Surrounded by the usual code words for these holidays -- "freedom from slavery" for the first, "resurrection and new life" for the second -- this question may seem at the least silly and at worst an exercise of blasphemous anti-religiosity.

Yet, it is actually a serious question. Consider that while...

My last blog ended by comparing our lives to a song, and with the reflection: But if we live with awareness and gratitude, compassion and love, we will face the end of the song with grace, knowing that the composer and performer is not us, but forces vastly larger, more...

"That was the day of the white chrysanthemums, so magnificent I was almost fearful... And then, then you came to take my soul..."
-- Rilke

For someone way beyond middle age Amour is, as we used to say, quite a trip. To those unfamiliar with this Oscar-winning French film,...

What difference does it make if torture works? Is that all we need to know about it? Is it possible that we shouldn't torture people even if it does work? By analogy: We could probably eliminate a good deal of the Taliban--at least for a while--if we carpet bombed regions...

It's not that the torture scenes weren't pretty bad. They were: the bruised face, haunted eyes, scarred skin, and gradual deterioration from arrogant jihadist to a helpless, broken body pleading for mercy.

But that didn't make me cry, for when such torture is not an instrument of sadism, as...

This means to make the simple but often incredibly difficult decision to meet life's difficulties with self-awareness, acceptance, gratitude, compassion and love. (This is the position developed in my new book, "Spirituality: What it Is and Why it Matters," a book which not only answers all of life's...

America's annual consumerism orgasm is just passed. And if a little bit of post-sex let-down is to be expected, it may also be that some of us view the whole thing with negative feelings ranging from mild distaste to horror. People camping out on the sidewalk for days to buy...

Yes, and it's called prayer. And its power does not depend on faith in God or sacred texts, but on the passionate commitment of the person who prays. As Kierkegaard cautions: "Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays."

Prayers may be voiced in anguish or...

"You don't hit bottom," says an old 12-step adage, "until you stop digging." In other words: no bad experience, painful consequence or downright awful time of it in and of itself will lead people to change their behavior. When we are reckless, thoughtless, destructively selfish, or blind to the effects...

Does it make it better or worse that Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum -- who seems to want to impose his own religious view on the rest of us (or at least on women) -- is actually is out of touch with some central Catholic doctrines? I am not talking...

I hate to belabor the obvious, but in this time of crazy politics it might serve some purpose.
Are any of the Republican candidates -- for president -- Christian?

I know that all of them except Ron Paul have repeatedly said that they are. But is saying that one...

Amid the spasm of media hype about Steve Jobs -- I've heard people say he was our Edison, our Disney and as important as JFK, that he shaped our lives, changed our lives, improved our lives. I want to offer a dissenting voice.

Now I have nothing against Jobs,...