In a review of Robert Alter’s Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible , Adam Kirsch explains how Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick was influenced by the KJV while being a sort of anti-Bible: The irony is that Melville uses these biblical tropes in constructing a book that is a . . . . Continue Reading »
For a president who ran on the plank of compromise and incorporating opposing ideas, he sure likes to jam his views through. He did it with Obamacare, and so far, it has cost him and the Democratic Party dearly in collapsing political support. And now, the Guardian obtained a memo . . . . Continue Reading »
I will be appearing on two nationally syndicated radio programs this week to talk about my new book and the animal rights movement. First up, the Dennis Prager Show tomorrow during the 9 O’ Clock AM hour (Pacific). Times may differ in your area, or you can hear the program streamed . . . . Continue Reading »
A few years ago, on my 40th birthday, I spent the day walking silently with my family through the gates of the Nazi work camp at Flossenburg, Germany, wandering among the monuments to the dead.The camp is almost empty of structures, though a few chapels dot the grounds; its gravel quarry has been . . . . Continue Reading »
If you really want to have your sensibilities twisted up in a knot, try listening to sports talk radio when the topic of discussion is some player’s malfeasance. The current version of that particular play has to do with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s treatment of a . . . . Continue Reading »
You are absolutely right, Anthony . Contrary to what many secularists claim–and many Christians believe–we evangelicals are not all that politically involved. Sure, like most Americans we talk a lot about politics, just like we talk a lot about sports and religion. But the claim that we . . . . Continue Reading »
Mark Chaves , professor of sociology at Duke University and director of the National Congregations Study, has this interesting chart detailing how broadly defined Christian groups engage politically. (Full disclosure: Mark and I went to high school together. In fact, I was briefly a really bad . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s that time of year again. The time for marking papers and preparing exams. Sometimes paper-marking inspires fits of anger and frustration. Other times it inspires poetry. Continue Reading »
On Saturday, poet Samuel Menashe—who has a new poem in the April issue —gave a poetry reading at the 96th Street Library here in New York. Sean Curnyn recorded the event and offered his own reflection: It’s funny: Although one’s enjoyment of Menashe’s poems certainly can . . . . Continue Reading »
With its bulbous green domes pointing skyward and its highly articulated facade, Central Synagogue, on Lexington Avenue at 55th Street, is a marvel of Moorish Revival architecture. Constructed in 1872 in tribute to Budapest’s Dohány Street Synagogue, Central Synagogue is now considered to . . . . Continue Reading »
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