Some years ago, as I waited to be served food by a prickly employee of an eating establishment, I sensed my temper flaring. She and I had had run-ins before; she had always seemed unnecessarily querulous and brusque in her interactions with me; the milk of human kindness seemed to have curdled long ago inContinue reading “The Words We Mutter Under Our Breath”
Tag Archives: homophobia
Hillary Clinton’s War Abroad Will Come Home Soon Enough
Hillary Clinton’s response to the Orlando massacre reminds many why they are nervous about a person who carelessly voted for the Iraq war becoming US president: Whatever we learn about this killer [Omar Mateen], his motives in the days ahead, we know already the barbarity that we face from radical jihadists is profound. In theContinue reading “Hillary Clinton’s War Abroad Will Come Home Soon Enough”
ISIS, America, ‘Failed States,’ And Gun Control
In the Orlando massacre, ISIS met, once again, the enemy it wanted: a society riven by a culture of violence, hyper-masculinity (and its inevitable attendant, homophobia), awash in guns, susceptible to fascist demagoguery, infected by a paranoid, self-destructive Islamophobia. That society’s lawmakers have passed over two hundred anti-LGBT bills in recent times; they also refuse toContinue reading “ISIS, America, ‘Failed States,’ And Gun Control”
CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity: Masterfully Flawed Apologetics
CS Lewis‘ Mere Christianity is rightly acknowledged as a masterpiece of Christian apologetics; it is entertaining, witty, well-written, clearly composed by a man of immense learning and erudition (who, as befitting the author of the masterful Studies in Words, cannot restrain his delightful habit of providing impromptu lessons in etymology.) Lewis is said to have induced conversionsContinue reading “CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity: Masterfully Flawed Apologetics”
Same Sex Marriage Is Legal; Prepare For Doom, America
Same sex marriage is now a constitutionally recognized right in the United States of America. As usual, Justice Kennedy has confirmed that he is the only judge required for the Supreme Court to function. But danger awaits America. All across the land, divorces will break out, children will disobey their parents, and pedophiles will preyContinue reading “Same Sex Marriage Is Legal; Prepare For Doom, America”
On Not Watching Gaspar Noé’s Irréversible
A dozen or so years ago, my now-wife-and-then-girlfriend’s roommate, a young woman who worked as a community organizer, told me that she had recently seen Gaspar Noé‘s recently released Irréversible. She really liked it: it was a disturbing movie, hard to watch because of that notorious eight-minute rape scene and all the other violence, but I,Continue reading “On Not Watching Gaspar Noé’s Irréversible”
Ross Douthat is Feeling Sorry for Bigots
Ross Douthat doth protest too much: I am being descriptive here, rather than self-pitying. I have news for you, Ross: you are being self-pitying. This bemoaning a straightforward victory for common-sense–the vetoing of Arizona’s benighted SB1062–is a particularly pathetic exercise . An entire Op-Ed to tell us bigots are on the run, and will be ‘forced’Continue reading “Ross Douthat is Feeling Sorry for Bigots”
Talkin’ ‘Bout Men Getting Up Close and Personal
Last night, I participated in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s daily show Life Matters, hosted by the ever-dynamic Natasha Mitchell on Radio National. The topic for the day was ‘Male Intimacy’. Being on live radio is a pretty strange experience; I’ve only done it once before, on John Sutton‘s excellent, but now defunct, Ghost in the Machine on EastsideContinue reading “Talkin’ ‘Bout Men Getting Up Close and Personal”
Finding Philosophy in Literature
This semester, I am teaching Philosophical Issues in Literature. PIL is one of Brooklyn College’s so-called upper-tier core courses; all graduating students are required to take a pair of these. Unsurprisingly, just about every student registered for my class told me during the first day’s introductions that they were taking the class because of aContinue reading “Finding Philosophy in Literature”
Samir Chopra 