Jonathan Aitken
“The Queen—God bless her!” These traditional words of what the English call the loyal toast will reverberate in every corner of the United Kingdom and in many parts of the Queen’s worldwide Commonwealth as her Diamond Jubilee is celebrated next…
What is going on in Burma? Some observers see the recent political changes in the country as so miraculous that they speak in lyrical terms of its resurrection or at least reformation. Be a little careful. As with the first…
Thanks to Meryl Streep and her movie The Iron Lady there is a renewed surge of interest in the life and times of Margaret Thatcher. Whatever one thinks of this biopic (Streep superb, storyline superficial, is the verdict of your…
Last year, this column and the world celebrated the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. This year brings the 350th birthday of another magnificent monument of early modern English—the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (BCP). All who savor the…
“We pride ourselves in punching above our weight here,” said the Australian minister of justice at a recent seminar in Hobart, Tasmania, on prisoner rehabilitation. His words ring true across a whole range of political, economic, social, and spiritual issues…
If you think some praise is due him, Now’s the time to slip it to him, For he cannot read his tombstone when he’s dead. THESE LINES of Victorian doggerel tumbled out of the attic of my memory when I…
The George W. Bush presidency has found its Samuel Pepys. This chronicler is Timothy S. Goeglein, who, by his own endearingly modest account, was neither particularly senior nor influential in the administration’s pecking order. His career trajectory was limited, ending…
The movement of the holy spirit is a controversial subject. Among some Pentecostalists, Charismatics, and Evangelists it happens as regularly as holy clockwork, flattening or elevating entire congregations as they become prostrate or airborne with strange body movements and words…
Discussing politics and religion in the United Arab Emirates, arguably the richest and most tolerant country in today’s Middle East, is a surprisingly hopeful experience. The national capital, Abu Dhabi, is a calm crossroads of Arabia. No protest marches, few…
The Arab spring is fast becoming a winter of discontent for Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East. In Washington the first stirrings of protest were hailed as a breakthrough for democracy. But the second phase of the…
