Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2639

The Samson Syndrome, Ctd

Balk finds "Between Bears":

I know almost nothing about this short film by Eran Hilleli, and
presumably it was passed my way due to my fascination with bears and
constant posting of bear videos. Having watched it twice it is still
something of a mystery to me—what does it all mean? etc.—but for a
five-minute animated movie for what the Internet tells me
is a graduation project for an Israeli art school, it is pretty
transfixing. But then again, it has bears in it, so I'm an easy sell.

I...

Ruminating Russians

Jonah Lehrer relays new research showing how Russians better cope with depression than Americans:

The psychologists gave subjects in Moscow and Michigan a series ofvignettes that described a protagonist who either does or does notanalyze her feelings when she is upset. After reading the shortstories, the students were then asked to choose the protagonist thatmost closely resembled their own coping tendencies. The results wereclear: While the American undergraduates were evenly divided...

The Mormon Brand

David Kiefaber highlights a series of ads running in nine states throughout the US:

In an unofficial campaign not connected to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormons have made a slew of ads depicting themselves as regular peoplewho just happen to be attractive and interesting enough for television.(The online clips are extended versions of the shorter TV spots.) Itseems random, but it really isn't. Being run out of town is a constantin Mormon history, and South Park's...

At The Hour Of Our Death, Ctd

From Hitchens to Hume. James Boswell visits the great skeptic on his deathbed:

I had a strong curiosity to be satisfied if he persisted in disbelieving a future state even when he had death before his eyes. I was persuaded from what he now said, and from his manner of saying it, that he did persist. I asked him if it was not possible that there might be a future state. He answered it was possible that a piece of coal put upon the fire would not burn; and he added that it was a most...

The View From Your Window

Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 6.55 am

Scotland - Aberdeenshire - History - Maps and Views - Travel and Tourism

Space For Spiritual Growth

A new study published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion finds that Americans between the ages of 36 to 50 are more loyal to religion than Baby Boomers:

Philip Schwadel, of the University
Nebraska-Lincoln, said this was true even though they were less
than previous generations to have been brought up with a religion. He said the trend "is good news for those who worry about declining religious adherence."

Schwadelattributed the younger generation's overall loyalty...

Face Of The Day

A lion yawns on July 19, 2010 in the Edeni Game Reserve, South Africa.
Edeni is a 21,000 acre wilderness area with an abundance of game and
birdlife located near Kruger National Park in South Africa. By
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.

South Africa - Kruger National Park - Africa - Game reserve - Travel and Tourism

"The Daily Dish As Sermon Fodder"

A reader writes:

I am a Presbyterian Pastor, and your blog archive has become a go-to resource for sermon illustrations. For example, this week my sermon touched on the issue of suffering - and sure enough, a search of your archives (via Google, not the dismal Atlantic site search function) pointed me to a several posts on Bart Ehrman and the role of suffering in his journey from faith to agnosticism. It provided a relevant, real-time example of the struggle with suffering and the role of the...

Meet A Baby Sloth Wrangler

And 135 of her children:

Art - Languages - Programming - FAQs Help and Tutorials - Costa Rica

"Depressing Because It Is So Persuasive" Ctd

A reader writes:

I also hated the line of argument pursued by one of your readers. I'm a foster parent, in a school district that still engages in integration motivated busing.  Our black foster child was behind grade level when she came to us last summer, even though she was coming from a suburban school with very high test scores.  We live in the significantly more affluent (predominantly white) neighborhood of the two this school serves.  The other neighborhood is low income and a mix of...