Busting some myths about Portugal’s greatest hero
By Nick Gier Reader Contributor About this time last year, I was traveling in Portugal and visited a number of sites in Lisbon. Some of them were dedicated to Vasco da Gama, the navigator...
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Women of the Revolution: Soldiers, Spies, and Resisters
By Nick Gier Reader Columnist “We possess a spirit that will not be conquered. Should we be attacked, you will find a race of Amazons in America.” —Abigail Adams to John Adams (9/20/1776) For...
The ‘logic’ of anti-abortion extremism ain’t pretty
By Nick Gier Reader Staff “It is absurd to call a fertilized ovum a baby.” —Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain Only just recently pro-lifers have argued that abortions should be allowed up to the point when the...
Does Mike Pence have the patience of Job?
By Nick Gier Reader Columnist “I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.” —Isaiah 45:7 (KJV) “God moves and actuates all in...
A short history of religious violence in Sri Lanka
By Nick Gier Reader Columnist “The sword is pulled from the scabbard, it is Not put back unless smeared with blood.” —from a Sri Lankan Buddhist battle song. Over the past 36 years I’ve...
A belated Easter message
By Nick Gier Reader Columnist Easter was late this year, and the date changes every year according to an astronomical calculation. After much controversy in the early church, it was finally decided that Easter...
Being ‘woke’: Black Buddhists in America
By Nick Gier Reader Columnist Every year at this time I write a column about Buddhism. The Buddha’s birthday is celebrated on different days depending on the country. In Japan it is always on...
The new American socialists: Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Elizabeth Warren
By Nick Gier Reader Columnist “I believe in markets — markets that work. Markets that have a cop on the beat and have real rules, and everybody follows them.” —Sen. Elizabeth Warren Just as...
Cyrus the Great versus Trump the Small
By Nick Gier Reader Columnist Joining Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s clueless press secretary, 55 percent of white evangelicals believe that God has sent Donald Trump to save the nation. Jerry Falwell, Jr., president of...
The controversy over third term abortions
By Nick Gier Reader Columnist “There is zero place for politicians to be involved in these very complicated medical decisions.” — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Out of fear that the current Supreme Court may repeal Roe v....
