Blogroll

A proselytizing paper

For quite a while now, I’ve been meaning to write about how dismayed I am by what passes for a local newspaper these days. Given my age, a variety of things irk me. But one that had been lurking in the background became fairly apparent last week. What I noticed and believe would be borne […]

Those heavenly books

I’ve noticed it for a while and it’s been commented on by many but, for some reason, it really got to me this week. Right now, three of the 14 NYTBR nonfiction paperback bestsellers deal with visiting heaven. In fact, one has been on the nonfiction bestseller list for 132 weeks. That’s right: “nonfiction.”

The […]

Free expression or religious disrespect?

When it comes to First Amendment concepts, I’m pretty close to an absolutist. But decisions like the one made this week by Yale University Press pose one of those conundrums that can arise if you believe strongly in free expression and freedom of religion.

Later this year, Yale University Press is publishing The Cartoons That […]

Mortal sins for the 21st Century

What’s happening to the Catholic Church? You know, the church I belonged to until, to quote George Carlin, “I reached the age of reason.” First, limbo goes out the window. Now the church is bringing mortal sin into the 21st Century.

For those unfamiliar with Catholic doctrine, mortal sins basically mean go directly to hell […]

Missing the “reason for the season”?

The sad but all too true irony of this just grabs me. The Associated Press reports:

Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests attacked each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning on Thursday.

The church is built on the spot in Bethlehem where […]