Hurricane season is over.

What’s behind the need of some folks to run after conspiracy theories? This spans all denominations and political philosophies; the manipulators of history are also varied–for some it’s the Jews, for others the Freemasons, for others the Illuminati, for others the Jesuits (and some creative folks find ways to link these all together, though they…

From Michael Paulson at the Boston Globe–links to an article and a video about a company in Rhode Island that makes communion wafers for Catholic churches. Interesting economic points: after 9-11, sales went up; after the sex abuse scandal, sales dipped 15%.

Research on mice links fast food to Alzheimer’s.

Gay activists are now threatening to go after churches who supported California’s Proposition 8 to remove their tax exemption. The New York Times agrees; Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State does not. “They almost certainly have not violated their tax exemption,” said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for…

At the National Museum of Funeral History, of course.

The Dalai Lama trumpets the advantages of celibacy over conjugal life.

“Expelled” was shown at the College Station SDA church for the AY program. Some graduate students at A&M then said, “Uh, can we discuss this?” An account. I had posted on “Expelled” here and here.

At the beginning of the Advent season, the four weeks before Christmas, some reflections. Advent Hope (a sermon last year). From Commonweal: Whatever Happened to Advent? Alternatives for Simple Living Advent Conspiracy O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear Rejoice! Rejoice!…

Today is indeed a black Friday for the family of a 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee in Valley Stream, Long Island, NY–he was trampled by an unruly mob rushing the store to get in for the sales. Update: A fuller report here, with news that police will try to find those responsible. I think they need to…

Not a sale — but a one time day to honor the contributions of American Indians. Today, the first and only Native American Heritage Day. Then (apparently) we can go on forgetting them.

Javits comments on the role of the international and Indian media in covering the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

From R. Adlerstein at Cross Currents: Should Jews actively promote Jewish values to the rest of the world? For two millennia, there was not much of a question. No one would listen. Today in the West we have the ability to speak our minds, and often a large audience of those who believe that Jews…

The centerpiece today was a Tofurky,  basted with a mix of soy sauce, olive oil, a little OJ, some sage and some fresh rosemary and oregano, surrounded by potatoes, carrots and pearl onions (all arranged around the sliced Tofurky on the platter). Sides included snow peas, cranberry sauce, stuffying, the cranberry dumplings that came with…

They had a problem in Tyler, Texas. The Catholic hospital wasn’t abiding by Catholic teaching. It was performing sterilizations. The administrators went through some creative mental gymnastics in saying it was going by a “good faith” interpretation of Catholic teaching, as reinterpreted by certain ethicists. The bishop is shocked–shocked!–to learn there are dissenters in his…

Let’s do a little remembering, this Thanksgiving. Let’s remember why we celebrate this day. I’m going to begin with a little history first, and use this history as an entry into a Scriptural reflection. Let’s start with the Pilgrims. Who were they? They were English Protestants in the early 1600s who sought to worship God…

A couple of posts I made last year: Secularizing Thanksgiving History of Thanksgiving

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home; All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin. God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied; Come to God’s own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home. All the world is God’s own…

20,000 Muslims protest outside a Coptic church in Cairo. A full accounting of the extent of the anti-Christian carnage in Orissa is just beginning.

At a recent dinner of the Federalist Society, Attorney General Michael Mukasey defended the Bush administration’s abridgment of liberty in the fight against terror. While others laughed at his jokes and applauded the iron fist, one man stood up and shouted, “Tyrant!” before walking out–Washington state Supreme Court justice Richard Sanders, who is of course…

Thanksgiving is not about giving thanks to random people. Why do we have the holiday? Consider the words of Abraham Lincoln, who established it in 1863: The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that…

A Lutheran pastor reflects on life in small towns at First Things. Small town life has its advantages and disadvantages, but they are not the obvious ones. When the media focused on small towns, viewers got the feeling that they were visiting a distant nation not their own. They were clearly delighted to be somewhere…

Benedict Fitzgerald is suing Mel Gibson, claiming he wasn’t paid enough for cobbling together Scripture, Anne Catherine Emmerich, and Mary of Agreda to produce the script of “The Passion.” He wants another $10,000,000. Some old links to things I’ve written on the subject of Gibson’s Passion: The Passion of the Christ: Crisis and Opportunity in…

Yes, at some airports. Topping the list: DFW, Detroit, O’Hare, and Bush. At the bottom: Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Reagan.

In a few days we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving, a day traditionally set apart by our nation to gather with family and friends and give thanks to God for his bounty. It’s been a national holiday since Abraham Lincoln established it in the midst of the Civil War (take a look at his Thanksgiving Proclamation). But when…

After 10 years, the Smithsonian’s restoration of the Star Spangled Banner is complete, and it will be visible when the museum itself reopens tomorrow after a two year renovation. The flag is in a new display, no longer hanging as it had been for many years.

Chuck Scriven is confused by Trinitarian theology and history. First, some details. The Athanasian Creed is much later than the Nicene Creed, not earlier. The Symbol of Chalcedon is not a creed. He says, “No attempt, however valiant, will resolve the puzzle of how Jesus could have had, at the same time, all the traits…

Alan Reinach on the religious bigotry that has been on display in California since the passage of Prop 8.

Robert Sungenis critiques Christopher West on what is and what is not permitted within the sexual relationship of a Catholic married couple.

“Roger and Me” is the only Michael Moore movie I’ve endured to the end–and I have seen it several times. Moore is now saying, “I told you so.”