His Dark Material

In the aftermath of the clerical sex-abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church, Americans who know of the church largely through major media outlets might be forgiven for perceiving it as populated by men who are hell-bent on the destruction of children’s souls.

By John Steele Gordon

Christmas famously “comes but once a year.” In fact, however, it comes twice. The Christmas of the Nativity, the manger and Christ child, the wise men and the star of Bethlehem, “Silent Night” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” is one holiday. The Christmas of parties, Santa Claus, evergreens, presents, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Jingle Bells” is quite another.

Oddly enough, yet another report of violence from some of the practitioners of the Religion of Peace

BAUCHI, Nigeria, – Ten persons have been killed and three churches set on fire after Muslim high school students in this northern Nigerian city began a rampage on Tuesday (December 11) that spilled into the city. Today tensions were still high in the area.

I know you have seen the Nutritional Information labels the government requires on all processed or packaged food products, but have you ever looked at that portion of the label on a bottle of water?

I found this in J. W. McGarvey’s compiled writings volume titled Biblical Criticism. As McGarvey was a considered scholar in both the Hebrew and Greek, I thought it might be useful to note his remarks concerning the use of plural pronouns in the Hebrew language. The response was posted to a radical question concerning disputing the authorship of Moses for the Penteteuch; however, the answer is interesting on other levels as well.

Boy Scouts Lose Philadelphia Lease in Gay-Rights Fight

For three years the Philadelphia council of the Boy Scouts of America held its ground. It resisted the city’s request to change its discriminatory policy toward gay people despite threats that if it did not do so, the city would evict the group from a municipal building where the Scouts have resided practically rent free since 1928.

We know you heard about this already, but we could not resist printing yet another inspiring example of reason and piety direct from the “Religion of Peace”

A Sudanese court ruled that British teacher Gillian Gibbons insulted Islam for allowing her students to name a stuffed bear Mohammed - for which she was sentenced yesterday to 15 days in jail, followed by immediate deportation.