"I haven't become less pro-Israel. But I've become much more pessimistic about its prospects."

"Why is it always only two sides and a third way? Why can’t their be 13 sides and a 14th way? Or just 36 sides and no ways? Or only 5 ways and no sides?"

"The Satanic Temple has provided a pre-written letter that people can present to their doctors in an attempt to be exempted from mandatory counseling."

"Um, my husband passed away—he committed suicide. He committed suicide in front of his family. I already have one son with him, and I just feel very alone. I don't have the means—the financial means—to raise another child."

"I don’t think it occurs to the people in charge of elite colleges that the concept of leadership ought to have a higher meaning, or, really, any meaning."

"'I don't know how they'd censor me,' she said of Wheaton, 'but they'd find a way.'"

"If you’re already alive—chubby, dressed in patterned leggings and Velcro sneakers and a headband with knit fruits adorning it—they are trying to forget about you. Just for the weekend."

"We aren't afraid. We know that man on the corner. He works at the store and gives us free Lemonheads."

"There are very few statements I’ve made that felt as gut-twisting as this one... It’s better to have an 'ex-gay' spokesperson say something as outrageous as this; it’s more believable."

"Being loved on feels very different than being simply loved."

"It's hard to get your head around the rapid turn of events that has taken Wisconsin out of the lead for a 21st-century transportation system and plunged us into the Dark Ages. Let's get caught up."

"Heck, yes! Search is the new learn."

"There it was, a little potted history of humanity: first birth, then exile, and before you know it somebody's gone and shanked a priest."

"I wish I could say our El Paraíso experience was a fluke, but honestly, it’s just one in a string of totally unacceptable situations I’ve created lately."

"Did you just wake me up to tell me to stay in bed?"

Steve Thorngate

The Century managing editor is also a church musician and songwriter.

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