Religion Dispatches
…holic Church, I’ve been having some interesting conversations by email and phone with Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Some people have emailed me to say “right on.” Others, like some of my relatives, are just hurt, scared, and wondering if they can trust anything about their local priest, diocese, or bishop. I’ve received invitations to come and join the Episcopal Church (are you listening, Father Balmer?) but I am not quite “there” yet. Yet th…
Read More
…This puts the Doctor in a difficult situation—he can’t let the beast go, because it would cause the city to crumble and its inhabitants to perish. But neither can he let it go on in agony. He decides that his only option is to lobotomize the creature, allowing the city to carry on but essentially murdering the last representative of an ancient species. But this is not a decision he makes lightly: he declares that once the task is done he must “fin…
Read More…raphed a piece of paper on the dashboard of Roeder’s car: It contained the phone number of Cheryl Sullenger, Operation Rescue’s senior policy advisor, who served two years in prison for conspiring to bomb abortion clinics in 1988. Roeder also told me that Sullenger was present at the lunch with Newman where they discussed “justifiable” homicide, and that Newman had given Roeder the autographed copy of his book just three months before Roeder kille…
Read More…onomic writings have also influenced Rand Paul. The goal is to return America to its Biblical foundations “from Genesis to Revelation” (a postmillennial reading of Revelation, which holds that the Second Coming will occur after an era of Christian dominance). American Vision is a non-profit, tax exempt, educational organization. Like many of these groups, DeMar also has a companion organization that can raise money and promote candidates for elect…
Read More…trict.) Every step of the way, Freshwater and his lawyers have wrapped the cases in obfuscation and paranoid accusations of “being set up.” By the time the hearing is over, it is likely it will have cost the tiny school district almost $1 million. Also, his supporters have accused the Dennis family of making up evidence by altering a photo of Zachary’s burned arm. Coach Dave Daubenmire, the creator of the Mt. Vernon’s Minute Men United, a militant…
Read More…far between. The New York Times builds its whole story out of a handful of phone calls and an email. But the article indicates that those who run the various nonprofits that help soldiers achieve conscientious objector status expect a floodgate of calls if Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is formally repealed. The good news is that the groups don’t think there is legal basis for the claims. In the “don’t ask, don’t tell” cases, Ms. McNeil concluded that there…
Read More…action plan 2. Primp for photo shoot with Today’s Christian Woman 3. Order camouflage Bible 4. Call Pat Robertson for spiritual guidance 5. Put hubbie on short leash 6. See if can find any prayer warriors willing to go all biblical on Levi 7. Send Rush a belated wedding gift Mel Gibson 1. *&^%^%$#@!!! 2. Mail in donation to Christians United for Israel 3. Promote The Passion of The Christ 4. Drink 5. Drive 6. Repeat Pope Benedict 1. Order unkosher…
Read More
…d to us—New Yorkers, Americans, human beings? How do I explain that I was scared because my city was attacked, but I was also scared because people might blame me? I tried to rush down to help, but by the time I got further downtown there was too much smoke to go any further. People rushing in the opposite direction, coming from out of the smoke, screamed—maybe at me—where are you going? At a loss for what to do, I thought I should go to the Musli…
Read More
…ost and almost every day was my youngest sibling: my only sister, Carol. Because Carol made me a beneficiary, I have the means to make hajj this year. So in a way, this hajj is not only because of her death, it is for her. I want to stand on Arafat in gratitude to Allah for having been her sister and for those last four years of her life which we shared so intimately like we never got a chance to before. By the time my sister was born I was alread…
Read More…o see how close I could get before he hopped into the water. But even as I came closer, the frog didn’t move. Finally, I drifted to within three feet of him, yet he was still staring back at me, and still offering occasional croaks. That’s when I noticed the frog’s back end was missing, having disappeared inside the mouth of a really large black snake. The frog’s head and arms were all that remained unswallowed, a problem that clearly put the frog…
Read More