Ezra's Essays

Category: Religion/Atheism

  • DUBIOUS AND DECEITFUL THOUGHTS THAT PASS AS TRUTH

    Stretching the truth may well be a common failing among run-of-the-mill mortals as most of us are. When an auto salesman goes to work on a prospect, he says the engine moves the car from zero to sixty in record time while it burns almost no fuel at all. He may say that when there…

  • IS SATAN BEING UNFAIRLY MALIGNED?

    Judging from the numbers of recent aggressive articles and angry letters to the editors of newspapers, it is my probably biased judgment that old Satan is getting a bum rap. Fair play is fair play. He is being accused of such dis-similar events as the spread of AIDS, purse snatchings, fixing the football playoffs, and…

  • SUNDAY NIGHTS ON THE TUBE

    Sunday evenings were never meant to be enjoyable. People go to bed early after a weekend of eating drinking and other assorted activities. Monday mornings come soon enough. During the summer months, ESPN has Sunday baseball at 8PM Eastern Time. That is often a life saver in a desert of non-entertainment. As a general rule,…

  • ARE AMERICANS COLOSSAL PRUDES? OR: VENGEANCE IS MINE, SAIETH THE LORD

    The effort to answer the question as to whether my fellow country women, men and children are colossal prudes will inevitably require allusions to what some pious Yankees consider vulgar language. In other cases, our research inevitably leads also to consideration of the display of nude or semi-nude females in night clubs, on the beach,…

  • THOUGHTS THAT OCCUR WHILE SHAVING | Second Series of Thoughts

    In this Second Series, we deal with why Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Najaf, Iraq, took his coronary troubles to Jewish and Christian cardiologists in London. He went to London, not to Damascus or Cairo or Beirut, for his heart work. For Ali Sistani to agree that infidels (Jews and Christians) be allowed to meddle…

  • THOUGHTS THAT OCCUR WHILE SHAVING | First Series of Thoughts

    When my mind is absorbed in trying to solve a problem or remembering where my glasses might be misplaced or trying to recall a pungent quote, it often comes up empty. Remembering to call the pharmacist occasionally leaves me prescription-less. Forgetting to turn off the lights is now another failure of mine. Generous friends suggest…

  • MUSINGS — Volume III

    This old essayist thought that one set of musings and ponderings while Ms. Chicka drives the car would be sufficient. Obviously, that is not the case. It appears that several other thoughts have occurred while the Chrysler is not in my control. Try these musings, for example. Is 2004 a rerun of 1928? During the…

  • INFIDELS AND APOSTATES

    This short essay is undertaken with a sense of fear and trembling since it involves religion. When one person or one sect or one country calls another infidels and apostates, it would almost always be a slur. Generally speaking, my religious involvement is minimal because this ancient non-believer would seem to have no dog in…

  • CHERISHING THE CHILDREN OF THE NATION EQUALLY

    In this essay, it is my intention to give consideration to the importance of the religious vote to the recent re-election of Bush, particularly to the Jewish element of that choice. The title comes from a sentence of a proclamation by the “Provisional Government of the Irish Republic to the people of Ireland.” The proclamation…

  • MORE BITS AND PIECES: THE MORMONS ARE AT IT AGAIN, etc.

    There is a Mormon Church only two miles from this house. It escapes me why the Mormons elected to build a large church in Short Hills, New Jersey. As far as can be determined, their sect has a very limited appeal to residents of Summit, Livingston, Millburn and Short Hills. But the Church of Jesus…