God
Thoughts and Prayers
People say “I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers” all the time. I have said it myself; I also say “I am thinking of you,” or, occasionally, “I will hold you in the light,” which is the Quaker version. “Thoughts and prayers” is a useful phrase, but do people really mean it? Is…
Two Big New God Debates
You may not be as big a fan of debates about the existence of God as I am (I’m writing a whole book about them), but maybe you care enough to appreciate that there was big news in that department this past week. First: Dawkins-Craig. William Lane Craig, if you don’t know him, is the…
God, Live From The Beacon
My dad came home the other night to find my mom and me watching the live broadcast of the Elton John/Leon Russell concert from New York City’s Beacon Theater. His first words: “What is God doing on our television?” He wasn’t asking in the way Elvis fans say The King is God. He was asking…
The God of This World
Isn’t it obvious that God, or at least our idea of God, needs saving as much as we do? He—forgive me if necessary for saying “He”—has been run through the mud by terrorists, televangelists, New Atheists, and grandmothers’ guilt. The rest of us are supposed to have a relationship with this guy? Or even just…
Divine Simplity and OkCupid Complexity
If I’ve gotten my zero dollars’ worth from my OkCupid membership, it’s for the data more than the dates. (My scientist uncle suggests that five dates would be an adequate sample. I’ve been on two and am having trouble bringing myself to try a third.) The site seems aware of this bit of consolation; their…
Mel’s God
My God by Mel Calman New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1971 I know. I’ll pitch a book of my little drawings of God thinking about funny things… yes… very simple line drawings with wry captions… oh, what’s that? Sigh. Mel Calman beat my ass to it. Sigh. English cartoonist Mel Calman’s “look at…
The Uses of God
Sometimes I have this dream. It’s a kind of party in the afterlife, and all of my friends are there. Not just my friends, but their best friends, too, like in the Kinks song. I get in the pool and there’s God, and he looks like Kurt Cobain (Jesusy? Definitely!) and little Kurt—without all those…
Hooky Luncheon
Yesterday I was eating lunch with my six-year-old daughter, her friend, and her friend’s mother. We were all playing hooky. We got into some talk about God (I didn’t prompt it, I swear.) My daughter’s friend, Mia, is a believing Christian. Her mother, Frances, is an atheist, who was kicked out of Hebrew school as…
The Irrelevance of Proof to the Holiday Spirit
I’ve got a zany new essay at Religion Dispatches today about a lecture earlier this week in Brooklyn, “A Philosophical Proof of Santa Claus.” Jamie Hook, the evening’s presenter, did a masterful job of miming some of the issues at play in debates about God—though in the guise of a fellow whose existence, this season…
