John Arkelian

  • John Arkelian

    John Arkelian is an award-winning author and journalist.

ARTICLES

A society in precipitous decline

Book Review Empire of illusion: the end of literacy and the triumph of spectacle by Chris Hedges Alfred A. Knopf Canada 2009, 240 pages, $29.95

Investigating miracles

In the mid-1990s, Randall Sullivan stumbled upon claims that the Virgin Mary had been appearing to children in a village in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The subject of

Searching for the Star of Bethlehem

FOR AS LONG as mankind has existed, we have been fascinated by the spectacle of the starry night sky above our heads. It’s a sight

Order and Chaos

The human psyche is marked by a constant struggle between order and chaos. That internal conflict figured prominently in many of the 300 films at

A universe drenched in meaning

A new book and a film about that book explore the conviction of one of the most extraordinary writers of the 20th century. The conviction

The Golden Rules of rudeness

WHEN JEAN-PAUL Sartre wrote (in 1944) that there was no need for fire, brimstone, stake, and gridiron, insofar as “Hell is other people” [“L’enfer, c’est

Comedian Bill Maher, left, stars in Religulous, his term blending "religious" and "ridiculous." Maher says that religious beliefs are childish, self-serving and dangerous. The documentary includes a host of interviews.

The religiosity of unbelief

Comedian Bill Maher’s satirical barbs are renowned for cleverly skewering our social, political, and cultural foibles. In his documentary film, Religulous, Maher sets his sights

Having a message need not spoil the medium

“Hail, thou ever-blessed morn! Hail, redemption’s happy dawn!” (From a hymn by Edward Caswall, 1858) The release in recent months of a spate of faith-based

Three words for love

“Silver and gold I have none; but such as I have give I thee.” (Acts, 3:6) The German poet, novelist, and playwright Johann Wolfgang von

Hearing that still, small voice

“But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the

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