As more of us indulge our passion for local, organic delicacies, a growing number of Americans don’t have enough nutritious food to eat. How we can bridge the gap. For breakfast, I usually have a cappuccino—espresso made in an Alessi pot and mixed with organic milk, which has been gently heated and hand-fluffed by my […]
What it takes to get things done. At a post-election press conference last week, President Barack Obamaengaged in some public self-reflection. He felt “bad,” he said. The “shellacking” he and his party sustained the night before had prompted him to consider what in another context he might have called his shortcomings. Could he have done more
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The neuroscientist and rationalist has made his name attacking religious faith. Who knew he was so spiritual? Sam Harris, a member of the tribe known as “the new atheists,” wishes the headline to this story said something else. How about “Sam Harris Believes in Spirituality,” he suggests over lunch. Or “Sam Harris Believes in ‘God,’
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A mystic and the modern woman. Lest one imagine that female achievement and ambition is a new phenomenon, the life of Hildegard von Bingen stands as a stark corrective. Hildegard lived in the 12th century. Born to a noble family, she was raised from childhood in a monastery. In adulthood she became the magistra (similar
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The wife of Justice Clarence Thomas is a Tea Party activist. Together, they’re the right’s new power couple. Justice Clarence Thomas probably had a ho-hum day on June 7, 2010. From time to time, the Supreme Court of the United States makes historic decisions, but on that day, it didn’t. It handed down three noncontroversial rulings, and
A minister and the politics of poverty. In a political season, it’s easy for a journalist to be cynical—until David Beckmann walks into your office. Beckmann, in his blue blazer, looks like any Washington lobbyist, down to the dark circles under his eyes. But his message is completely without spin and his manner is as
Sarah Palin says a new crop of conservative women will ‘rise up’ to protect their cubs. But will they? ma·ma griz·zly noun, pl. -zlies 1. Large brown bear, female of the species, native to North America with big claws. 2. A certain breed of U.S. politician, female, who stands for… …what exactly? On some level, the term
Conventional wisdom in the last election cycle held that Mitt Romney could never win the hearts of America’s conservative evangelicals—the Republican base—because he’s Mormon, and evangelicals don’t consider Mormons to be properly Christian. “I don’t believe conservative Christians will vote for a Mormon, but that remains to be seen,” James Dobson, then chairman of Focus
A new religion book and the mosque. While researching their forthcoming book about American religion, the Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam and his colleagues polled on this hypothetical question: Say a group of Buddhists wanted to build a large temple in your community. How would you feel? Putnam & Co. asked about Buddhists because, they
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Pope Benedict is hitting all the wrong notes in his trip to the United Kingdom. Ireland, where the Roman Catholic Church’s sex-abuse scandal has been the most appalling—hundreds of children molested over decades—is a short plane ride from England. And in Ireland, where since the days of St. Patrick, the Catholic Church has been the
Fiddling While Christianity Burns Read More »