“In such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, not to be on the side of the executioners.”- Camus
If I describe the suicide bombers in Sri Lanka as monsters, I hit the end of understanding. Monsters act monstrously. We are not monsters. Therefore how can we make sense of the motivations of those who strap on suicide vests and walk among women and children and among those at worship, utterly vulnerable and trusting, and click a trigger that triggers explosions that smash bodies? All of these are important, […]
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A week or so ago, a man and woman met at the register, and in response to a poster advertising a store event where the author of a book on Trump and golf was to speak, they began a conversation. Both liked Trump. Neither liked what the book purported to describe. After that beginning, I could not hear well. The ambient noise of the store and my own work kept […]
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The second time we visited Notre Dame, we climbed the towers on those steps worn into curves by centuries of pilgrims and tourists. From its parapet one could begin to imagine the Paris that had been when it was initially completed in 1260, a city low to the eye, the spires of other churches crowning the skyline, Montmartre to the north, a region of fields and vineyards, animals everywhere, wood […]
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In Belfast, Northern Ireland in late December of 1972 as many as eight men shoved their way into the apartment of Jean McConville, a 37-year-old widow and mother who had just stepped out of her bath. They ordered her to dress and come with them. All but two of the men were masked. Jean’s oldest son recognized the unmasked men as neighbors. One man carried a handgun. All 10 of […]
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