Susan Jacoby

Goodness just feels good; no gods or devils need apply

Something has gone very wrong with anyone who derives pleasure from the pain of others, and that something has to do with the inner man or woman. And when the inner man or woman is twisted, no deity wielding a lightning bolt or the threat of the eternal flames of hell can rescue human beings who have condemned themselves to a living hell. Right here on earth.

By Susan Jacoby | November 23, 2009; 01:18 PM ET | Comments (49)

The Catholic Church's religious blackmail of secular government

Of course the Roman Catholic Church, like every other institution, has a right to uphold and fight for its moral beliefs in the public life of this nation. What the church is doing, however, is attempting to hold Americans who do not agree with its views hostage.

By Susan Jacoby | November 17, 2009; 09:52 AM ET | Comments (192)

Religious fanaticism is the issue, not religion

The particular nature of this man's religious belief, not his general "religious affiliation," is the issue. When someone shouts "Allahu Akbar" before taking aim at a roomful of people, I'd say that's a sign that religious fanaticism -- specifically, a brand of Islamic religious fanaticism -- had something to do with his state of mind.

By Susan Jacoby | November 9, 2009; 01:51 PM ET | Comments (201)

On the avoidance of death in life

The reason why this issue has become another attack point for the religious right is not, as conservatives contend, fear of government control. It is, rather, the belief that only God has the power of life and death. That's one reason why the right regards assisted suicide with horror.

By Susan Jacoby | November 3, 2009; 09:18 AM ET | Comments (100)

Just as easy (and hard) to be good (and bad) without God

Basic religious and legal strictures are merely a codification of what humans already know, through their own intellect and experience, is necessary to maintain a decent society for all.

By Susan Jacoby | October 26, 2009; 07:19 AM ET | Comments (643)

Hate crimes an extra menace to society

For the victim, a crime is a crime is a crime. But for society, a crime has more significance if its intent is to undermine basic human rights.

By Susan Jacoby | October 19, 2009; 02:14 PM ET | Comments (187)

Anti-vaccine junk science: A question of ignorance

The anti-vaccination movement has made the job of public health officials more difficult because of its constant drumbeat, unsupported by credible scientific evidence, that vaccines are responsible for autism.

By Susan Jacoby | October 12, 2009; 04:21 PM ET | Comments (153)

Thanks, But No Thanks, From A Happy Atheist

The fact that there are many Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, and atheists whose lives are models of concern for their fellow humans--and many whose lives are sinkholes of selfishness--suggests that religious belief, or the lack of it, has little to do with our daily decisions on behalf of good, evil, or apathy.

By Susan Jacoby | October 9, 2009; 10:17 AM ET | Comments (564)

Nuclear Arms: The Ultimate Anti-Life Issue

Somehow, I don't think praying will get the job done here (although if I were a religious believer, arms control would certainly be on my wish list when I spoke with my higher power). Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is presumably praying for another result.

By Susan Jacoby | September 28, 2009; 02:10 PM ET | Comments (419)

Faith-Based Aid Is Unconstitutional, Period

To require any religious institution to hire people who do not agree with and represent its principles is absurd. That is why the government should not be in the business of funneling money for social services through any faith-based organization, whatever its hiring practices.

By Susan Jacoby | September 21, 2009; 03:55 PM ET | Comments (299)

Rage, Racism And American Unreason

What we are seeing is the rage of a minority at an African-American president who is considered not only wrong in his policies but illegitimate as the leader of our nation.

By Susan Jacoby | September 14, 2009; 03:08 PM ET | Comments (657)

Support Your Local Religious Gun Nut

This country is currently in the grip of a powerful anti-rationalism that, while it is the work of a minority, is nevertheless seeping like poison into the body politic. That some anti-rational members of the clergy are spreading this same sickness, this paranoia, this exaltation of weapons, is hardly surprising.

By Susan Jacoby | September 9, 2009; 01:49 PM ET | Comments (268)

If You Think The Culture Wars Are Over, Think Again

That Texas, which has already weakened it 21st-century high school biology curriculum to placate fundamentalists who have learned nothing in the last 90 years, is now "revising" its history standards, is a real cause for alarm--though it is hardly surprising.

