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I can’t speak for all writers, but I can say I tend to be thin-skinned. Although I strive for healthier practice, I still often hear the one critical voice standing in an approving crowd. And when you write things that lovingly but honestly ask hard questions about religious beliefs and practices, there may, in fact, be more than one critical voice out there. Just ask Brian McLaren, or, of late, Rob Bell.
When you reject one idea of Jesus to suggest another one that seems more authentic to you, some people take it personally.
Of the criticisms I’ve been getting about my book The Other Jesus (and I’m not wading through anything like the abuse that

Perhaps, over the past couple of weeks, you watched The Lincoln Lawyer. And perhaps, as a result, you are thinking of reading the book. I can imagine such thinking taking place immediately after the purchase of a plane ticket.
To give you an idea of what you’ll be up against, I’ve written my own The Lincoln Lawyer chapter. It contains a spoiler or two, but that shouldn’t matter if you’ve already seen the

America’s engagement in Libya has provoked a spasm of commentary from seasoned hands in the foreign policy establishment and pundits of all political stripes complaining that President Obama’s decision to join in the United Nations’ sanctioned, multi-lateral effort to protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi was either confused, wrong-headed, or nave, or all of the above.
But the decision was none of those things. It was simply another example of the president making a policy decision in ways that instinctively reflect the beliefs and behaviors of his most loyal supporters, the Millennial generation, born between 1982 and 2003. The last time a generation like the Millennials (a type labeled “civic” by generational theorists) came of age it was the GI or Greatest Generation in the 1930s and

Can you imagine being hired by a family as a travel agent, being privy to personal details about them, deciding in the process, that, regardless if it is unethical, you would pursue the husband? You are in your mid-forties, divorced, no children, you know what it is to struggle and being ruthless feels natural so you move in on the husband ever so cleverly, bit by bit (phone calls going back and forth, emails, hey, how about meeting?), it is a game, meanwhile, acting so “nice” to the wife as you infiltrate the sacred zone of family. You see nothing wrong with what you are doing. As a matter of fact, you convince yourself there is nothing wrong with what you are doing. Unprofessional? You tell yourself, no, even though you were let go from a prior job for inappropriate behavior, this time it is different, and besides the husband is responding and I am getting away with it so far.
Or can you imagine being hired by a family to be a nanny, being trusted to protect and care for children and become part of a

What would you do if someone told you that America was in grave danger — that a powerful enemy with almost unlimited resources had infiltrated every level of government, the media, both political parties and the Supreme Court? What if someone told you that it was up to you to save your country — to protect its promise, to save the dream?
Throughout history, our greatest leaders have warned of threats to our democracy. At the Constitutional Convention, Ben Franklin famously answered a woman’s question about what type of government had been created with the caution, “a republic madam, if you can keep it.” Theodore Roosevelt worked to bust the corporate trusts that threatened our democracy. Dwight Eisenhower warned that only an “aware and informed citizenry” could protect the country from the growing influence of the military-industrial complex (interestingly, an early version of his speech warned of the military-industrial-congressional complex).
If these leaders were with us today, they would likely reiterate their concerns. The wholesale deregulation of Wall Street, the financial crisis, the economic collapse, the multi-billion dollar bailout, and the subsequent GROWTH of the Too Big To Fail institutions at the center of the crisis indicate a system gone seriously

I recently returned from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where I gave a speech on UN reform at a conference on “Global Strategic Developments: A Futuristic Vision”. It was an incredibly interesting place to get a perspective on the conflict in Libya. Speakers at the conference included the UAE’s Foreign Minister, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council and former US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The participants at the conference were from around the Arab world, Europe, the U.S., and many other nations.
There seems to be a general consensus that while the “no fly zone” will not stop the conflict in Libya, it is a necessary

This is the third Rolling Stone article that I’ve highlighted in the last month or so, but the magazine’s new special report, dubbed “The Kill Team,” is worth a read.
It offers a thorough look at how American soldiers in Afghanistan allegedly murdered Afghan civilians. One, Spc. Jeremy Morlock, 22, recently pleaded guilty to charges of murdering three Afghans and has been sentenced to 24 years in prison.
What’s most interesting about the article, in my opinion, is that it raises questions about military officer accountability and highlights the lack of any real investigation for several months despite high-level awareness of suspicious behavior. A few choice nuggets (with emphasis added):
So far, though, no officers or senior officials have been charged in either the murders or the

