A Devil’s Dozen of the Best ‘New Religion Journalism’ Books of the Decade
Since the turn of this century, following the news is like experiencing a daily repudiation…
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Thanksgiving Reveals More About Us Than About 17th Century Events
A reluctant Indian militant, a Jew with Christmas envy, and a feminist in search of an alternative Thanksgiving are among the scholars and writers who have weighed in over the years on our secular religious national holiday of Thanksgiving.
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Struggling With the Legacy of Harold Bloom, Brilliant but Deeply Flawed Critic (1930-2019)
For all that Bloom got wrong about theory and the state of the discipline, he was correct in his contention that the sometimes godlessness of the field was a critical detriment, and that ‘A nation obsessed with religion rather desperately needs a religious criticism.’
Read MoreToni Morrison, Prophet of America’s Demons (1931-2019)
Morrison’s witness to language’s power to both destroy and create has been on ample display in our current season of American blood-letting. In 1993 Morrison warned of “Tongue-suicide,” which is “common among the infantile heads of state and power merchants whose evacuated language leaves them with no access to what is … human.”
Read MoreGod Need Not Be Real, But the Black Hole Photo Is
There are certain theological implications to the black hole. Not that it confirms any literal or conventional belief in a deity. God need not be real for divinity to be an applicable concept, for it’s good enough that the black hole is real.
Read MoreAmerica, the Mythical: “Mother of Exiles” or Denier of Safe Haven?
Thanksgiving has been marshaled in the battle over what is the proper interpretation of the idea of America. With thousands of refugees looking for amnesty in that “last, best hope of earth,” will the better angels of our nature find room for them at the table?
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In a Time of Irrational Fear and New Media: The Deadly ‘Dance Plague’ at 500
The deadly “dance plague” of 1518 took place in a rapidly changing world where suddenly old verities were in question and a new media brought all manner of unconfirmed, superstitious ideas. Sound familiar?
Read MoreWhat We Saw in the Eyes of Koko the Talking Gorilla (1971-2018)
Inherit the Wind’s creationist protesters may have held signs reading “I’m not descended from a monkey,” but the reality is that apes permeate our myths, religion, and literature precisely because it’s so obvious we’re related. Darwin may have provided the mechanism, but our own eyes tell us that there’s something eerily human in the eyes of our closest simian ancestors.
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Our Last “Genius” Stephen Hawking is Gone… Cause for Worry Or Inspiration?
Our last genius, Stephen Hawking, died early Wednesday morning at his home in Cambridge, England…
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Forget Romance, It’s Time for Some Radical Love
Love is at the center of any genuine liberatory politics – love for your fellow human as well as assertion of the right to love.
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