Can They Get an Amen?

By Margaret Lyons in News on Oct 10, 2007 8:30PM

Folks sure are feeling God-y today. Both Neil Steinberg and Harold Henderson are both dipping their column toes in the divine waters.

"That must be one hell of a galaxy that God's been busy constructing, somewhere far, far away, because He's sure careless when it comes to keeping tabs on his flock 'round these parts. If the Lord were on the ball, earthwise, then 24-year-olds would not kill themselves," Steinberg writes, in reference to Jim Ryan's son's recent suicide. Yes, it's official for Neil Steinberg: God is lazy. Eventually, our heartbroken narrator finds comfort in the words of Walt Whitman, though we're not sure why Steinberg felt a need to mention that Leaves of Grass "makes 1855 America seem like a gay bathhouse." Just sing your body electric, Neil! Embrace it!

Henderson's skepticism leads him to ask, "[W]hy rely so heavily on a single very old book that offers so little moral guidance (either way) in today's drastically different world?" And people were afraid the Reader was going to go soft.

photo by dpnash.