Americans face a moral reckoning March 26, 2007
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Americans face a moral reckoning
By James Carroll | March 26, 2007
YOU HAVE been reading “The Sorrow of War” by Bao Ninh, the classic account of what in Vietnam is called the American war. The title of Bao Ninh’s novel captures the feeling of grief and loss that always comes in the wake of violent conflict. [...]
The many forms of fundamentalism March 21, 2007
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By James Carroll | March 19, 2007
Nearly a decade and a half ago, this condemnation of fundamentalism was issued: “The fundamentalist approach is dangerous, for it is attractive to people who look to the Bible for ready answers to the problems of life . . . instead of telling them that the Bible does not necessarily [...]
Primary Christmas story: Mary vs. the empire December 26, 2006
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By James Carroll | December 25, 2006
“AS FOR MARY, she treasured all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19). What things? The shame of her mysterious pregnancy, the terrible requirement to travel far away, the inhospitable place in which to give birth to her baby, the manger as his only cradle, shepherds [...]
Israel’s land-rights problem November 29, 2006
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By James Carroll November 27, 2006
THE WORSENING conflict between Israelis and Palestinians reached a rare point of clarification last week, but an ominous one. It involved leaked Israeli government documents apparently showing that significant parts of Israeli settlements in the West Bank are on land unjustly appropriated from Palestinians.
“One Third of Jewish Area Is on [...]
War, religion, and gay rights November 15, 2006
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By James Carroll | November 13, 2006
In Jerusalem, Muslims and Jews have found common cause: attacking gay people.
A gay pride parade was scheduled for Friday. In Palestinian areas, Muslim leaders vigorously condemned homosexuality as criminal, and in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, Jewish demonstrators staged raucous protests. As a result, organizers canceled the parade. One of them said, [...]
Caught between Iraq and a hard place…. November 6, 2006
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What it will take to end war
By James Carroll | November 6, 2006
THE WAR in Iraq has emerged as a key issue in tomorrow’s election, but in what way can its course be influenced by voting results?
On the one hand, President Bush has just renewed allegiance to Donald Rumsfeld, the contractor of disaster, and to [...]
The makings of a nuclear standoff October 16, 2006
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The makings of a nuclear standoff
By James Carroll | October 16, 2006
NORTH KOREA has the bomb. That a regime led by the apparently misanthropic Kim Jong Il is now nuclear capable may undercut the mad balance of deterrence, with disastrous results. How did we come to this?
Washington bet that blustering belligerence was the way to [...]
Monsters in Our Schools October 11, 2006
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James Carroll | October 9, 2006
How are we to think of monsters?
In recent weeks, men have savagely attacked children in schools. In Colorado, one was murdered, while five were assaulted. In Pennsylvania, five were murdered, with five others left wounded. In both cases, the expressly targeted victims were girls. Pre meditation included sexual assault. Whole communities [...]
All Things are Passing…… August 15, 2006
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Sharing the oceanic feeling
By James Carroll | August 14, 2006
“LET NOTHING disturb thee, nothing affright thee.” This verse of the Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila pops into your mind as you stare out at the ocean horizon. In the tranquility of an August afternoon at the beach, the hatch to the attic of free association [...]
An excerpt….Nagasaki principle….James Carroll August 7, 2006
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Across the decades, the United States has had a case of what the historian Marc Trachtenberg calls “nuclear amnesia,” a profound forgetfulness about the context and consequences of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The context included the prior destruction of dozens of Japanese cities, most notably Tokyo, that relativized the damage done at the [...]
