In 1967, Anthony Burgess, author of “A Clockwork Orange,” described the pain of being an apostate: “It is with no indifferent eye that I view the flood of worshippers pouring into the Catholic church...I want to be one of them, but wanting is not enough.” Continue Reading »
Readers of First Thoughts will know by now that Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Silence by Shūsaku Endō was released in select theaters on December 23. The novel warrants the attention it is getting. Set in the 1640s at the end of Japan's “Christian Century” (1549-1639), Silence is a haunting journey through one priest’s struggles to remain faithful in the most challenging of circumstances. Continue Reading »
Beautifully filmed and acted, Silence is as powerful as it is ambitious. Continue Reading »
Shūsaku Endō’s Silence is now widely regarded as a modern classic. The initial reaction of Japanese Catholics, however, was largely hostile. Continue Reading »
Silence questions whether Christianity can take root in the swamp of Japan—echoing medieval tales of bringing the Gospel to hostile territory. Continue Reading »
Atheism and religious indifference are growing in the United States. In Faith No More, recently reissued in paperback, Pitzer College sociologist Phil Zuckerman cites Pew surveys showing that “20% of Americans now claim ‘none’ as their religion.” Harris polls register an uptick of atheism, from 4 percent in 2003 to 10 percent in 2008, with another 9 percent identifying themselves as agnostics.
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