Columns

Jesus and his parents were not migrants going to Bethlehem

Around this time of year, I start seeing posts on social media about how Jesus was a refugee, an asylum seeker, an immigrant, etc. It’s based upon a version of the Nativity story, where the Holy Family was forced to “flee” to Bethlehem to avoid persecution.

Movie memories at Christmas time!

I don’t know about you, but I’m a real movie buff. I have always really liked going to the movies.

Let’s make America profane again

Here’s a regrettable trend: as profanity has become commonplace, swear words are losing their usefulness. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the language used in movies and television has gotten dramatically more profane . There are a couple of reasons why.

What can the nativity teach us?

“The right place at the right time.” I realize that not everyone recognizes Jesus Christ as the Son of God (or even a real person); but for Christians, his birth, ministry, death and triumph over death fit the “right place at the right time” for fulfilling prophecies of the Messiah.

Suppressing the Christmas spirits, sort of

Federal agents and local sheriffs worked overtime in Prohibition days to keep illegal spirits from making Christmas cheer too cheerful, but only with limited success. The law banning the sale of liquor in the U.S. went into effect in 1920.

The MeToo movement is silent on Hamas

I hated the MeToo movement. It angered me that women who had waited decades to accuse Bill Cosby of rape were believed as if they were the Oracles of Delphi, and that women who had kept their mouths shut long enough to win Oscars, like Meryl Streep, were heralded for their courage.

How to restore the gift of giving

Here’s an unpleasant holiday statistic: Average Americans are giving significantly less to their favorite charities this year than they did just four or five years ago. Average Americans have long been among the most generous people on Earth.

Will golf be recognizable in 20 years?

A course is a course, of course of course … Or is it?

Where cowboys fought giant crabs?

Abbeville was up in arms in December 1954, over a national magazine article in which community leaders claimed the town, and all of Vermilion Parish, were portrayed as “a mucky swamp” inhabited only by those strong enough to wrestle an alligator, which they often had to do.

Pope’s positions are wearing her thin

On March 13, 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected by the College of Cardinals to succeed Jozef Ratzinger as pope. Pope Francis was the third non-Italian, after Karol Wotyla of Poland and the aforementioned Ratzinger, to lead the church in over 500 years.