A Friendly Letter

Religious Freedom, the Supreme Court, & the Catholic Hegemonic Impulse

The Catholic Church is not a democratic institution. Even in my lifetime, it called for and accepted government favor and authority when it could; and such struggles continue in places like Poland. In the USA this call for official preference has been somewhat muted due to our First Amendment and (increasingly beleaguered) heritage of religious … Continue reading Religious Freedom, the Supreme Court, & the Catholic Hegemonic Impulse →

SAYMA Déjà vu: Another Saturday Showdown Looms

Forty-eight hours from now, the long travail of Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting & Association (SAYMA) could be over. By rights, it should be over. It certainly deserves to be over. But will it? All it would take is one word. That word is “No.”

Michael Cohen: A Reckoning, Perhaps a Renewal, and After

Near the climax of his book Disloyal, Michael Cohen writes: In the summer before the [2016] election, I told a reporter for Vanity Fair, Emily Jane Fox, that I’d take a bullet for Trump, and I meant it. But not if Donald Trump pulled the trigger. . . . Which of course, Trump did, in … Continue reading Michael Cohen: A Reckoning, Perhaps a Renewal, and After →

Michael Cohen: From the White House to the Sewage Plant

I’ve finished Michael Cohen’s book, Disloyal, but I’m not through with it. In part that’s because the book itself isn’t finished. Not that Cohen has shortchanged readers. He simply ran out of time to get the book out in the market before the coming election, and I don’t fault him for that. Nor has he, … Continue reading Michael Cohen: From the White House to the Sewage Plant →