Wherein Lee Atwater and I explain why white fundamentalists force young girls to try to play soccer in culottes. Read more

And what I want to know is how do you like your blue-eyed boy, Mr. Death? Read more

I used to think "witnessing tools" were a Bad Idea. On further reflection, though, I think they're actually a Very, Very Bad Idea. Read more

The A-word only applies when those other people do it for reasons we do not need to explore because we simply know, beforehand, that those reasons are unworthy, ignoble, immoral and indefensible. Read more

This is a true story. Deep in my heart, I do believe. Read more

This was a silly idea, but I still really want to see this movie. Read more

From August 9, 2007, “The sin of despair” I suppose I should start with what it is not. The Catholic Encyclopedia entry on despair is exuberantly Pelagian: Despair … is the voluntary and complete abandonment of all hope of saving one’s soul and of having the means required for that end. Whoever wrote that was less interested in defining “despair” than he was in scoring points against Luther, Calvin and Arminius. “Unless a seed dies and falls to the ground,” Jesus said. No, no, this... Read more

"Oh," the guy says to the minister. "I'm the landlord." Read more

We read that word not just in translation, but filtered through centuries of agglomerated lore and legend and sheer Barnum-esque razzle-dazzle. Read more

Every state and county should be working to help home-owners become the owners of the land beneath their homes. Read more