By Susan Jacoby | August 31, 2009; 02:12 PM ET | Comments (438)

Ignorance About Sexually Transmitted Diseases

No, this is not the usual subject for an "On Faith" column, but the nonsense about sexually transmitted diseases purveyed by a blogger on my thread needs correction. Ignorance about STDs is one of the main reasons for their easy...

By Susan Jacoby | August 26, 2009; 09:09 AM ET | Comments (96)

Dying A Natural Death: Sufficient Mercy For A Mass Murderer

The Scottish justice secretary was wrong. The Lockerbie murderer deserved to die in prison, not to return home to be greeted as a hero.for participating in the murder of 270 people on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.

By Susan Jacoby | August 24, 2009; 08:40 AM ET | Comments (57)

Health Care: A Moral Imperative For Any Decent American

The truth is that neither liberal secular nor liberal religious forces in our society have stepped up and fought for health care as a moral imperative in a way that has effectively countered the irrational right-wingers, like Sarah Palin.

By Susan Jacoby | August 17, 2009; 01:35 PM ET | Comments (249)

Moral Idiocracy: Media Coverage Of Clinton In Africa

The larger story is the media's universal preference for celebrity gossip and petty personal conflict over substantive issues.

By Susan Jacoby | August 13, 2009; 05:51 AM ET | Comments (22)

Tweeter-in-Chief

I have no doubt that the latest message from God sounds like tweeting to believers.

By Susan Jacoby | August 10, 2009; 03:08 PM ET | Comments (35)

More Gay a.k.a. Human Church Leaders: So What?

There are a great many more serious moral issues than these periodic eruptions over gay clergy,

By Susan Jacoby | August 3, 2009; 05:29 PM ET | Comments (141)

Eureka! Old Men Say Man's Holy Books Can Hurt Women

While religion is not the only source of women's subjugation, it has always been one of the major sources. However, the problem is not "male interpretation of religious texts" but religion itself.

By Susan Jacoby | July 21, 2009; 06:16 AM ET | Comments (281)

Personal Values Influence Law And Vice-Versa

The reason why the high court has nine justices, not one, is that the framers of the Constitution knew perfectly well that politics is involved in the interpretation of laws.

By Susan Jacoby | July 14, 2009; 12:19 PM ET | Comments (148)

Public Schools Are For Education, Period

At a time when American public schools are falling behind public education in other nations in the developed world, it is sheer stupidity to expand the number of days off for any purpose, including a religious purpose.

By Susan Jacoby | July 7, 2009; 10:24 AM ET | Comments (174)

The Scarlet Letter For Politicians

I think it's perfectly obviously that saying you've let down God, your wife and family, and the voters (not always in that order) is part of the ritual of public apology for any politician who is caught committing adultery.

By Susan Jacoby | June 29, 2009; 04:21 PM ET | Comments (174)

Obama: What Would Michelle, Sasha and Malia Say?

This is a rare case of tone-deafness on President Obama's part. He has no more business criticizing the French for following their secular view of what religious symbolism should be permitted in public.

By Susan Jacoby | June 24, 2009; 02:25 PM ET | Comments (18)

Theocracy Destroys Democracy

Theocracies, as long as they are supported by the military, are always intractable dictatorships.

By Susan Jacoby | June 14, 2009; 05:57 PM ET | Comments (200)

Just Another Hater With A Gun

We live in a nation in which any lunatic motivated by racial, religions, political, or just plain personal hatred can buy a gun and use it.

By Susan Jacoby | June 10, 2009; 04:21 PM ET | Comments (57)

Let A Thousand Weddings Bloom

No one in the United States has ever contemplated requiring members of the clergy to perform marriage ceremonies that violate their faith. That is just another canard of the Christian right.

By Susan Jacoby | June 7, 2009; 04:46 PM ET | Comments (102)

Grading Obama's Speech: A For Diplomacy, C- For Religious Dishonesty

Obama exaggerated the virtues of all religions--not only Islam--and simply ignored the historical fact that religious liberty for all is a secular principle born of the Enlightenment.

By Susan Jacoby | June 4, 2009; 03:46 PM ET | Comments (85)

When Religion Becomes Child Abuse

In life-threatening situations, parents should not be permitted to withhold established, non-experimental medical treatment from their children for any reason--including but not limited to religious reasons.

