The Jerusalem Post columnist who was fired from his job on August 29 for a blog post arguing that the Israeli occupation justified Palestinian terror attacks explains his thinking: In short, he wasn’t thinking, but blogging, and he regrets what he wrote:
“[A]nother thing I’ve learned is that when you’re a provocative, left-leaning blogger in Israel, an editor just might come in handy,” Larry Derfner wrote in The Forward.
A coloring book to teach kids about the 9/11 attacks is reportedly selling well, despite protests from some Muslims at how they are depicted in “We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom.” Last year the same publisher made headlines with a Tea Party coloring book. What’s left?
With Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry battling for conservative Christian votes, debates about “Dominionism” – what it is and whether it matters, or even exists – continue. RNS has a handy guide.
Perry, meanwhile, is reassuring fence-sitting evangelicals that he has never spent time on the Appalachian Trail, metaphorically speaking: “I can assure you that there is nothing in my life that will embarrass you if you decide to support me for president.”
The costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are tallied, and are set against the smaller price tag for things like food stamps and Medicare drug benefits.
Washington’s quake-damaged National Cathedral will re-open in time for 9/11 remembrances, which will include an appearance by President Obama, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is chipping in to help repair the Episcopal landmark.
A report commissioned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph found that Bishop Robert Finn and top aides ignored their own policies on dealing with sexual misconduct allegations “in ways that could have jeopardized the safety of children.”
Some Christians are angry that Chaz Bono, Cher’s transgendered son, will be one of a dozen celebs to compete on the next season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” At least Bono won’t appear in the same season as last year’s high-profile contestant, Bristol Palin.
Boredom may be a bigger danger to marriages than infidelity, according to a new study (yawn).
And New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks makes the Keynesian argument for more government spending to promote “vigorous” national virtues like self-reliance, while liberal New York Times columnist (a redundancy?) Timothy Egan argues that it was a surplus of virtue that led to Prohibition – and today’s no-tax dogma.
Finally, televangelist Juanita Bynum may be the first in the history of Pentecostalism to have “typed in tongues” with a Facebook post that has raised eyebrows but also generated much support and a new Twitter hashtag.
— David Gibson
