There are many ways to assess the legacy of the prickly, irascible, brilliant Steve Jobs.

Amber Dermont has written the great American novels--plural.

Ross Douthat has written a learned yet highly readable analysis of the changing role of religion in American history.

Tom Roberts of NCR chronicles the failure to carry out the changes prescribed by Vatican II.

"Places of Faith: A Road Trip Across America's Religious Landscape"

Nefas literally ldquo unspeakable rdquo is a Latin word for evil It is a heavy word weightier than malum the term for a garden-variety moral wrongdoing It is an offense against the sacred a sacrilege in the sense of a ritual violation but even more in the sense of a violation of the divine