Before I begin……….take a long look at the lady in the title photo above. That is what a political leader looks like. She is wearing a hijab to demonstrate her solidarity with the Muslim community of her country. Which of our political leaders would have the same sensitivity and courage? How many times have you ...
As the Quixotic Deacon travels further into the maw of Lent and his annual struggle to observe the season in a holy fashion, some rather non-Lenten thoughts have bubbled up. Herewith: The Methodists In late February a worldwide convocation of Methodist leaders, both lay and clergy, voted to reaffirm the church’s ban on ...
David Brooks, an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, is an erudite and thoughtful public intellectual admired by many readers, me among them. But I was dismayed when I read his Feb. 26 column, which was entitled “An Agenda for Moderates.” Brooks weighs two competing ideas that animate today’s politics — Tribe, a “magnetic ...
Mardi Gras Season For the large majority of you who don’t live in New Orleans, you might not realize that Mardi Gras is a season, not merely the eve of Ash Wednesday. We began in earnest on Friday, Feb.22, then parade almost ceaselessly for the next 12 days, until Ash Wednesday. Please don’t picture your ...
One of the things that I love about being an Anglo Catholic is the emphasis we place on following the church year as opposed to the secular year. That’s why I entitled this post as I did. Those of us who pay close attention to the church year know that many parishes celebrate the ...
Since I wrote Manifesto #1 almost 3 weeks ago, https://thequixoticdeacon.com/current-events/the-quixotic-deacons-quest-for-a-2020-candidate-manifesto-1 I’ve been struggling with how to frame the next one, Manifesto 2, which you are reading now. As my editor will tell you, I expected to finish it two weeks ago but it wasn’t that easy. I knew I wanted it to be about the ...
There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed. — Mahatma Gandhi I finished a real “page turner” of a non-fiction book yesterday, The Billion Dollar Whale. It dissects the misdeeds of fugitive financier, thief and con man Jho Low, a 35-year-old Malaysian who stole billions ...
Although four days are left until the end of Christmastide as I write, most people count today as the official beginning of the post-holiday new year. Many, like me, are happy this morning because they have a less than comfortable relationship with longish holiday periods. When I hear an adult express surprise that the ...
“Christmas at Mar A Lago – A Paean to Greatness” ...
This week I was reading New Orleans’ daily paper, The Advocate, when I noticed two stories on the same page. ( If you expected me to say The Times Picayune when I said the New Orleans daily paper, let me explain. Sometime after Hurricane Katrina, The Times Picayune was sold and, later, switched for a ...
