The Archbishop of Canterbury may think so: "...the sober testimony of the twentieth century is that the rationality of secular thinking is no guarantee of universal understanding and reconciliation. A rationality that has brought us into the age of nuclear weaponry and global economic meltdown invites some sharp questions, to put it mildly ... As …
Pork Gets in the Way of Progress
This is the core problem with our government these days: Last week the Center for Public Integrity reported that almost 1,800 "special interest groups" have already hired 2,100 lobbyists and spent an estimated $45 million to lobby Congress on transportation in the first half of this year. The center, which tracks money in politics, says …
Throwing Our Sins Into the Sea
This, in the Shiny Sheet: Beachgoers wore puzzled looks while watching more than 25 children and parents throwing bread into the ocean, without a seagull in sight. Just before noon on Sunday, the group made the trip from Temple Emanu-El to the Atlantic to cast the bread during a special children’s service for Tashlikh, which …
My Thoughts on Jimmy Carter and the Race Issue
Jimmy Carter's made quite a splash with his accusation that opposition to Barack Obama's policies--be they health care or otherwise--are racially motivated. When I think of someone with Jimmy Carter's background going on in this fashion, my thoughts turn to this, from Thomas Sowell's Black Rednecks and White Liberals: The cultural values and social patterns …
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All Saints Pawley’s Island: Col. Nicholson Takes His Lumps
Sure looks that way: While it is true that “[c]ourts may not engage in resolving disputes as to religious law, principle, doctrine, discipline, custom, or administration,” Pearson, 325 S.C. at 53, 478 S.E.2d at 854, the resolution of the 2005 Action does not require such judicial meddling. The 2005 case turns on a determination of …
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Blood, Sweat and Tears: Sometimes in Winter
This is the second is a series of videos of songs which find their way into the novel The Ten Weeks. It's Blood Sweat and Tears' "Sometimes in Winter," from their eponymous album. Although it's a very reflective and contemplative piece, music of the era sometimes inspired unpredictable reactions, and that's what happened here. You …
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Pelosi Sees Violence. But Did Her Supporters Cause Some?
She certainly sees it: “I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw … I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco,” Pelosi said, choking up and with tears forming in her eyes. “This kind of rhetoric is just, is really frightening and it created a …
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Why This Recovery Isn’t Going the Way It Should
The banks simply have not resumed lending as before: In a normal economic cycle, a flood of capital market liquidity would fuel a recovery. However, there is nothing normal about this cycle as major channels of finance in the real economy remain blocked. Increased corporate issuance and rallying equities may raise the amplitude of the …
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The Power of the Laity
From the late Rev. Lou Tarsitano, Rector of St. Andrew's in Savannah, Georgia: Someone mentioned, too, the potential power of the laity. And they do have great power, which most of them never choose to use, partially from a lack of sacrificial leadership, but also from a lack of taking up the cross themselves. Any …
There’s More to Frade’s Allowance of Same Sex Blessings in SE Florida Than Meets the Eye
Somehow, I struggle to classify this as news: Further south, the Rt. Rev. Leo Frade, Bishop of Southeast Florida, has authorized his clergy to provide pastoral blessings—but not to preside over same-sex weddings—within about a month. Bishop Frade announced his decision to a clergy conference that met on Sept. 9 and 10. Bishop Frade told The …
Positive Infinity 