The birth of Jesus, while an historical fact because the records of his death by execution are recorded, is about to be celebrated, in the minds of many, for the 2,024th time. Our methods of celebrating Jesus’ birthday – or not – have long been changing. Even the date of December 25th as the “official birthday” is only a…
On the day after Election Day, a person not sharing my long-standing opposition to Donald J. Trump asked me how I was feeling about the results of Trump’s election as President. The person’s question was voiced out of his genuine concern for me. It was also being asked by one who is greatly pleased by the outcome…
This past summer on the evening of July 13th an attempt to assassinate former president Donald J. Trump occurred during his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, thankfully for all concerned, failed in the attempt but did wound Mr. Trump in the right ear. Crooks – before being killed by Secret Service…
As another Halloween approaches, our secularist culture is more and more removed from the annual October 31st Christian religious observance of a “Hallowed Evening;” a Hallowed Evening in anticipation of the next day’s Festival of All Saints. What remains for most of our modern-day observance of Halloween is a time of horror versions of nightmares on…
In just a few months I will have a 76th birthday. I am certainly looking forward to it. That said, however, I often wonder – particularly when seeing my reflection in the mirror while shaving each morning – how it is that all the years have so quickly gone. Other wonderings occur to me as well. While most…
We are in the final phase of the presidential campaigns leading up to our opportunity to vote on Tuesday, November 5th. It is so difficult for me to imagine, given the two presidential candidates campaigning for our votes, that there are “undecided voters”; persons waiting for more information or still weighing the candidates in terms…
Just two months ago, Jeff Landry, governor of Louisiana, signed a bill requiring all state public schools, colleges, and universities to display the Ten Commandments – no smaller than 11” x 14” – in every classroom. My guess is that Landry, like most people, could not name more than three of those ancient commandments. And the…
During the rally at the founding of the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) in 1964, Malcom X called for racial justice in America and advocated securing that justice “by any means necessary.” The reaction of outrage and horror by millions of white people – and particularly evangelical white church goers – to Malcolm X opening…
Many years ago, I travelled to EJ Thomas Hall in Akron to hear journalist and former Press Secretary to President Lyndon Johnson, Bill Moyers. Just prior to the conclusion of Moyer’s presentation he set up his closing remarks by paraphrasing an inscription which is over the Staunton Harold Church in Leicestershire, England. Moyers’ paraphrase was…
Heather Cox Richardson is an American academic historian, author, and educator. She is also a professor of history at Boston College and publishes a daily on-line column, “Letters from an American.” In her April 28th post, Richardson reported that at the beginning of his Sunday morning show – ABC’S This Week – host George Stephanopoulos said: “Until now no…