BILL MOYERS: We like to hear from you to know what you're thinking of the JOURNAL. So right now we want to share some of your comments that have had us talking. Our interview with theologian James Cone explored thorny issues on race and religion in America. That struck a nerve...

JAMES CONE: Crucifixion and lynchings are symbols. They are symbols of the power of domination. They are symbols of the destruction of people's humanity.

BILL MOYERS: Here's what some of you had to say:

SOT: Bill Moyers' interview with Dr. Cone was a welcome, life-renewing experience. As a preacher, I like to listen to other preachers - when he or she tells the truth...Uniting the cross and the lynching tree was such a new truth. Our reluctance as a nation to engage in such conversations hinders our growth, our healing and we as a nation are certainly the poorer because of it. Rev. Dr. Mike Jones

SOT: ...The whole story of lynching should have mentioned that a significant percentage of persons lynched in America were white. Once you know this fact you realize lynching was a more complex story, not just race, not just black and white. Robb Moffett

SOT: I will surely teach my children of the slaves of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, of the lynchings, of the extermination of Native Americans, and of all the other barbaric acts performed throughout American history...What I will not tell them, however, is that they are of a certain group that either must self-flagellate itself for the crimes of humanity's past or demand from others atonement ... They will learn to demand justice and dignity rather than pity for all people. J. Ginn

SOT: Excellent discussion. One that quite frankly has been going on for years among black people...for America to truly be great and live up to its ideas it has to face its sordid past and realize that actions done in the past still reverberate with us today. Nashid Habeeb

BILL MOYERS: We reported on Christians invoking faith to help save the mountains of Appalachia from destructive mining practices.

JUDY BONDS: Never doubt that this is a battle between good and evil! And now is not a time to be silent. Now is a time to stand up and be counted for. The earth is God's body!

SOT: My uncle was a coal miner and later owned mines. I know the value of coal to the mountain economy. But the pollution of the water and the destruction of the land is too high a price to pay. President Bush has once again allied himself with industry and the wealthy while he ignores the land and the people. Charles May

SOT: Believers and non-believers have this in common: we all breathe the Earth's air, we all need the Earth's water...I do not live near the source of such degradation of the Earth, but I weep for those subjected...And I will fight for their rights with my vote and my dollars. Alone we may struggle. United we may stand and win. P. Jewell

BILL MOYERS: And our discussion with best-selling historian Thomas Cahill provoked a powerful, thoughtful response on the blogs. He told us of Dominique Green's last days on death row and questioned the morality of capital punishment...

THOMAS CAHILL: There are certain people in our society that we are willing to offer up. And not others. And they're the people who have no power. We're not killing Dominique Green because he committed murder. We're killing Dominique Green because we want to kill somebody.

SOT: Do you feel anything for the victim or the victim's family? My niece was murdered May 19, 2007...My niece received a death sentence, without a trial and all who loved her, including her nine year old son, must serve a life sentence of being deprived of our precious loved one. Arlene

SOT: In order to maintain the death penalty for people who have actually done capital crimes, how many innocent people are we willing to execute? If you are a death penalty supporter, what is your answer? Are you willing to tolerate the execution of one innocent person in ten...one in a hundred, one in a thousand, or one in a million? Ed Guerrant

BILL MOYERS: Keep telling us what you think of our show - by mail, e-mail, or on the blog at pbs.org and we'll keep reading.