Columns
No remorse
By Mark Silk — October 28, 2009
It seems that eBay won’t permit supporters of Scott Roeder, the man accused of murdering abortion doctor George Tiller, to use its site to hold an auction to raise money for his defense. Among the items they planned to auction is a prison drawing by Roeder of David and Goliath depicting David holding the head […]
Where do the bishops stand?
By Mark Silk — October 27, 2009
Writing on the WaPo On Faith blog, David Waters concludes a post on the health-care reform spat between Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Rhode Island Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin by taking up cudgels on behalf of the bishops’ worries about abortion: Given that even Democrats don’t agree on whether current versions of health-reform […]
Hear this, white boys!
By Mark Silk — October 27, 2009
The Anglican Global South Primates Steering Committee, chaired by the formidable Peter Akinola of Nigeria, has issued an “exhortation to the faithful” turning thumbs down on Pope Benedict’s little Anglican cherry-picking expedition while putting the squeeze on Archbishop of Canterbury (ABC) Rowan Williams. Here are the key paragraphs: 3. We welcome Pope Benedict XVI’s stance […]
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em?
By Mark Silk — October 26, 2009
That’s the headline on TPM’s story on Robert Gibbs’ news that Obama has congratulated Harry Reid on coming up with a plan that has a public option. And even said he was “pleased” about it. Somehow, because those oh-so-whispery off-the-record sources said the White House was pushing back against a public option, that had to […]
Putting the papal house in order
By Mark Silk — October 26, 2009
Ross Douthat, NYT’s thus far underperforming young conservative columnist, has the bright thought today that what’s really going on with the pope’s new Anglican Ordinariate is a marshaling of troops against the threat of global Islam. How many divisions does the pope have? Stalin once asked. To deal with le défi islamique, a new Anglican […]
The New National GOP
By Mark Silk — October 25, 2009
As anyone following the Virginia gubernatorial race is aware, Republican Robert F. McDonnell has been making hay by minimizing the social conservatism of his past and reaching out to moderates in the DC suburbs on economic issues. The current betting is that he will beat Democrat Creigh Deeds handily, leading to this sentiment, quoted in […]
Abortion insurance
By Mark Silk — October 23, 2009
Pro-life Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) tells the AP why he can’t support the current House bill on health reform. Stupak says language specifying that someone obtaining an abortion must use her own money, not federal money from the subsidies, doesn’t go far enough because it’s impossible to clearly segregate funds in that way. “Once you […]
Just asking
By Mark Silk — October 23, 2009
Why is it that Richard Cizik gets canned as vice president for government of affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals for supporting civil unions, but when Richard Land, his opposite number at the Southern Baptist Commission, gives the Jew in charge of health policy at the White House a “Joseph Mengele award,” there’s not […]
Talk about pies in the face
By Mark Silk — October 23, 2009
Soupy Sales (alav ha-shalom) “was born Milton Supman on Jan. 8, 1926, in Franklinton, N.C., where his was the only Jewish family in town. His parents, owners of a dry-goods store, sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan.” (WaPo) Eli Evans, author of the indispensable book on Jews in the South, The Provincials, once told […]
Opinions on Global Warming
By Mark Silk — October 22, 2009
Too bad Pew didn’t ask for (or disclose?) opinions on global warming by religion.
Gov. in the None Zone
By Mark Silk — October 22, 2009
Dan Gilgoff calls attention to Melissa Block’s NPR profile of Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski by noting, “You don’t often hear American politicians who hail from the burgeoning ‘spiritual but not religious’ demographic discuss their beliefs but…” Here’s the extended quote from the governor, whom Block accompanied on an excursion on the South Santiam River to […]
Kenya says no to Pope
By Mark Silk — October 21, 2009
The archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) thinks it’s just an English thing. “I do not see why it is necessary at this point in history, ACK Archbishop Eliud Wabukala told the Nation.“The Archbishop of Canterbury sent us letters welcoming the offer but for him, it is essentially to deal with the local […]
Anglican Uniates
By Mark Silk — October 21, 2009
It’s NYT’s lead story today, portrayed as a poaching expedition: “In an extraordinary bid to to lure traditionalist Anglicans en masse, the Vatican on Tuesday announced…” Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams begs to differ: It would not occur to me to see this as an act of aggression or a statement of no confidence, precisely […]
Charitable Choice, Jersey style
By Mark Silk — October 21, 2009
Forgive me, but I grew up in Essex County, NJ and put in my time as a daily journalist. So I’m a little bit skeptical that the $87,000 that Gov. Jon Corzine, he of the Wall Street millions, donated last year to St. Matthew AME Church in Orange had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with […]
Learning from the rich Jews
By Mark Silk — October 20, 2009
Defending Sen. Jim DeMint’s principled opposition to congressional earmarks, two South Carolina Republican county chairmen figured they’d come up with a pretty good analogy: There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of […]
