• 'God on Trial'

  PBS stations around the country are currently running a deeply sobering film that is a must-see for people of faith. Called God on Trial, the film tells the story of a group of Jewish inmates at Auschwitz who don’t understand why God seems indifferent to their suffering. (Because of profanity, disturbing images, and other elements, the film is not suitable for children.)

• We Could All Use a Good Laugh

  As anyone who knows me knows, I love a good laugh. I’ve even been known to pull a practical joke or two, like the time years ago my assistant and I hauled a real stuffed bear into the hunting cabin of a friend late one night. Let’s just say he was surprised when he went back to the cabin and turned on the lights!

• A Cancer on the Financial System

  For those of you who remember Watergate, John Dean, the President’s counsel, famously warned President Nixon about Watergate, describing it as, quote, “a cancer on the Presidency.” That is a pretty good phrase to describe our economic mess.

• Thanksgiving 2008

  As every school child knows, the Pilgrims arrived in the New World in the winter of 1620. After a difficult struggle for survival, by October 1621 the Pilgrims could celebrate a successful harvest large enough to sustain the colony in the coming winter. The grateful Pilgrims invited their Indian friends to a three-day feast of thanksgiving to God.

• So Much for Tolerance

  The ad ran all over California on Election Day—and surely sets a record for anti-religious bigotry. Two clean-cut young men knock at the door of a lesbian couple. The men identify themselves as Mormon missionaries. “We’re here to take away your rights,” they announce.