How I Got Religion

So, it’s about 20 years ago, and one of my kids, then around 10, is in Meredith Wilson’s band at the Ann Arbor Civic Theater, learning his instrument through the Think Method. During a rehearsal break, the kids are talking about where they go to church or synagogue. Everyone but my son has something to share. He comes home, upset: “Mama, how come we don’t believe in anything?”

“We do believe in something,” I assure him. “We just don’t believe there’s a God.”

“What do we believe in?” I’ve left him outnumbered and defenseless, and I…

In an America that fancies itself a leader among democracies, some consenting adults are still not able to marry one another. Legalizing civil unions doesn’t cut it, even though that would correct some of the obvious injustices. As long as Americans are allowed to think that some marriages are more valid than others, some people more equal than others, there will be crimes against citizens because of sexual orientation.

The best way to honor Matthew Shepard, a gay man who was brutally murdered ten years ago in Laramie, Wyoming, is to legalize same-sex marriage.

Theaters across the…

Tired of the attacks on our new president, Jason Zito commented in a Facebook post: “Oh please. I’m totally fine with Obama getting a Nobel Peace Prize. You try closing a U.S. torture camp, promoting nuclear nonproliferation in Iran and beyond, reaching out in a new way to the Muslim world for the first time in history, stopping blockage of needed cutting-edge health research, making the Supreme Court an accurate representation of the population, increasing friendly diplomacy with both allies and enemies, standing up for victims of violence here and abroad, working to end an unfounded…

Okay, so you’re at the theater, and it’s intermission. Since you washed your hands before leaving home, you can have a snack without wasting time visiting a crowded restroom just to wash again, right?

All you’ve done, after all, is hang on to a subway bar or turn the door handle of a cab, touch the tickets you picked up at the box office, pocket a tag that allows you to retrieve your checked coat, take the program from the friendly usher, and touch your armrest briefly as you sit.

The latest from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is that flu activity is…