By Susan Jacoby | May 22, 2009; 03:30 PM ET | Comments (30)

Obama and Notre Dame: Profiles in Courage

Can you imagine George W. Bush appearing live before any audience that was likely to contain opponents of the war in Iraq?

By Susan Jacoby | May 16, 2009; 11:42 AM ET | Comments (174)

Torture is Wrong in So Many Ways

Torture, like slavery, is one of those grand old human traditions that most civilized humans have now (in theory) turned against.

By Susan Jacoby | May 11, 2009; 02:57 PM ET | Comments (122)

Priestly Celibacy: A Self-Inflicted Wound

Palestinians and Israelis are going to embrace one another at the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock before the rigid old men who run the Vatican open up the doors of the priesthood to people who want to serve their god and enter into the full experience of loving and being loved by another human being.

By Susan Jacoby | May 9, 2009; 01:26 PM ET | Comments (442)

How About An Infotainment-Free Day?

I would much prefer a proclamation endorsing a "National Day of Reflection and Quiet." The U.S. government has no business issuing declarations taking any position on prayer.

By Susan Jacoby | May 4, 2009; 02:47 PM ET | Comments (200)

No Apology, Sanction To Theocrats

We cannot continue to play footsie with states governed by religious laws that sanction every kind of human rights abuses in the name of their deity.

By Susan Jacoby | April 20, 2009; 02:47 PM ET | Comments (122)

Obama Revives Forgotten Principle Of Founders

We are not a Christian nation, and our government is not a Christian government. That's a simple fact, and one of the glories of our history--as the founders understood.

By Susan Jacoby | April 13, 2009; 05:21 PM ET | Comments (345)

Benedict's Evasive Apology

When the Pope apologizes for anything, his statement generally signifies nothing more than an attempt at damage control in the wake of an unanticipated public relations disaster created by his and his church's actions.

By Susan Jacoby | April 4, 2009; 08:55 AM ET | Comments (257)

Religions Rooted In Delusions

I do not believe that there is one bit of difference between any religious conviction based on belief in the supernatural and a delusion.

By Susan Jacoby | March 31, 2009; 11:10 AM ET | Comments (156)

The Devil In Ms. And Mr. Jones

Madoff is just another example. albeit a high-profile one, of the evil that lurks in the hearts of men. In his case, the prime motivator must have been, could only have been, greed.

By Susan Jacoby | March 23, 2009; 04:41 PM ET | Comments (153)

Secularism And Religious Iliteracy

People who describe themselves as "spiritual, but not religious" are like people who say they place great importance on reading but never go to the library, buy a book, or read a book online.

By Susan Jacoby | March 18, 2009; 07:49 AM ET | Comments (253)

A "Slippery Slope" Only If We're Stupid

The same human reason that propels science can also erect ethical barriers to certain medical practices; the "slippery slope" is inevitable only if we are too stupid or too cowardly to make important moral distinctions.

By Susan Jacoby | March 10, 2009; 07:59 AM ET | Comments (102)

It's Not Only Moral To Help Your Neighbor, It's Smart

I believe that extending a helping hand -- yes, via higher taxes -- to my neighbor is not only morally required but makes good sense from a self-interested standpoint. All of us who congratulate ourselves on having "played by the rules" ought to take a hard look at the fact that the rules aren't the same for everyone in this country

By Susan Jacoby | March 3, 2009; 04:41 PM ET | Comments (263)

Patriarchal Religion, Domestic Violence And A Beheading In Buffalo

I'm curious about whether Ms. Pappas, from a feminist perspective, or various imams, from a Muslim religious perspective, think that beheading your wife is any more or less of a crime if a man is not religiously motivated.

By Susan Jacoby | February 27, 2009; 07:42 AM ET | Comments (183)

Sacred Texts: We're Just Talking About Books

Since I don't consider any texts "sacred," I might as well be commenting on whether people would be better advised to read books alone or in clubs.

By Susan Jacoby | February 23, 2009; 05:35 AM ET | Comments (381)

Darwin The Disturber

Susan Jacoby: Darwin's conclusions about life continue to trouble and challenge us, sure proof of his genius.

