"On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.'" Read more
So remember, kids, when you put the shift on against a lefty with a runner on first, someone needs to cover third base. Also: "The Auks" is a cool mascot name; a reasonable debate; farewell Pandagon; and "Valley Forge Americans." Read more
In the first 100 pages of this book we've learned about a nuclear war (it's OK, no one was hurt), and the disappearance of 2/5 of the world's population. Yet these same 100 pages are strangely uneventful -- the story of a man whose flight to London is detoured to Chicago, so he then charters a private plane to New York. You don't need to wait for the Left Behind Video Game -- you can capture all the excitement of the books right now by playing online at sites like Expedia and Travelocity. Read more
We really need a better, catchier name for this star than KIC 8462852. Not just because that would be more convenient, but also because there's a very slim chance that future data will strengthen our suspicion of intelligent life there enough to prompt us to attempt to contact or communicate with them. And if it ever came to that, we'd need some better way to address them than as "People of the KIC 8462852 system." Read more
Dahlia Lithwick on "Carly Fiorina's Big Lie." Therese Oneill looks at "the terrifying medical logic of 18th-century law." Kate Botkin and Kathy Khang respond to a pair of prominent white Christian racists. And Edmund Waldstein discusses how usury fuels "the psychology of the conquistadors." Read more
Inerrantists insist that we needn't worry about the many examples of scribal errors, transcription mistakes, mistranslations in or out of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German or English. God has been intervening, they say, providentially ensuring that our copies of copies of copies and our translations of translations of translations still allow us access to the original perfection of the long-lost inerrant biblical autographs. Read more
A mysterious stranger suddenly appears out of nowhere in the middle of Times Square. She has no memory of who she is or where she's from, and her naked body is covered in tattoos revealing specific information about the future. How can this not be a time-travel story? Read more
A nice university professor has studied "Why some religious Americans see same-sex marriage as a threat." And I'm sure his findings accurately describe SOME religious Americans. But I think his study misses at least two of the major reasons that many white American Christians oppose same-sex marriage. For many, I think, such opposition is mostly an abstract proxy for a separate debate about the meaning of the Bible. And for others it's just a scary story that makes for a lucrative fundraising pitch. Read more
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." Read more
You shall put all its males to the sword. You may, however, take as your booty the women, the children, livestock, and everything else in the town, all its spoil. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. Read more
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