And for my Sunday eight-thirty pm thought...

I am not religious and probably never will be, just like I will probably never belong to a political party although I accept the reason for their existence. Democracy, just like religion, can guide people away from petty self-interest. But, just like anything else, it is constantly threatened by the onslaught of small-mindedness.

Any organization, institution, or ideology, however solid and well-intended its underlying principles may be, is subject to the mediocrity of human self-interest.

Whether Green Peace, Amnesty International, the Club of Rome or National Public Radio, the monotony of dealing with the selfish motivations of many of their members likens them to most other organizations, whether the Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ, the National Rifle Association and (for good measure) the Ku Klux Klan.

What sets them apart are a few magnanimous minds that rise above human decrepitude.

Humanity is but the sum of a handful of humans.