Islam, Meet Maureen Dowd
The Times columnist’s latest betrays a terrifying ignorance of Islam.
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Consumerism’s New Frontier: The Preschool Set
Recent studies show that children as young as three years old use “brand cues” to choose among food and play options—and thus is a Pandora’s toybox opened.
Read MoreGlobal Warming Denialists the New Creationists?
Claiming to oppose ‘scientific dogma’ climate change foes seek to ‘teach the controversy’ in schools.
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Should I Scream and Shout, Should I Speak of Love?: How I Lost One Leper Messiah, and Gained Another, Part 2
In this second installment of Mark Dery’s autobiographical essay (a “nonfiction novella”) about a suburban teen’s transcendent encounter with Ziggy Stardust, our hero has his congenitally straight brain blown in a late-night, black and white encounter with the confusingly feminine Ziggy during Bowie’s final appearance as the character.
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The Mystic in the Rye: JD Salinger’s Religious Fiction
The one thing that seems able to tame even a hardened cynic like Holden Caufield, in the least overtly religious Salinger book, is an encounter with the innocence of childhood; especially children at play. It is this quest for lost innocence that defines the spiritual trajectory of Salinger’s most memorable characters. They are all teachers, parents, players, children-at-heart.
Read MoreHollywood Agents of God: Are Movies the Sacred Texts of our Time?
As the ‘gods’ of Hollywood descend in designer digs, religion scholars Gary Laderman and Anthea Butler discuss the divinity of celebrity in America.
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Oscar-Nominated Ajami Depicts Reality of Second-Class Citizenship for Arab Israelis
Set on the mean streets of Jaffa, politics are ever-present in a tragic tale of a drug deal gone bad. Meanwhile, in the city that gives the film its title Jewish-only housing is being approved and properties developed.
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Capricology Week 5: Fathers, Funerals, and the Ethics of Gaming
Tamara, the girl who is dead but doesn’t know it, who exists only within the “magic circle” of a virtual game, takes center stage in this week’s episode, and in our commentary.
Read MoreBeck Botches Social Justice
For Beck, social justice is the new fascism.
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Extra-Terrestrial Kitsch: Capricology #4
Among other clues to this sci-fi opera, our Caprica watchers took particular note of a bobbleheaded bull on the dashboard of a Tauron killer. What can we learn from the possibility that Capricans can be as kitsch-obsessed, cigarette-addicted, and as reckless with civil liberties as earthlings can be?
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