Birth
The WSJ reviews In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire by Tom Holland.
Gift
The Gift and Grace of Doubt by Matt Emerson. Regardless of position or age, doubt in God’s existence or in a related article of faith usually greets us like a grave diagnosis: something to prevent, resist, or bravely abide. However, [...]
History
Tablet reviews Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People by Harry Ostrer.
Cover-Up
A very plausible theory by Roger L. Simon on the “mystery” of Obama’s birthplace. Anyway, per Occam’s Razor, I am going with the obvious — the agent’s source for Obama’s birthplace was. . . Barack Obama. But again why? Why [...]
The Secret
The Secret to Serenity by Ingrid Mathieu. There’s a saying that our serenity is inversely proportional to our expectations. In other words, the extent of our entitlement or need for things to look a certain way determines the extent of [...]
Innocence
The Age of Innocence by David Brooks. The people who pioneered democracy in Europe and the United States had a low but pretty accurate view of human nature. They knew that if we get the chance, most of us will [...]
Relationship
The New Atheism and Evolutionary Religious Studies: Clarifying Their Relationship by David Sloan Wilson. Atheism is a disbelief in Gods. “The New Atheism” refers to an exceptionally active group of atheists centered around the work of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, [...]
Know?
What We Know Now About How to Be Happy by Alice G. Walton. Recent science has shown how important our minds are to our bodies, but they also reveal how difficult it is to define and promote happiness. More at [...]