How Do You Holiday?

I’ll admit it…Christmas has been getting on my conscience lately. See, back in the day when I considered myself agnostic — before I realized that I was actually not agnostic but an atheist — I felt okay celebrating Christian holidays, including Christmas. I guess I thought (if I thought about it at all) that I [...]

Conversation With a Seven-Year-Old

I had a conversation with one of Girl1’s friends this afternoon. It went like this:
BOY: Tomorrow’s Hanukkah
ME: I think you’re right.
BOY: Do you celebrate Hanukkah?
ME: No. Do you?
BOY: What’s Hanukkah?
Umm…I’m thinkin’ the answer to my question is no, then…

What’s Wrong With our Country

Karl Marx said that “religion is the opium of the people”, and I used to be inclined to agree with him. Today, though, I think we need to edit his phrase to read:
professional sports is the opium of the people.
I can’t claim credit for the idea. I first heard Noam Chomsky say something similar in [...]