(Part of a thread  to share poems or poetry-adjacent writing, as discussed here .) Note: First a semi-apology to those who follow my blog feed (as opposed to parachuting in now and then). I’m aware I haven’t posted much lately. That's largely because more diligent Substack people have been saying plenty of things I don’t need to echo. But it’s also due to my decision after the 2024 election to sit back, watch and try to understand how the MAGA Christian Right fits into the se

It’s almost always a category mistake to generalize about “religion.” This is such an amorphous category that it is like attempting to generalize about all people who have ever labored. Our stance should indeed be agnostic before we dig into cases.

Hardwired into religious traditions, as part of longstanding sensibilities, are teachings about justice, care for the weak, and attention to the common good: teachings that command nontrivial respect in the public sphere.... Common sense plus the moral legacies of our religious traditions add up to a combined weight that is not trivial. We may not be able to fight a riptide, but if we can fund a war, then surely we can fund a school.

I'm bringing back Lupe's nearly forgotten song as a near-perfect takedown of Ye’s then proto but now overt fascism. Appropriately, listening to it takes less than a minute of our time—in just a few seconds mocking, being bored, pitying, and being outraged at the same time!—then directs our attention toward more important things.

[Last October, I posted a rush article entitled "Fragments Related to Christian Nationalism" (CN). It included a promise to revise and...

Although A Complete Unknown is not a great film, without limitations worth noting, it is more than solid. Its high points are outstanding, and it is excellent for sparking thought about major issues. You should definitely watch A Complete Unknown if you haven’t thought about Bob Dylan lately and/or you care about how music relates to cultural critique. However, I will suggest that the film should be more a starting point for reflection than an end point.