In our little room, he told us that morning about the time he had spent in the USSR. He’d only been in Havana a few hours, after an Aeroflot plane had brought him back from his long sojourn in the land of Gorbachev. The gothic letters on his diploma showed he’d graduated from the university in some kind of engineering my childish mind couldn’t understand. It was the first time I’d heard about the Juragu nuclear reactor, which was built in Cienfuegos in

Rejecting the gloom and that which so many corporate antics inspire, business writers of late have taken to praising the companies that pursue purpose, articulate values and see for themselves higher values than just boosting the bottom line. And we admire those who embrace corporate social responsibility (CSR) and attempt to give something back to their communities through volunteering and charitable donations. I’m all for this — though there will always be a part of me that still wonders that we celebrate those who simply try not to be evil.
But it seems to me that before we start celebrating all these added extras, we should require of our corporations that they do one basic thing: they should pay their

We think small when it comes to women. Micro, to be exact.
When I first started reporting on women entrepreneurs in conflict and post-conflict zones in 2005, nearly everyone, from IMF officials in their offices to development workers in the field, told me the only women I would find would be “selling cheese by the side of the road.” Women, I was told again and again, did not own the kind of growing businesses that created jobs and economic growth. This, it seemed, was strictly the purview of men. One customs official even joked that they were not sure why I had taken a week-long trip to Afghanistan to interview businesswomen when surely my interviews would all fit into the space of a single afternoon.
What I found when I began reporting, however, was that even in the poorest and most traditional countries, women owned businesses that went well beyond the

In October of 2006, the late Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said on the floor of the Senate that “If the Senate decides to discriminate against our state… I will resign from this body.” Stevens was not using this threat to protect the civil liberties of the people of his state. He was instead objecting to a proposal to redirect $453 million in highway funds earmarked for two Alaska bridges to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. One of the bridges, at a projected cost of $223 million, would connect a small town to an island and thus was dubbed by critics as the “Bridge to Nowhere.”
As any resident of West Virginia well knows, pork was not just an Alaskan or Republican

The highly anticipated The Book of Mormon didn’t quite provoke the highly anticipated shower of controversy we were told to highly anticipate. In the months leading up to its debut, the show indulged the predicted criticism by dismissing it. Its website touted reviews calling it “blasphemous,” “boundary-pushing,” and “crudely provocative.” Trey Parker, one of the show’s director/writer/composers, publicly declared “We’re just not scared… And not like in an ‘Awesome, we’re fearless’

Every year, African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) celebrates the work of African and Diaspora filmmakers and visual artists through the annual New York African Film Festival (NYAFF). In essence, we see the festival as a yearly opportunity for audiences to rediscover Africa through the richness of her culture. It is fitting, then, that as the United Nations prompts us to celebrate the International Year for People of African Descent in 2011, this year’s NYAFF pays special homage to the vast contributions made by people of African descent worldwide — contributions to the political, economic, social and, of course, cultural development of the global

