I can't sympathize with the mob that toppled the statue of the Confederate soldier in Durham, North Carolina on August 14, in what is arguably a well photographed conspiracy to commit vandalism.  Sure, some people who want to keep the statue actually mourn the Confederacy's destruction and exude a lot of baseless hatred and bigotry toward their fellow citizens.  But such vestiges of the Confederacy should be preserved so that good people can learn from history. In August 2015, ISIS destroyed the Temple of Baalshamin (Ba'al, for short) in Palmyra, Syria.  From ISIS's perspective, the temple was a pagan symbol of hate and an affront to Islam.  The temple dates back over 2,000 years, dedicated to the Canaanite god Ba'al. If anything, it would have been more fitting if the Jews, not ISIS, decided the Temple of Ba'al's fate.  Well before the advent of Islam, Canaanites were archenemies of the Hebrews.  But if the Temple of...(Read Full Post)