Author Archives: Heather Mac Donald

God on Campus

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

Religious readers of this site periodically rebuke me for misunderstanding the nature of prayer.  Prayer is a way of communing with God, they say; no informed believer would ask or expect God to intervene on their or others’ behalf.  Thus, … Continue reading →

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Theater of death and life

Posted on June 14, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

I highly recommend Ionesco’s Exit the King to anyone who is in New York.   It is an almost unbearably wrenching exploration of mortality delivered by the most astounding theatrical performance–by Geoffrey Rush (for which he won a Tony)–I have seen in recent … Continue reading →

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Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Banana

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

John Tierney documents further blows to human exceptionalism: moping coyotes, rueful monkeys, tigers that cover their eyes in remorse, chimpanzees that second-guess their choices. I suppose that such signs of proto-moral reactions in animals are neutral regarding our alleged origins … Continue reading →

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Angels, Demons, Science, and Meaning

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

New York Times science columnist Dennis Overbye has a nuanced column on the semi-condescending attitude towards science as a potential source of wisdom in Angels and Demons, the new Tom Hanks movie (which I haven’t seen).  I think that Overbye actually … Continue reading →

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Where’d all the religious art go, and who misses it?

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

While in Boston this weekend for the opening night performance of L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Boston Early Music Festival (an elegant, historically sensitive production, created, like all of BEMF’s work, in conscious rejection of the ignorant narcissism of Regietheater) … Continue reading →

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The conundrum of prayer

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

Last Saturday, the New York City Police Department  experienced the worst misfortune that can befall a police department: one officer mistakenly and fatally shooting another.  The loss of Officer Omar Edwards to friendly fire is an unbearable tragedy, for which … Continue reading →

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North Korea’s new god

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-il is reported to have picked his youngest son as a successor, and the mandatory worship has already begun: In recent weeks, North Korean diplomats abroad have been told to begin to pay homage to Kim … Continue reading →

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PC Science

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

I’m all for making science alluring to a wider audience, which it rightfully should be, given the natural Eros of knowledge.  But this opening night line-up for the World Science Festival in New York could send even the most committed … Continue reading →

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Henry James, fellow skeptic

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

I confess that Henry James usually drives me up the wall, for the usual reasons.  Give me the passion and directness of Edith Wharton or Trollope over James’s cloying mannerisms any day.  These are undoubtedly my failings, not his, for … Continue reading →

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Underdogs and empathy

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

Obama’s infamous “empathy” test for judges: we need somebody who’s got the heart — the empathy — to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American … Continue reading →

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