The Christian Coalition is still about Christianity, even if it's an idea of Christianity that many Christians might not go along with.

Reality is a question of perspective.

Science fiction is always a vehicle for ideas. It's the form which allows either movies or books to be an exploration of how we should live.

Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today.

Laila Lalami has fashioned an absorbing story of one of the first encounters between Spanish conquistadores and Native Americans, a frightening, brutal, and much-falsified history that here, in her brilliantly imagined fiction, is rewritten to give us something that feels very like the truth.

Anyone who has had the experience of going through American security checks knows the purpose of these checks is not to make you safer; it's just to annoy you.

Writers have an opinion about the world and offer arguments about the world. They should offer contemplation.