"Here we see the "pro-family" ethic of Timothy LaHaye's brand of religious conservatism at work. Rayford is, first and foremost, a husband and a father. The dead and the dying who surround him at the airport are strangers, untermenschen. They are not his family and therefore, according to LaHaye's pro-family view, Steele is right to ignore them on his way back to Irene and the kids. (Even though, by now, Steele has a pretty good idea that Irene and the kids are long gone.)" Read more
Legend has it that on Friday the 13th, just before midnight, one of the greatest Americans who ever lived returns from the grave to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And Mr. Douglass is all out of bubblegum. Read more
I don't recall reading any interviews with Jon Stott about his leaving evangelicalism for the Anglican Church. It's perfectly legal to execute an innocent person -- William Rehnquist said so. The Eggman of Euclid is not the worst Ohio criminal on the loose. And two trailers that explain why I'll probably be pretty unproductive next month. Read more
I'm happy to read about the Penn Ghost Project. I do not believe in ghosts, but I do believe in ghost stories. Searching for ghosts is bound to be a fruitless waste of time. But searching for ghost stories can be important and meaningful. Read more
The "In My Pants" game is quite simple. Just take the name of any book and add the phrase "... in my pants." This is juvenile and inexcusably crude. It can also be a lot of fun. Read more
I gave up on Pandora a while back because of the Death Cab for Cutie thing. No matter what artists I requested or what songs I liked, Pandora just kept recommending Death Cab for Cutie. I began to distrust their algorithm. I wondered if there was some kind of payola scheme. Or maybe if you picked too many pre-2000 artists, the algorithm just figured you were old and that old people probably all like Death Cab for Cutie. I dunno. Read more
I usually like my comedies like I like my coffee -- dark and unsweetened -- but Kimmy Schmidt, like Leslie Knope, has an indomitable optimism that can be almost contagious. "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," a new series on Netflix, is adorably funny. It lands most of its jokes, then lets them build so that each successive call-back works even better than the one before. Read more
Conspiracy theories are supposed to be fun. A well-constructed conspiracy theory should offer the same rewards and entertainments as any good puzzle. It should confront the true believer with a series of disparate facts and then provide the sense of delight and satisfaction that comes from seeing how all of those pieces can be made to fit together. Tim LaHaye refuses to put the pieces together, and that takes all the fun out of it. Read more
It's early March, and baseball fans must bear the "strange weight" of optimism. Plus: The weird religious ideas of Ali Khamenei; insidious cults on college campuses; a "pro-family" legislator "re-homes" a child into Hell; and a plea not to make an "Infinite Jest" movie. Read more
It's time for my spring fundraiser, which means this week I'll be drawing your attention to the "Slacktivist Tip Jar" and its accompanying "Donate" button there in the right-hand column of this blog. If you are both able and inclined to do so, I invite you to click that friendly yellow button and support this site. Read more
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