any family dinner that doesn't result in somebody crying it's not a good dinner. They cry because it helps relieve them of a guilt or some onerous emotional burden. It's like a family tradition.

The baby boomers are getting older and will stay older for longer. And they will run right into the dementia firing range. How will a society cope? Especially a society that can't so readily rely on those stable family relationships that traditionally provided the backbone of care?

It's true Christmas can feel like a lot of work particularly for mothers. But when you look back on all the Christmases in your life you'll find you've created family traditions and lasting memories. Those memories good and bad are really what help to keep a family together over the long haul.

Family life itself that safest most traditional most approved of female choices is not a sanctuary: It is perpetually a dangerous place.

Testimony is an integral part of the Black religious tradition. It is the occasion where the believer stands before the community of faith in order to give account of the hope that is in him or her.

I want our government to encourage and protect freedom as well as our traditions of faith and family.

It is from the traditional family that we absorb those universal ideals and principles which are the teaching of Jesus the bedrock of our religious faith. We are taught the difference between right and wrong and about the law just punishment and discipline.

And so today if the state can no longer appeal to the old moral principles that belong to the Christian tradition it will be forced to create a new official faith and new moral principles which will be binding on its citizens.

Oklahomans value our children and our seniors. Oklahomans value traditions of faith. Oklahomans value our heroes our veterans. Oklahomans value innovation and the creative arts.

Our country's political discourse and debate are enriched by discussions of the political implications of our faith traditions whether they are taking place in our communities at our dinner tables or in our places of worship.

I am an Episcopalian who takes the faith of my fathers seriously and I would I think be disheartened if my own young children were to turn away from the church when they grow up. I am also a critic of Christianity if by critic one means an observer who brings historical and literary judgment to bear on the texts and traditions of the church.

An unexamined faith is not worth having for fundamentalism and uncritical certitude entail the rejection of one of the great human gifts: that of free will of the liberty to make up our own minds based on evidence and tradition and reason.

If children understand that beliefs should be substantiated with evidence as opposed to tradition authority revelation or faith they will automatically work out for themselves that they are atheists.

America traditionally represents the greatest possibility of someone's going from nothing to something. Why? In theory if not practice the government stays out of the way and lets individuals take risks and reap rewards or accept the consequences of failure. We call this capitalism - or at least we used to.

The traditional religious right's failure to restore public-school prayer or pass an antiabortion constitutional amendment has likely helped fuel the spread of the more extreme dominionist school.

Once you're in a particular country and you're surrounded by musicians who are so adept at traditional music you suddenly realize how much there is to explore and digest and learn and experience.

Great art - or good art - is when you look at it experience it and it stays in your mind. I don't think conceptual art and traditional art are all that different.

At times I experience hardship in trying to find the proper point of balance between traditional things and my own personality.

We must recover the element of quality in our traditional pursuit of equality. We must not in opening our schools to everyone confuse the idea that all should have equal chance with the notion that all have equal endowments.

Here are the values that I stand for: honesty equality kindness compassion treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. To me those are traditional values.

As a Member of Congress I've continued my family's tradition of focusing on education.