Patheos’s political question of the week is “For whom will you vote, and why?” The e-mail that went out to all of the relevant bloggers explained, “The challenge is to make a case for your preferred candidate in light of your most deeply held convictions.” Normally, I’d blow this one right off because most of my deeply held convictions have nothing to do with politics. Indeed, that is the thing I react most violently against in American politics today: it... Read more
In the Huffington Post today, I write about my new short free e-book Mitt Romney’s Mormon-Christian Coalition. (Get it for no dollars and zero cents right here, folks.) It grew out of an earlier project that never got off the ground called The Case Against Mitt Romney. It is one of the great disappointments of my life that that book never found a publisher, despite quite a lot of effort. It would have been used by critics of Romney in... Read more
Your diarist wonders if it’s even possible for a working writer to resist Twitter at this point, especially during a political season. The short answer is that it’s possible but not feasible — not if you want your opinions to have some currency anyway. Several Twitter accounts have been set up for me over the years by friends and employers. I had treated them mostly with indifference. Then I started blogging for Patheos and the powers that be (ahem) strongly... Read more
Yes I just did a Huffington Post Live segment about the Vice Presidents. Had to rush to get home in time and there were numerous technical problems, but, hey, I showed up! If you want to see that, the clip is here. I’m too mortified of the whole experience to go there any time soon. Read more
I am grateful for the Patheos political question of the week this time out. A bunch of us have been asked to answer the question, “What are the key issues at stake in this election for people of your tradition?” My religious tradition is Catholicism, full stop. There are two issues that should be of paramount importance to Catholics, and they make a choice at the presidential level very difficult. One of those issues is abortion. The other one is... Read more
Where — besides sex shops, hopefully — may one go to find an edible hat? Fruit-flavored would probably be best. Read more
This Monday morning, Research on Religion has put up its hour-long interview with your diarist about the new free e-book (seriously, no dollars and zero cents right here folks), America’s shifting political-religious landscape and why a certain someone might have to publicly eat his hat if the GOP overperforms in Pennsylvania. There may be one explosive aspect of this interview near the end, where I bust out what friends and colleagues have started referring to as “Mitt Romney: The Sodium... Read more
Your diarist should apologize in advance for the mild swear on this family-friendly website. So, sorry folks, but it’s unlikely anybody has ever come up with better words to sum up the day just past than Lips in Anvil: The Story of Anvil. He said “Family is important shit, man.” Indeed it is. We sacrifice countless hours of our lives and money and God only knows what else to help our own out and to be with them — often... Read more
With today’s news that Newsweek will officially quit printing at the end of the year, many many critics will pile on to editor Tina Brown, blaming her for the newsweekly’s demise. And make no mistake, this is a demise. The Daily Beast, which predates and is different from Newsweek, is the Internet face of that enterprise. There is no good reason to split the brand. Even if Newsweek retains some Internet presence, it will shrink to nothing before long. Brown... Read more
Alice Sullivan, for those Jeremy Lott’s Diary readers who don’t know her, is a Nashville based editor who worked on a few of my books when she was at Thomas Nelson and still serves as a well trained ear for my longer writing projects. She’s also a friend who is enjoying — oh let’s call it — her 29th birthday today. (Misery and despair/people dying everywhere/happy birthday to you.) Alice’s birthday is extra-easy for me to remember because it’s the... Read more
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