The war in Gaza continues despite a temporary cease-fire that failed. Donald Trump, the former real estate mogul and now U.S. president, last month called for an outlandish proposal for solving the Gaza war if not the larger conflict between Palestinians and the State of Israel—to remove Palestinians from Gaza and turn the place into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” And this week he has called for them to be removed to Libya. Uprising in Beit Layiha The Wall... Read more
Just Published—Mark Twain Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow has written a 1,200-page biography of the famous novelist, satirist, essayist, and humorist who built his famed literary career by using the pen name Mark Twain. Chernow’s Mark Twain was published Monday, two day ago, in hardcover by Penguin Press. Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. My book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, entitled Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia, (269 pp.) was published in 1990 as... Read more
Paul Did Not Teach Unconditional Obedience to Civil Rulers The apostle Paul wrote in his magisterial, theologically in-depth, and lengthy letter to “all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints” (Romans 1.7 NRSV), that they should do the following: Romans 13:1-7 1“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and... Read more
Robert Francis Prevost: The 267th Roman Catholic Pope Last Thursday, the Roman Catholic Church’s Conclave—a gathering of 135 cardinals at the Vatican—selected the Church’s 267th pope after only two days of deliberations. For the first time in the Church’s history, the pope is an American. He is from Chicago; he is 69 years old; he is a devout Chicago White Sox baseball fan; and his name is Robert Francis Prevost. His predecessor and friend, Pope Francis, had made him a... Read more
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania attended the funeral of Pope Francis last week at the Vatican. Many Catholic Church cardinals from around the world were there as well. They were mourning the pope’s death, honoring his legacy, and discussing who will replace him. Next Wednesday, 130 cardinals will officially begin deliberations to choose Francis’s successor. On Tuesday, President Trump said to reporters gathered outside the White House, “I’d like to be the pope.” Was he being real or... Read more
Trump’s Bluster about Canada as U.S. State Soon after Donald Trump won last year’s presidential election in early November, he soon began trumpeting that Canada should become the 51st state of the U.S. When he first said it, in December to Canada’s Prime Minister, Mr. Justin Trudeau thought Trump was joking. But he soon realized he wasn’t when Trump turned up the rhetoric that included threats that Canada would indeed become the 51st state of the U.S. President Trump in... Read more
Does Trump Exaggerate or Lie? When Donald Trump campaigned this last time for the U.S. presidency, he bragged that if he won reelection he would “end the Ukraine war on day one.” How many people who voted for him believed that? It was like him saying if president he’d build a wall on our southern border and “Mexico will pay for it.” It was so much of the same bluster he has become known for. Or did any of his... Read more
Pope Francis died Monday, the day after Easter. He was 88 years old. Beloved by many, this first Latin American pontiff was chosen partly to pursue an ongoing mission of cleaning up alleged, financial corruption in the Vatican. To his great credit, this most affable pope was known mostly for his advocacy for the poor, the disenfranchised, and the marginalized. Many young people were drawn to Pope Francis. And he did make progress at the Vatican with financial reforms. But... Read more
Was Billy Graham Presbyterian or Baptist? The great evangelist Billy Graham grew up attending a Presbyterian church with his family in North Carolina. And Billy and Ruth Graham raised their children in a Presbyterian church. Yet Billy Graham joined a Southern Baptist Church early in his evangelistic ministry, thereby associating his ministry with Baptists more than with Presbyterians. Franklin Graham—son of the famed evangelist Billy Graham and strong supporter of Donald Trump as U.S. president—preached an Easter message at the... Read more
Does Trump Listen? Does U.S. President Donald Trump listen? That depends on what you mean by listen. He hears what people say, though his attention span reportedly is short. But does he listen in the sense that he becomes convinced of what someone says and acts accordingly? He does if it agrees with his thinking, so they say. But that is pretty normal. Yet, does Trump ever get convinced when someone disagrees with him? Not very often. Trump’s Tariffs Make... Read more
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