Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES People who profess a religious faith but find themselves frequently at odds with the position taken by their religious leaders on matters of public concern may sometimes contemplate giving up their faith altogether. They should find comfort in William James’s notion of religion as “what you do with your own solitude.” There is in this … Read more
A year ago, my wife Karina decided we needed a new bathroom mirror. The reflective surface of the old mirror had started to crinkle in many places, projecting images that were not exactly flattering. Coming home that day with a brand new mirror, I realized that mounting it on the wall was not as easy … Read more
A lot of confusion and recrimination has attended the discussion of vital current issues in our country. Some of it is avoidable, but a great deal of it constitutes what we may call the pains of modernity. Recent events – the controversial remarks of Bishop Nereo Odchimar, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of … Read more
We may be familiar with what academics and professors do. They lecture, they do research, they advise students on their theses, and, hopefully, they also publish. Some — not all — are scholars in the sense that they commit their entire lives rigorously working and writing on the same problems and questions. But, the term … Read more
In retrospect, President Benigno S. Aquino III needed to make that trip to the United States if only to give himself time to study the report of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) on the hostage-taking incident. Time, as he is finding out for himself, is the first casualty of mass communication. The speed … Read more
After the disgraceful exit from the presidency of Joseph “Erap’ Estrada in January 2001, the new government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo went through the routine of waging a war on illegal gambling. Estrada had been charged with, among other things, taking bribes from gambling lords. Ms Arroyo wanted to show she was different, notwithstanding the fact … Read more
It is fascinating to read Pope Benedict XVI’s speech the other day before members of the British parliament. The Pope spoke on “the proper place of religious belief within the political process.” Having just visited Ephesus and Urfa, two of the most important religious sites in Turkey, I could not have been more primed to … Read more
Istanbul. By a stroke of luck, I have found myself in Turkey, enjoying a ringside view of a political event seldom seen in this part of the world — a democratic referendum aimed at erasing the last vestiges of authoritarian rule. This delicate exercise is bound to change the way this staunchly secular nation with … Read more
I am writing this on September 11, nine years after the tragic attacks on American civilian targets by religious fanatics belonging to the Al-Qaida movement of Osama bin Laden. I’m in Istanbul, the ancient former capital of the Ottoman Empire. I woke up this morning to the first call for prayer coming from a nearby … Read more
Rolando Mendoza, the gunman in the August 23 hostage-taking incident, had lost control of his mind. We don’t need a psychologist or a psychiatrist to tell us that. Anyone who hijacks a tourist bus at gunpoint and holds its passengers hostage — only to demand that he be restored to the job from which he … Read more