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Toward the end of the 2004 presidential election, I grew more curious about John Kerry’s habit of clasping his hands together and bowing to his audience. I’d seen the gesture before, mostly among Episcopal women who would say “Namaste” (which, they said, means “The God [or god] in me bows to the God in you”).
Well, it looks like my gentle prodding about Romania has paid off in the form of a new Matt Welch column. Welch (pictured) begins:
Despite its patronizing “Well, duh” headline — “What’s Their Real Problem With Gay Marriage? (It’s the Gay Part)” — Russell Shorto’s 8,000-word essay for The New York Times Magazine strives to understand conservatives who oppose gay marriage. But just as these conservatives speak of gay couples as exotic and baffling people, Shorto treats the conservatives with a sense of bewilderment.
Here is a case worth following, not only to see the outcome but to see how MSM outlets cover it — if they do.
Egypt will not be the first predominantly Muslim country to conduct stem-cell research. Iranian scientists developed human embryonic stem-cell lines in 2003 with the approval of Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme religious leader . . . Singapore, where Muslims have a slight majority, has also produced embryonic stem-cell lines. And nonembryonic stem-cell research is conducted in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia . . .
This is a Chicago Tribune story, but I just ran into it while reading through the drifts of South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspapers that collected while I was in Washington, D.C. The tradition of burning candles is, of course, very ancient. Try to find a reference to public ritual in the Bible that does not involve this tradition (and incense).
Three cheers for Paul Nussbaum’s witty lede on a Philadelphia Inquirer feature about evangelicals and politics:
I think it was Elvis Costello who once, when asked if he believed in miracles, thought about it and said something to this effect: Well, I have seen Al Green. That is a start, if you want to find the holy grail of R&B. But what about the Rev. Al Green?
During my travels, I have continued to follow the lively comments thread on the Krishna Rajanna case and the MSM vs. niche coverage of his Affordable Medical and Surgical Services business in Kansas City, Kan.