» Susan Thistlethwaite: How Darwin Helps Christianity Evolve

By Susan Jacoby | February 12, 2009; 12:24 AM ET | Comments (153)

Government Money For Religion Equals Government Favoritism Of Religion

With all due respect to Obama's desire to broaden the program beyond the honeypot for right-wing evangelical groups that it became under President Bush, it is impossible to dole out money for programs directly administered by religious institutions without doing violence to the separation of church and state.

By Susan Jacoby | February 11, 2009; 08:39 AM ET | Comments (82)

Obama's Outreach To Muslims Laudable But Passions Block Reasonable Solutions

Obama is obliged to try to continue to seek peace because that is what decent political leaders do. But I don't think anyone is going to get very far with people who believe that they're entitled to a certain piece of Jerusalem because Muhammad ascended into heaven there, or to some piece of desert because Jewish prophets are supposedly buried there.

By Susan Jacoby | January 30, 2009; 09:16 AM ET | Comments (346)

Dubious Holocaust "Lessons" 2009

If there is one indubitable lesson of the Holocaust, however, it is that the horror happened -- and that anyone who says it did not happen should be excluded from the community of civilized religious and secular discourse.

By Susan Jacoby | January 26, 2009; 03:46 PM ET | Comments (275)

Religious Rhetoric: Obama Tones It Down, And Chief Justice Roberts Bungles Secular Oath

Yes, he mentioned God, but as an atheist, I have no objection to a president who believes in God making such a reference. What he did not do was invoke a Higher Power as a source of and a justification for public policy. Most important, he is the only modern president to include "nonbelievers" in his litany to Americans of diverse faiths.

By Susan Jacoby | January 21, 2009; 08:38 AM ET | Comments (518)

Inaugural Prayers: As American (And Extra-Constitutional) As Cherry Pie

Let us hope that our new president and our legislators, in spite of their bowed heads on Inauguration Day, realize that they, and not God, are responsible for getting us out of the economic and foreign policy mess that the previous president got us into on the advice of a "Higher Power."

By Susan Jacoby | January 13, 2009; 01:44 PM ET | Comments (590)

The Limits of Reason: The Ever-Elusive Search For A Middle East Peace

The region is always on the edge of violence. How can it be otherwise, when the primary parties to the conflict both believe that their god has chosen them to live on holy ground? The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the most tragic example in modern history of the folly of trying to base political arrangements on the myths in ancient books.

By Susan Jacoby | January 6, 2009; 02:33 PM ET | Comments (630)

The Most Predictable Story Ever Told

Why should we expect anything different from religion in 2009? On the bright side, secularists will continue to fight the good fight against ignorance, superstition, and religious attempts to impose their values on different kinds of believers and on nonbelievers.

By Susan Jacoby | December 31, 2008; 09:11 AM ET | Comments (698)

Obama's Religious Inaugural Blunder

Barack Obama's choice of televangelist Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation on Jan. 20 is an insult to everyone who voted for Obama in the hope that he would restore reason, evidence, and science to their proper place in the governance of the United States.

By Susan Jacoby | December 22, 2008; 10:59 AM ET | Comments (741)

Gay Rights: Religious Justification And Condemnation Equally Irrelevant

Faith-based arguments on behalf of gay marriage actually give aid and comfort to the sort of right-wing religious groups that threw volunteers and huge amounts of money into the California battle over Proposition 8, because they legitimize the idea that religious belief is a proper test for determining legal rights.

By Susan Jacoby | December 11, 2008; 02:02 PM ET | Comments (235)

How Do You Confront Utter Madness?

One thing that the Obama administration could and should stop doing is acting as if the only violence that counts is terrorism in which westerners die.

By Susan Jacoby | December 3, 2008; 08:20 AM ET | Comments (374)

Welcome To The Unchurched, President And Mrs. Obama

Lincoln, who was suspected by many of being (gasp!) a secret freethinker and religious skeptic, resisted considerable political pressure in his refusal to join a church. Obama, who is a believer, might choose to remain unaffiliated for different reasons.

By Susan Jacoby | November 25, 2008; 06:06 PM ET | Comments (52)

Thanksgiving Proclamations: Cracks In The Wall Of Separation

Presidential proclamations of thanksgiving to a deity offer one more example of an extra-constitutional custom that has now acquired a quasi-sacred status. The problem with these proclamations is that they pave the way for public acceptance of gross violations of the constitutional separation of church and state.

