Suicide bombers

The God Delusion written by Richard Dawkins を読んでいます。
Suicide bombers do what they do because they really believe what they were taught in their religious schools: that duty to God exceeds all other priorities, and that martyrdom in his service will be rewarded in the gardens of Paradise. And they were taught that lesson not necessarily by extremist fanatics but by decent, gentle, mainstream religious instructors, who lined them up in their madrasas, sitting in rows, rhythmically nodding their innocent little heads up and down while they learned every word of the holy book like demented parrots. Faith can be very very dangerous, and deliberately to implant it into the vulnerable mind of an innocent child is a grievous wrong. It is to childhood itself, and the violation of childhood by religion, that we turn in the next chapter.
最近ではイスラム教の過激的な信者による自爆テロのニュースがよく報道されますが、日本も第2次世界大戦では現在耳にする自爆テロの元祖とも言える神風特攻隊が軍によって作られ、Wikipediaによると全期間を通じて約四千四百人もの特攻戦死者数を出したそうです。嘘か本当か分かりませんが、多くの若者が天皇陛下万歳と言って自爆したとの話も聞いています。当時は天皇陛下は神としてあがめられていました。現在は普通の人間となったのかと言うと、それは違います。天皇は「日本国の象徴であり日本国民統合の象徴であって、この地位は、主権の存する日本国民の総意に基く。」と憲法に定められています。もちろん今や天皇は神ではありませんが、天皇が普通の日本国民と色々な面で違うのは言うまでもありません。日本人は憲法上でも皆平等、自由ではないのは天皇の存在でも明らかです。これが問題にもならないのが不思議でなりません。

stewed

Reader's Digest三月号の記事 'THE DRIVE OF HIS LIFE, a cabbie, his kidknapper, and the unlikely conncection that redeemed them' からの引用です。
Ma was terrified. But Nayeri did not grab the gun and shoot the cabdriver. He did not haul the old man outside and, in the shadows of the motel, slit his throat. Nayeri simply retreated to a corner. For another night, the four watched one another and, as they went to bed, stewed in the frustration that filled the room.
"stewed" は4/9/2009にとりあげた "Don't stew" の "stew" と同じ意味ですね。　又、10/21/2015に慣用句の " stew in one's own juice" を取り上げています。
"stew" の意味を辞書で再確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: informal [no object] Worry about something, especially on one's own.: I packed and did laundry and stewed and fussed and worried until 1 a.m. but I think we're back on track.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to be angry or worried: You're not still stewing about what happened yesterday, are you?

pica

Reader's Digest 2月号の記事 'Is This Normal or Nuts?' からの引用です。
The disire to eat nonfood items, including sand, coffee grounds, matches, and mothballs, is called pica, which webmd.com defines as "the persistent eating of substances...that have no nutritional value." It's most common in children and pregnant women. The cause is not clear, but "some of it is the body looking for nutrients," perhaps triggered by a metabolic disorder, says psychiatrist Dr. Reiss.
"pica" の意味は文中に説明があるので分かりますが、こんな単語があるのですね。一応辞書の説明も見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A tendency or craving to eat substances other than normal food (such as clay, plaster, or ashes), occurring during childhood or pregnancy, or as a symptom of disease.: Rarely, a person with iron-deficiency anemia may experience pica, a craving to eat nonfood items such as paint chips, chalk, or dirt.
・Wiktionary: (medicine) A disorder characterized by craving and appetite for non-edible substances, such as ice, clay, chalk, dirt, or sand.
Etymology: From Latin pīca ‎(“magpie, jay”‎) (from the idea that magpies will eat almost anything).

tine

Reader's Digest 2月号の記事 'Clever Substitutes For Everyday Kitchen Gadgets' からの引用です。
You Need: A Whisk
Sub In: Two Forks
A whisk introduces air as you're blending ingredients.

You can do this with a fork, too; it will just take longer for your mixture to get fluffy. Even better, place two forks so their tines interwine, tape their handles together, and whisk away. The space between the forks helps add air.
Tip: Don't use this makeshift whisk on nonstick pans; the forks can damage the lining.
文脈からするとここでは "tines" の意味はフォークの歯に違いありませんが、辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A prong or sharp point, such as that on a fork or antler.: Using a small fork, press down onto the balls to leave the indent of the fork tines.

