People say it in a relaxed voice, almost kindly: “Look, other religions are nonsense. Mine is the good one.” Then they add a few details, because details make any claim feel more serious. “Their rituals are stupid.” “They’re dirty.” “They have crazy limitations.” “They fast in the daytime and then try to cheat by turning off the lights, as if God can’t see.” Everyone laughs. The laughter has that … Read the rest
I have no interest in mocking anyone’s faith. Not because I am afraid of offending people, but because faith is often where people keep their most tender parts: grief, hope, guilt, gratitude, love. If you kick that door down with sarcasm, you do not prove you are intelligent. You prove you are careless.
And yet, if something is truly sacred, it should be able to breathe in daylight. Questions are … Read the rest
By Eric Le Roy
“The world is a comedy for those who think, and a tragedy for those who feel” – Horace Walpole
“Only the Lonely” was the signature song of a guy named Roy Orbison, a star in the early rock’ n’ roll era. Orbison died in 1988 of a heart attack at the age of 52. Songs are full of lonely guys; they were back … Read the rest
By Eric Le Roy
Content 18+ As I was riding in the car with my wife yesterday evening, heading for the Dog Shop and the supermarket, there was some pretty cool rap music on the radio. It was rather strange: slow and soft instead of punching at you like a back alley beatdown, but the usual rhyming patterns were there, and as with the best of that genre, you can … Read the rest
By Eric Le Roy
Content 18+ As we study history together, I often show documentary films to my students. When these films are about the distant past, there is a voice (or person-moderator) who walks us through the information, using whatever illustrations can be mustered. But as we get nearer to modern times the documentaries come to life: actual human action in black and white. From the late 19th … Read the rest
