Reading Time: 14 minutes Antisemitic events have been on the rise in the US in recent years, stemming primarily from Christian nationalist and other far right movements. But only recently have we seen right wing media and politicians express consistent concern about anti-Jewish messaging.
What changed, for a part of the US political spectrum that has tolerated antisemitism in its rank-and-file for decades? Only the source.
Reading Time: 8 minutes Language is a weapon, and where we pay attention is as well. At least that’s what we’re trained to believe, when trying to respond humanely to horrific news.
Reading Time: 5 minutes Conservative parents demanding the banning of books and the censorship of schools have a worldview as fragile as glass. They can’t even tolerate the idea of children hearing that they might not be who or what society tells them they are.
Reading Time: 10 minutes One frightfully “woke” day in April 1970, some 20 million US citizens across 2,000 colleges and 10,000 grade schools participated in a “teach-in” about environmental crisis and stewardship. Some took part in active demonstrations, cleaning up facets of their communities or marching in the streets. Others engaged in lectures and sit-ins to improve awareness of […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes No one actually supports free speech without restriction—but there’s a big difference between fighting hate and harassment, and censoring news unfavorable to the powerful.
Reading Time: 7 minutes There’s been a lot of talk in the last few years about how college campuses are overrun with lefty “snowflakes”—students and professors (and even administrators)—who try to shut down free speech because they can’t handle opinions that contradict their existing beliefs. I believe the naysayers are usually mistaken (yet, not always, unfortunately). But, in my […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Four pupils have been suspended from a school in West Yorkshire, UK, for damaging a Muslim holy book. The incident took place last week at Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield in the north of England, although the Headteacher has claimed that there was “no malicious intent” concerning the students involved. A non-Muslim Year 10 (14- […]
Reading Time: 15 minutes A Night at the Panto I’m sitting in the Dress Circle at the London Palladium, a historic theatre in London’s theatre district the West End. The building, now more than 100 years old, has a stately façade of white arches and columns topped with golden capitals. Inside, more than 2000 people are crammed into three […]
Reading Time: 7 minutes On 20th February, Kate Forbes, a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Scottish National Party (the governing party in Scotland, and the third largest party in British politics), joined the race to become their new Leader and thus the Frist Minister of Scotland. Later that day, in an interview with The Scotsman newspaper, […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes Many classic books, including Roald Dahl’s, teach morals that are repugnant by today’s standards. Can we keep the good parts without dragging along the bad, or does respect for authorial integrity force us to keep them exactly as they are?
