Blog
Some people believe that outrage in the name of religion—or religious hatred—only happens “there.” Not quite. But along with the bad news, there’s also good news. In Cologne, Germany, a regional court banned circumcision for children stating that the procedure does bodily harm without consent. German Jews and Muslims—along with co-religionists worldwide—protested vociferously. For Jews,…
Life seems awfully confusing these days. So it’s only natural to believe that things were better “then”—when everyone (or so it seemed) liked Ike, watched “Ozzie and Harriet” and wore suits and hats (with gloves for the women) downtown. I have my doubts. I call to witness the American Conservatory Theater’s production of the Kander…
Many people believe that baseball represents a microcosm of life. I agree. And that goes for fans, too. They have lots to teach us about this nation, including the health-care arena. I went to AT&T Park as a spur-of-the-moment thing after the Supreme Court’s June 28 decision on Obamacare. As the first inning began, I…
In Slick! Russia’s ambassador to the Persian-Gulf sultanate of Moq’tar points out to Bobby Gatling that while Moq’tar is 3,700 kilometers from Moscow it is 11,000 kilometers distant from Washington. The message: Russia, too, has legitimate geopolitical interests. But today, those interests seem to matter very little. And Russia’s demise as a world power offers…
There’s an old joke: When I graduated from high school, I thought my parents were ignorant and out of touch. When I graduated from college, I was amazed at how much they had learned. I write this because Sunday is Father’s Day. My father, Morris, died on June 18, 1983 at eighty. It was a…
I once read a story about the Holocaust, which may or may not be apocryphal. Not that it matters. Nothing—as well as everything—about the Holocaust is impossible to believe. What’s important is that the story’s conclusion tells us a great deal about humanity’s longing for God. One afternoon, a group of Jewish prisoners engages in…
I just spent four weeks out of the country, most of the time in Israel plus three days in Jordan and a long weekend in London. Based on that, I offer a few observations about this week’s Egyptian presidential first-round election, which produced two finalists—Mohamed Morsi of the Islamic Brotherhood and former Air Force General…
In the 1960s, Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian university professor, theorized that in the new television age, everyone would enjoy 15 minutes of fame. The artist Andy Warhol took up that theory. After all, TV was fast becoming a global phenomenon. I remember the coverage of the first manned lunar landing in July 1969 and Richard…