Former George W. Bush speechwriter and now opinion columnist at the Washington Post, Michael Gerson just penned a review of both the new movie Atlas Shrugged & Ayn Rand’s Objectivism. What makes it particularly complicated for me is that he is pretty close to being the last person I think who would outline precisely my concerns with Libertarianism and Objectivism. What’s more galling is how much better written it is than I have done covering much the same ground… Gerson... Read more

Ramakrishna was “a nineteenth century Hindu saint. He was a Bengali and a priest of the goddess Kali. I very much identified with his fervent desire to know his goddess. He pursued her with all his energy. And in this short version of the telling, eventually he was gifted with a vision. I read about it and was dumbfounded. In his vision the goddess emerged from a river, swelled out in pregnancy, gave birth to a child, and then ate... Read more

I write likeMargaret Atwood I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing! Okay, here’s the deal. I took the test, dropping in about four paragraphs from a sermon. It came up Dan Brown. That freaked me out. And I tried again with the complete text of another blog entry. I came up with Margaret Atwood. That I can live with. I suspect there’s some small warning in this account… Thank you, Martha, for the pointer! Read more

19 April, 2011 Dear Mr Merzel, We are a group of Zen teachers, affiliated with all of the major schools of Zen in the west. We write as individuals, however, not as representatives of any group. We are deeply concerned at your apparent turning away from your own stated intention of stepping back as a teacher in order to take care of your habitual abuses of power with students and others. We are addressing this letter to you with the... Read more

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“Last week, on April 13, 2011, President Obama gave all Democrats and all progressives a remarkable gift. Most of them barely noticed. They looked at the President’s speech as if it were only about budgetary details. But the speech went well beyond the budget. It went to the heart of progressive thought and the nature of American democracy, and it gave all progressives a model of how to think and talk about every issue. It was a landmark speech. It... Read more

The Book of Equanimity, Case 56 Uncle Mi went walking with Dongshan. A white rabbit dashed by in front of them. Uncle said, “How quick!” Dongshan replied, “How is that?” Uncle said, “It is exactly as if someone were picked off the street and appointed president.” Dongshan responded, “Even though you are a venerable master, you still talk like that!” Uncle asked, “How would you put it?” Dongshan said, “The most successful one steps into the street for a time.”Upon... Read more

DREAMS & DENIAL A Meditation on the Armenian Genocide Janice Okoomian & James Ishmael Ford 17 April 2011 First Unitarian ChurchProvidence, Rhode Island TextLined up in the sky, the cranescome and go in rows; where shall Ilook for a homeland in the spring?Which heartache shall I weep and mourn?Oh, cranes, do you have any newsfrom my home, from my sisters?Do you have a greeting for my pilgrim heartfrom our sublime native highlands?One day I left on a journey, too,passing mountains,... Read more

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    “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession  with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted,  socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.” John Rogers First the bad news.  Then the good… Beyond the jokes the biggest problem with Ayn Rand’s philosophy is that it... Read more