A shameful day in Congress

The president called it a shameful day and it was. Congress couldn’t support extended background checks for gun buyers, although such legislation was introduced on a bi-partisan basis, it is supported by the majority of the American public and it was once supported by the NRA.   This is a painful reminder how Congress is … Continue reading »

Such strange friends

Sitting in the stands watching the Harlem Globetrotters perform, former basketball star Dennis Rodman told the North Korean leader,Kim Jong-un, “you have a friend for life.”   Isn’t this a bit as though Jesse Owens had given Adolph Hitler a high five at the 1936 Olympics in Germany?  

Cell phones as sleep mates

There is a great value in being disconnected once in a while Continue reading »

Children are assaulted in China and US but only die here

  In China a man attacks and injures 22 children at a school. On the same day in Connecticut a man attacks and kills 20 children at a school.   In China the assailant used a knife. In Connecticut an automatic pistols and an assault rifle was used.   It is true that guns don’t … Continue reading »

Fairness: good reasons to treat people differently

Since biblical times people have been instructed to care for those in need, the orphaned and the widowed. But this can’t mean all orphans and all widows. For example, there’s the old joke about a man who kills his parents and then asks mercy from the court because he is an orphan. Only a ludicrously … Continue reading »

So what do you know about religion?

  Anti-Muslim sentiments have run deep in this country. Terrorism and Islam, as well as Islam and anti-Semitism, have been linked in the public’s mind at least since the Six Day War, then hostage taking in Iran in 1979 and most especially following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Despite the importance of … Continue reading »

Muslim outrage and the limits of free speech

  —A novelist is sentenced to death by the head of a foreign state because the writer portrayed Islam’s prophet in a defamatory way. —An angry mob storms an American consulate and kills four people; the demonstrators are outraged that a movie trailer demeans Mohammed. —Reacting to that same movie, Turkey’s Prime Minister calls for … Continue reading »

Mitt Romney vision for America comes to you via Ayn Rand

  Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney agree on one thing: this year’s election is about two visions of America. The choice is more than how to get the economy going again. It is about what kind of country we want to be. On the one side there is the notion that each of us is … Continue reading »

What is Ethical Humanism?

In 1968, I became the Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island and am now the Leader Emeritus. Over the years, people have asked me to explain what Ethical Humanism is and what it believes. I have written the answers to the questions in a simple format. Here is the first of several … Continue reading »

You’re a Cheater, Don’t Lie

Studies by Duke University professor Dan Ariely and colleagues indicate that most people are inclined to cheat, despite the fact that “we want to view ourselves as honest, wonderful people.” The trick in maintaining our integrity is by cheating just a little. “ As long as we cheat just a little bit, we can still … Continue reading »