The New York Times Magazine had a cover story a few weeks ago that posed the question: Does college basketball matter? In answer to this rather existential question, I thought, well, it depends to which college basketball they are referring.
Are they talking about the game that’s “all about the Benjamins,” including exorbitant coaches’ salaries and shoe contracts (why, for heaven’s sake, should the coaches, not the schools, profit from these deals?), the sponsors of every item or space that could be sold, and the television contracts?
Are they talking about the shady recruiting practices that serve the coaches, the bottom-dwelling and predatory scouts, AAU coaches, summer camps, and boosters?
Are they talking about the fans who, in my view, care far too much about something that is really just a game?
Are they talking about the universities that seem to worry little about the graduation rates of its players (other than those enforced by NCAA rules and regulations), yet have tremendous concern for their piece of the conference and NCAA revenue pies?
Are they talking about college basketball that is about the one-year visit to a college campus by a wannabe NBA superstar because the NBA no longer allows players to turn pro out of high school, unlike every other sport, I might add (these players, who may have prodigious talent, but often lack the technical and tactical fundamentals of the game, are akin to the 40% of incoming college students who need remedial classes because they lack the basic skills to succeed in college)?
In other words, are they talking about a system that cares little about the student-athletes who actually play the game?
If that’s the college basketball that the article is referring to, then my answer is: Never has, never will. That game of college basketball doesn’t deserve my attention or interest, much less my fanatical absorption, even during March Madness. To devote my time and energy to such a corrupt game would be to legitimize and validate its worth in a world where my time and energy are needed elsewhere.
Or, are they talking about the game that allows young basketball players to pursue their dreams, whether a career in the NBA or a seat at the end of the bench on 68th team to make it to the Big Dance?
Are they talking about the mid-major conference teams, such as Butler and VCU, that have been crashing the party and sending the big-name, much-hyped teams home with their tails between their legs?
Are they talking about the unsung heroes, such as Matt Howard, who show that fundamentals and selflessness can trump solo ball and ESPN highlight slam dunks?
Are they talking about the heart-stopping misses (and makes), the come-from-behind victories, the overtime wins, the nail-biting finishes that keep college basketball fans on the edge of their seats?
Are they talking about the wonderful experiences, powerful challenges, and life lessons that college athletics can add to students’ university lives (I can speak first-hand about its tremendous value)?
Are they talking about college basketball that understands its place in the grand scheme of life as a sometimes-compelling, though ultimately unimportant, form of entertainment and vicarious involvement that can be appreciated and enjoyed by anyone who chooses.
If that’s the college basketball that the article is referring to, then my answer is: always has, always

Get a sneak peak at Super 8, the upcoming science fiction film from J.J. Abrams, on this edition of the Cinefantastique Round Table Podcast, the weekly round-up of news and views focusing on horror, fantasy and science fiction films.

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Seven years ago a judge in California ruled that women suing Wal-Mart for sex discrimination could move forward as a class. That meant the women with various claims wouldn’t have to go it alone, each with a separate lawyer and separate expenses. Essentially what the judge said is that the six women who filed the lawsuit can represent a whole group of women who might have similar complaints — all 1.6 million of them.
Wal-Mart appealed all the way to the Supreme

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China 'to overtake US on science' in two years

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Saudi terror suspect Aldawsari denies Texas charges

It was June of 1967, a few hours before the outbreak of the Six-Day War, when my father sent us to Jericho away from the battlefront to stay with my grandmother. Back then, we did not have a television, and I remember huddling in the “radio room,” as my grandmother called it; I would later refer to it as the “war room.”
This was where we’d spend most of our time during the war, away from the broken glass caused by Israeli fighter-jets racing through the sound barrier listening to the Egyptian broadcast “Sawt El Arab” or “Voice of the Arabs.”
“Report number 42,” the announcer would say, and through the crackling sound of my grandmother’s ancient shortwave radio, we would all strain to hear the war updates.
“The Egyptian forces have repelled the Zionist army… the Jordanian army advanced to Jabel el Mukaber.”
I believe that it was on the second or third day of the Six Day War, as we were listening to these victorious reports, that we felt a rumbling throughout the

Because I am an evangelical Christian and the root of the word “evangelical” is found in the opening statement of Jesus in Luke 4, where Christ says he has come to bring “good news (the ‘evangel’) to the poor.” So to be an evangelical Christian is to try and bring good news to poor people.
Because some very bad news is happening to the poorest and most vulnerable people in Washington’s battle over the budget — both those at home and around the world.
Because budgets are moral documents — they reveal our priorities, who and what is important, and who and what are not. To address excessive deficits is also a moral issue — preventing our children and grandchildren from having crushing debt. But how you reduce a deficit is also a moral issue. We should reduce the deficit, but not at the expense of our poorest people.
Because it is simply wrong — morally and religiously — to focus our budget cuts on the people who are already hurting, and make them hurt

On the morning of January 8, I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary.
During my 24 years as a trauma surgeon in the U.S. Navy, most recently in Afghanistan and Iraq, I treated many soldiers who were torn apart as a result of battlefield injuries.
In addition to my service overseas, I have worked in many trauma centers here in the