Yeah, I feel as if I should write something appropriate to the liturgical season, though unlike many of my fellow bloggers here, it’s not really my skill set.  Instead, a few bits and pieces. Yesterday being Holy Thursday/Maundy Thursday, I’ll admit that the footwashing ritual doesn’t do anything for me.  (Side note:  I find it ironic that the Catholic name is “Holy Thursday” and the Lutheran/Protestant term is Maundy Thursday; the latter comes from the footwashing rite but, growing up,... Read more

First of all, the Indiana legislature revised its legislation yesterday with an amendment “that, while not outlawing anti-gay discrimination, clarified that the religious freedom law does not authorize such discrimination,” which Governor Pence signed into law, according to the New York Times.  The actual text is here, and the key elements are that (a) this law is neither an authorization to discriminate on the basis of a protected category, including sexual orientation, nor may it be used as a defense against... Read more

Here’s an observation: Civil Rights laws were passed to remedy the real harm that was done to blacks owing to discrimination against them.  (See my older post on the topic.) Persecuting a pizzeria that said, when asked by an industrious reporter, that hypothetically, they wouldn’t cater to a gay wedding — that’s not about remedying discrimination.  What’s more, in no case that I’m aware of, when a gay or lesbian couple looking for a venue, a photographer, a baker, a... Read more

When did American politics develop the animosity that currently exists, that one’s political opponent is one’s enemy, to be squashed at every opportunity?  When did we lose the idea that our opponents are well-intentioned, disagree with them though we may?  When, for instance, did people cease to recognize that, in a great many instances, when it comes to social issues, we need to balance rights that conflict with each other, and, with economic issues, there are genuine disagreements about what... Read more

You’d think the answer to the issue of the clash between religious freedom and equal treatment, when it comes to services related to gay weddings, would be easy to solve:  allow people to claim religious exemption from providing services for gay weddings or commitment ceremonies, so long as this doesn’t hinder the ability of same-sex brides/grooms to find providers in their local area.  If you’re one of many florists in town, then your rejection of floral arrangements for a gay... Read more

Do retirees really, consistently, have the level of financial understanding necessary to manage, not a monthly pension check, but an IRA as their source of retirement income? Many do, of course.  But, based on anecdotal evidence, I suspect that there are many retirees whose understanding is hazy, at best, whether they’re lower-income workers who end up with an IRA due to a 401(k) rollover at work, or individuals whose spouse has always handled such matters and is no longer able... Read more

Here’s something I started typing up a while back; thought I’d finish this as a distraction from the current unpleasantness in the news. Books and me go way back. My mom likes to tell the story that I’d get in trouble at school for sneaking another book (and no, not the comic book of a Calvin & Hobbes strip) when we were supposed to be reading the reading or social studies text together as a class.  And I know I... Read more

I haven’t written one of these in a while:  that sort of post wherein I remind readers that sometimes when I haven’t written about a topic in the news, it’s because I don’t really have anything worthwhile to say about it, not because I’m uninterested. The negotiations with Iran over its stated intention to develop nuclear energy capabilities and its presumed covert intention to build nuclear weapons?  It worries me a great deal, especially with every new revelation that the... Read more