By Susan Jacoby | November 19, 2008; 08:54 AM ET | Comments (57)

On The Unreliability of Compassion Without Enforceable Law

Let me say first that I am unequivocally in favor of compassion. But Karen Armstrong's proposal that the world should write a "Charter for Compassion" is typical of the mushy thinking displayed by those who promote the dubious notion that all religions have a similar core.

By Susan Jacoby | November 12, 2008; 07:50 AM ET | Comments (63)

Yes, We Can

Let us seize this day to celebrate the triumph of what Lincoln called "the better angels of our nature" over fears rooted not only in our nation's immense problems today but in a tortured racial past that also lives in us.

By Susan Jacoby | November 5, 2008; 08:54 AM ET | Comments (113)

I Vote For Reason

As an atheist, I have no "religious" reasons to vote for any candidate. As a citizen who cherishes the separation of church and state, I will always vote for the candidate who stands farthest from the positions endorsed by the religious right.

By Susan Jacoby | October 28, 2008; 03:29 PM ET | Comments (186)

The Worst Angels Of Our Nature: Rage And Racism On The Campaign Trail

Any politician who provides fuel for the worst sort of American fire, or remains silent in the face of bigotry and threats of violence, is a disgrace to this country.

By Susan Jacoby | October 14, 2008; 02:04 PM ET | Comments (271)

McCain, Obama, Palin: Judgment, Not Guilt By Association, Is The Issue

The candidates' current behavior and recent records--whether you are for or against them--offer ample evidence of their public policy views and their capacity for leadership. We don't need "gotcha" moments from past associations to judge them. By their current words and deeds we can know them..

By Susan Jacoby | October 7, 2008; 05:00 PM ET | Comments (98)

Church-State Queries For The Goose And The Gander

Because Biden has a long record of votes on issues germane to the separation of church and state, I am more interested in Palin's answers. I'd like to find out whether she knows anything, other than what she has been told in extremist churches, about the secular side of American history.

By Susan Jacoby | October 1, 2008; 08:07 AM ET | Comments (205)

The Republicans And The Christian Right: They Want To Decide For Us All

Who cares if poor women are the ones who will have to pay the price for the heartless religious fanaticism of right-wing Republicans?

By Susan Jacoby | September 26, 2008; 06:58 AM ET | Comments (98)

If We Rely On Faith To Fix The Economy, We'll All Need Charity

Individuals may behave morally or immorally in their financial dealings, but financial institutions and markets are amoral. That is why government regulation is needed to strike a balance between the common good and untrammeled profits.

By Susan Jacoby | September 16, 2008; 08:09 AM ET | Comments (179)

The Nomination Of Sarah Palin: Religious Extremism Triumphant

Palin wants to force her values on women who do not agree with her, and that is the definition of religious extremism

By Susan Jacoby | September 12, 2008; 12:03 PM ET | Comments (338)

Unwanted Advice for Candidates On The Faithiness Trail

There is no point in my advising John McCain or Barack Obama about the role that religion should play in their campaigns. Expecting an American presidential candidate to take any advice from an atheist is like expecting a general to take advice from a pacifist.

By Susan Jacoby | August 27, 2008; 10:55 AM ET | Comments (157)

Saddleback Church Forum: A Religious Test For The Presidency

Rick Warren is not to be blamed for taking advantage of the public's faithiness in order to promote his brand of evangelical Christianity. The candidates are to blame for their eagerness to appease not only evangelicals but all who do not understand our heritage as the first secular government in the world.

By Susan Jacoby | August 18, 2008; 02:05 PM ET | Comments (135)

Starting Campaign 2008 In Church

would either of you have accepted an invitation to appear at a forum sponsored by a secularly oriented group like Americans United for Separation of Church and State?

By Susan Jacoby | August 14, 2008; 08:01 AM ET | Comments (114)

Forgiveness Is No One Else's Business And Faith's Got Nothing To Do With It

I don't think that Edwards deserves any forgiveness from voters or political associates who supported his campaign. He took their money and loyalty under false pretenses. He made a fool out of every one of his supporters.

By Susan Jacoby | August 13, 2008; 09:02 AM ET | Comments (31)

The Poor Ye Shall Always Have With You

The basic appeal of religion to the poor is that it promises in the next life what its adherents do not enjoy in this life. That is why impoverished workers in South America are flocking to Pentecostal religions and people dying of AIDS in Africa are flocking to Roman Catholicism.

