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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
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The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
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The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
August 9, 2011
/ 9 Menachem-Av, 5771
The terror of penitent prayer
By
Wesley Pruden
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Christians are driving atheists nuts. Atheists are trying to spread their belief or more to the point, their lack of belief with zeal that Billy Sunday or Billy Graham could have envied: unless Sunday schools are closed, Bibles shredded, hymnbooks torched and children jailed when found kneeling with Mom in bedtime prayer, no one is secure in their homes.
Rick Perry, the governor of Texas who nearly everyone expects to be a candidate for president of the United States, sent the atheists of Texas into frenzy approaching apoplexy over the weekend with his testimony to his faith in Jesus Christ at a rally of repentance in Houston.
The governor was no less zealous, though he didn't seem to be mad at anyone and offered a prayer for everyone, in particular for President Obama and his family.
"Lord," he prayed, "you are the source of every good thing. You are our only hope, and we stand before you in awe of Your power and in gratitude for Your blessings, and in humility for our sins. Father, our hearts break for America. We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government, and as a nation we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, and for that we cry out for forgiveness."
Eloquent and heartfelt, but pretty tame stuff in contrast to great tent revivals of yesteryear. There was no invitation to hit the sawdust trail, no invocation of the old-time religion, no penitent weeping at a mourner's bench. But who could say that the governor exaggerated the "discord at home . . . fear in the marketplace . . . and anger in the halls of government."
But evidence abounds of hard times coming. China lectures that the "good old days" of massive borrowing are over, and suggests that the greenback dollar must be discarded as the world's trading currency. Wall Street is bracing for a rough week, following an awful week, and Standard & Poor, which lopped an 'A' off America's 'AAA' credit rating, now says there's a 1 in 3 chance that another 'A' may have to go.
The view from across the Atlantic is even grimmer. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard speculates in the London Daily Telegraph that "this time we face the risk of double-dip recession without shock absorbers." Cutting interest rates, which usually can be counted on to ignite a burst of investment that produces jobs, can't be cut further because there's not much left to cut.
Against this backdrop of grim, grimmer and grimmest, you might think that even a man bereft of consolation for his soul would welcome a little prayer. But Mr. Perry is suddenly the devil in atheist hallucination, the more so because he, who grew up on Methodist evangelism and like many believers waxes enthusiastic about his faith, prays in the name of Jesus Christ.
Dozens of devout atheists (easy for them to say, not being in foxholes) demonstrated outside Houston's Reliant Stadium, where speakers inside invoked Old Testament prophets calling ancientIsrael to contrition. Demonstrators held up signs and banners mocking the religious folk with taunts like "Get up off your knees," "No believers in fairy tales," and "God is not great." Their pain, beyond having to live in a world where few share their bleak view of the life of the soul, is that the governor's prayer establishes the state religion forbidden by the First Amendment. They're terrified of "mixing politics and religion."
We mix politics and religion all the time, of course, and have since the founding of the republic. We've never had an established church, which is what the First Amendment prohibits, and never will. But the devout atheists want a world free of moral restraint. They want no reminders that folks of faith worship something other than science, an empty heart, and themselves, the gods that inevitably fail.
Nearly all our presidents, even skeptics like Jefferson and Lincoln, "mix politics and religion," paying respect to faith if not necessarily sharing all the particulars. In his proclamation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863, when the outcome of the Civil War still lay in doubt, Lincoln spoke of sentiments of gratitude for divine gifts "which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God." Soft heads, on the other hand, may be beyond fixing.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor emeritus of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
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