It’s the most vicious of cycles: somewhere, amid normal law enforcement, a police officer unjustifiably kills a black man; somewhere, amid peaceful protests, a black man ambushes and kills police officers. As of this writing,... Read More

In 1974 Morris Albert cowrote and recorded a sappy, lugubrious ballad called “Feelings” that soon became an international plague hit, covered by many other singers, easy-listening bands, and elevators. Curiously, Albert was never charged with... Read More

In Seattle, as in a growing roster of US cities and the states of Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and South Dakota, Columbus Day is done. Seattle’s city council has abolished the longstanding holiday, replacing it with... Read More

On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court righted a longstanding wrong by ruling for same-sex marriage. The Obergefell v. Hodges decision includes a ringing affirmation of evolving moral views: The nature of injustice is... Read More

As someone who has long called for humanists and mainstream religionists to work together, I naturally welcome Pope Francis’s call for action on climate change. The headline version of his encyclical is, on the whole,... Read More

In 1857, the French poet Charles Baudelaire published a collection titled, Les Fleurs du mal, or “The Flowers of Evil.” Today, such flowers seem to be popping up all over, most profusely in the Middle... Read More

[Warning: This article contains disturbing material… because it’s about the CIA torture program.] Suppose that you are a man advancing in years who has yearned all his life to become a father. You and your... Read More