By Susan Jacoby | August 6, 2008; 08:30 AM ET | Comments (502)

Racial Prejudice: What's God Got To Do With It?

The real question, in my view, is why 70 percent of Americans are so sure that they do not harbor racial prejudice. I don't see how any honest American of any race or ethnic group can pretend to be immune to racial bias.

By Susan Jacoby | July 31, 2008; 04:48 AM ET | Comments (71)

Yes, There Are Atheists (And Religious Minorities) In Foxholes

The real issue is that right-wing Christian evangelicals, encouraged by the Bush administration and religious conservatives at the top level of the officer corps, have attempted to push their views on non-Christians (and liberal Christians) within the service academies as well and on military bases.

By Susan Jacoby | July 29, 2008; 09:36 AM ET | Comments (327)

The Undead World Of Supernatural Junk Thought

What unites all believers in all forms of the supernatural and the paranormal is that they either require no evidence or invent evidence to fit the faith they already hold.

By Susan Jacoby | July 18, 2008; 11:01 AM ET | Comments (356)

Don't Know Much About Theology, Don't Know Much Philosophy...

Americans as a people have become supremely ignorant about and indifferent to the specific meanings of words, and they are equally confused about important historical distinctions. Why shouldn't some American atheists be as ignorant about the meaning of atheism as many religious Americans are about religion?

By Susan Jacoby | July 1, 2008; 12:11 PM ET | Comments (669)

The Most Unforgettable Books I Ever Met

The King James Bible, which is indeed the only great book ever written by a committee.

By Susan Jacoby | June 25, 2008; 08:14 AM ET | Comments (171)

Notes Of A Free-Speech Junkie

We can only be grateful to the framers of the Constitution that sharp criticism of religion, including satire, is permitted in movies, on pay television, and in books--none of which, I should point out, anyone is obligated to watch or buy.

By Susan Jacoby | June 18, 2008; 08:50 AM ET | Comments (624)

The Mind-Body Connection

I date the origins of my atheism from a visit to the hospital, at age seven, to see a playmate in an iron lung, a boy who had been running and playing ball with the rest of us. That made a permanent impression on me. I began questioning all of the nonsense I had already been taught about the existence of a loving God.

By Susan Jacoby | June 10, 2008; 08:24 AM ET | Comments (1017)

Obama The Unchurched: It Was Good Enough For Lincoln

The outrage at all of the comments by nut-case clerics that have already surfaced during this campaign reflects a deep split in American attitudes about religion and about what kind of religion they want political leaders to embody.

By Susan Jacoby | June 4, 2008; 08:31 AM ET | Comments (552)

Greed Is Not Good--So What Do We Do About It?

For the past eight years, the United States government has been run by people who basically share the Gordon Gekko "greed is good" philosophy. Economic inequality has increased exponentially as have the value of the gargantuan salaries of CEOs and heads of Wall Street firms.

By Susan Jacoby | June 2, 2008; 09:00 AM ET | Comments (342)

Gay Marriage: Some Day (But Not Now) We'll Say, "Oh, Never Mind"

I don't have the slightest idea why happily or unhappily married heterosexuals feel so threatened by the very existence of same-sex marriages, but I can only hope that this controversy will not expand and overwhelm the more fundamental issues at stake in the 2008 election.

By Susan Jacoby | May 21, 2008; 07:48 AM ET | Comments (463)

Dog Bites Man Story: Evangelicals Want More Religion in the Public Square

The "Evangelical Manifesto" issued last week in Washington suggests that I may have been wrong in my analysis of the relationship between evangelicalism and fundamentalism.

By Susan Jacoby | May 16, 2008; 02:00 PM ET | Comments (593)

Clinton, Obama, McCain: Human Beings, Not Moral Paragons

I cannot imagine any political process less suited to finding out whether a candidate is either honest or trustworthy than the American way of running for the presidency in an era when "character" is defined by shrinking sound bites and endless video loops on blogs.

By Susan Jacoby | May 12, 2008; 12:10 PM ET | Comments (618)

White Ignorance, Wright's Narcissism

I have read the full text of Jeremiah Wright's remarks and I can recognize an egomaniac, black or white, when I read one. Wright represents the "black church" in the same sense that Rod Parsley, John McCain's wacko spiritual adviser, represents the "white church."

