McMaster touts religious freedom defense

Having trouble commenting?

You must be signed in to comment. You can sign in using your account at thestate.com or your Facebook, Twitter or Disqus accounts.

If you are logged in and still unable to comment, you might need to log out and log back in, delete your browser's stored cookies or change your browser's cookie settings to allow "third-party" cookies.

How do I report abuse on comments I deem inappropriate?

Yes. Report abuse by clicking the "Flag" button.

What are some of the features of Disqus commenting?

You can select how comment threads are organized. Some people prefer to read the newest comments first, while others prefer to read the oldest comments first. Others prefer to sort on comments that have the best rating (highest number of "likes") or are the most popular now (highest number of "likes" and replies). The choice will be yours. You can lock in your personal preference by selecting from among the options presented in the "Sort by" drop down menu that appears above the comments you are reading. This setting follows you across the site as your read articles and can be changed at your convenience.

You will have the option of subscribing via email to a comment thread by clicking the "Subscribe by email" button at the bottom of the comment box. New comments will be sent directly to your email inbox, where you may read and respond by email.

You will be able to subscribe via RSS to a comment thread by clicking the "Subscribe by RSS" button at the bottom of the comment box. This link will include step-by-step instructions on how to set up the RSS subscription.

If you are logged in using your Facebook account, you will be able to share your comments on specific articles to your Facebook profile page, just by clicking the "Share on Facebook" link directly beneath the comment box. This is a per-post selection, so each time you comment on an article or reply to another comment, you will need to indicate your interest in sharing the post to Facebook.

Will I need to register?

You can register with thestate.com to comment, or log in with an existing Disqus, Facebook or Twitter account. If you have forgotten your thestate.com username and password, you can have the information resent to you by clicking here.

What about my avatar?

We have created a default avatar for readers that log in using their thestate.com username and password. If you want to display a unique avatar, you can upload one to Disqus, Facebook or Twitter, and then comment on thestate.com stories using that account instead.

Will I be able to indicate my approval of a comment?

Yes, by clicking the button labeled "Like."

Will I be able to "reply" to comments?

Yes. The ability to reply to specific comment posts will remain a core of thestate.com commenting.