In a Time of Chaos and Misrule, Mardi Gras’ Subversive Message is Virtually Meaningless
Historically amongst the revelers at Venice’s celebrated Mardi Gras Carnival, are those costumed in the…
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Literary Critic George Steiner, Whose Views on Anti-Semitism Drew Controversy, Dies at 90
In 2019 the community of literary scholars marked the passing of the pugilistic and controversial…
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MLK Monument That Never Was, is a Reminder of the King Too Often Ignored
During the controversy surrounding the selection of a design for the Martin Luther King Jr….
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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?
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