By Susan Jacoby | May 5, 2008; 12:50 PM ET | Comments (713)

Pope Benedict And The Soul of Power

First, he was saying that the church and its members must live out their faith by engagement in social issues--not only by personal piety. As a secularist, I have no problem with that.

By Susan Jacoby | April 23, 2008; 07:27 AM ET | Comments (356)

Pope Benedict Wants You!

One thing that devout believers in ecumenical dialogue simply don't get about the Roman Catholic Church is that its leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI, truly believe that theirs is the one, true faith.

By Susan Jacoby | April 9, 2008; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (198)

Pope Benedict and American Catholicism: On The Titanic's Deck

The saying, "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic," a favorite maxim of the nuns in the parochial schools I attended, is no longer true.

By Susan Jacoby | April 7, 2008; 03:42 PM ET | Comments (459)

Martin Luther King: The Irreplaceable Man

As a secularist, I also want to point out that the power of King's moral appeal, while rooted in his own faith, transcended all religions.

By Susan Jacoby | April 4, 2008; 06:07 AM ET | Comments (92)

More Faith-Based Tomfoolery: McCain And His Anti-Muslim Spiritual Guide

The true mystery is why the majority of Americans, having had a recent look at the goofy views of many clerics--yes, "spiritual advisers" to candidates for the highest office in the land--still regard faith as an essential qualification for the presidency.

By Susan Jacoby | April 1, 2008; 03:27 PM ET | Comments (180)

Memo to Candidates: Pick A Feel-Good Pastor

A candidate should not be held responsible for the whacko views of a friend or family member, but the relationship between a congregant and the pastor of his church is quite different. The very essence of membership in a particular church is an assumed community of values. Obama can't deny that.

By Susan Jacoby | March 25, 2008; 06:30 AM ET | Comments (155)

It's A Tool, Stupid!

I have no idea what this question has to do with faith, except that everything involving computers has become a form of faith in our society.

By Susan Jacoby | March 12, 2008; 07:14 AM ET | Comments (19)

Memo To Politicians: Let Jesus Rest In Peace

Enough with this silly speculation about what Jesus would have done. I am interested in what Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain would do as president of the United States. And I am certain of one thing: none of these candidates is the reincarnation of Jesus.

By Susan Jacoby | March 10, 2008; 12:45 PM ET | Comments (188)

The American Spiritual Bazaar: Something For Everyone

I wish that the large number of Americans who are unaffiliated with any particular religion would think seriously about secularism and atheism.

By Susan Jacoby | February 29, 2008; 10:37 AM ET | Comments (145)

Hope Is Not A "Cult of Personality"

It seems that it's all right to talk about faith in political campaigns if you're talking about faith in some supreme being (who is not running for the presidency) but it's not all right to talk about faith in ourselves and in the future of our country, as Obama often does.

By Susan Jacoby | February 20, 2008; 10:15 AM ET | Comments (178)

On the Civil Supremacy of Secular Law

The suggestion that British law should, in certain instances, recognize the authority of Islamic religious courts is the most politically destructive, anti-secular, and legally indefensible statement by a western religious leader in recent history.

By Susan Jacoby | February 13, 2008; 07:49 AM ET | Comments (199)

Secularism: The New Taboo

We must find a way to rescue secularism, and the separation of church and state, from the denigration of both the religious right and the religious left.

By Susan Jacoby | February 7, 2008; 01:13 PM ET | Comments (182)

It's The Theocrats, Stupid

My guess is that Afghan President Hamid Karzai will intervene to overrule this decision, handed down by local judges (without a defense lawyer to represent the accused) in an area of Afghanistan where fundamentalist Islamist mullahs dominate law and culture.

By Susan Jacoby | February 1, 2008; 01:59 PM ET | Comments (142)

We're Electing a President, Not A Holy Fool

Even a great many of Huckabee's fellow fundamentalists, as suggested by the victory of John McCain in South Carolina, know that when you start talking about a godly amendment to the Constitution, you've ruled yourself out as a viable maintream presidential candidate.

By Susan Jacoby | January 24, 2008; 06:05 AM ET | Comments (533)

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