・Wiktionary:

1.A spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb
2.A small branch, especially on an antler or horn

writ small

The God Delusion written by Richard Dawkins を読んでいます。
In India at the time of partition, more than a million people were massacred in religious riots between Hindus and Muslims (and fifteen million displaced from their homes).
...
So India's problem turns out to be the world's problem. What happened in India has happened in God's name. The problem's name is God. I do not deny that humanity's powerful tendencies towards in-group loyalties and out-group hostilities would exist even in the absence of religion. Fans of rival football teams are an example of the phenomenon writ small.
"writ large" はよく目にする表現で以前（10/18/2011）とりあげました。
"writ small" は "writ large" とは逆に小規模の場合を意味していると思いますが、OneLookの検索では "writ small" の項目で引っ掛かるのは次の辞書だけでした。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: on a smaller scale

An elderly gentleman approaching from the other side.

Reader's Digest 2月号の記事 'Your True Stories' からの引用です。
Three weeks after my total knee replacement, I had my first outpatient visit with the surgeon. When the office visit was over, my wife left ahead of me to get the car. I walked with my cane through the lobby. As I approached the exit and started to press the automatic door button, I noticed an elderly gentleman approaching from the other side. To be courteous, I waited for him to enter first. Only then did I realize I was looking at my own reflection in the door.

ley lines

The God Delusion written by Richard Dawkins を読んでいます。
Despite my dislike of gladiatorial contests, I seem somehow to have acquired a reputation for pugnacity towards religion. Colleagues who agree that there is no God, who agree that we do not need religion to be moral, and agree that we can explain the roots of religion and of morality in non-religious terms, never the less come back at me in gentle puzzlement. Why are you so hostile? What is actually wrong with religion? Does it really do so much harm that we should actively fight against it? Why not live and let live, as one does with Taurus and Scorpio, crystal energy and ley lines? Isn't it all just harmless nonsense? I might retort that such hostility as I or other atheists occasionally voice towards religion is limited to words. I am not going to bomb anybody, behead them, stone them, burn them at the stake, crucify them, or fly planes into their skyscrapers, just because of a theological disagreement.

"live and let live" （Oxford English Dictionary:You should tolerate the opinions and behavior of others so that they will similarly tolerate your own.）の例と思われる "Taurus and Scorpio, crystal energy and ley lines" の個所が分かりません。
Taurus and Scorpioは星座の反対に位置する牡牛座とさそり座の人の男女の相性の事で、意外とうまくいくらしい、"crystal energy" は水晶やダイヤモンドを指しているようだが、"ley lines" は見当がつかない。辞書で分かるかどうか調べてみるとありました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A supposed straight line connecting three or more prehistoric or ancient sites, sometimes regarded as the line of a former track and associated by some with lines of energy and other paranormal phenomena.: The myths include the idea that Oxford Road is built on a ley line and so is believed by some to be an energy centre.
・The American Heritage Dictionary: One of various supposed alignments of ancient monuments and prehistoric sites in straight lines, believed by some to indicate paths of positive energy inherent in the Earth.

Origin of ley line: From ley (coined by Alfred Watkins (1855-1935), British antiquarian who suggested that ancient monuments and sites are arranged along a network of straight lines.)
Wikipediaには更に詳しい説明があり、その一部を引用します。
Ley lines are apparent alignments of land forms, places of ancient religious significance or culture, often including man-made structures. They are ancient, straight 'paths' or routes in the landscape which are believed to have spiritual significance.

morning joe

Reader's Digest 2月号の記事 '10 Ways to Make Your Vitamins Work Better' からの引用です。
Caffeine in your morning joe may interfere with the absorption of vitamins and minerals and may also leach calcium from your bones.
"morning joe" は何でしょう？　とりあえず先を読みます。
Minimize these risks by consuming no more than three cups a day, getting enough calcium plus vitamin D, and waiting about 15 minutes after your coffee to take your vitamins.
コーヒーの事ですね。辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Coffee: Athletes can now find synergy in their morning cup of joe.
・Collins Dictionary: coffee: a cup of joe
Wiktionaryに４つの語源説がありましたが、私は次の説がもっともらしいと思いました。
Alternatively, perhaps a use of joe ‎(“fellow, guy”‎), signifying that coffee was the drink of the common man.

out of the blue

Reader's Digest 2月号の記事 'Laughter the Best Medicine' からの引用です。
I JUST GOT DIAGNOSED as color-blind! I didn't expect that--it came straight out of the purple!
"out of the purple" は "out of the blue" の意味と同じだと直ぐに分かりましたが、何故これが落ちなのと一瞬ためらいました。読み直してこの人は 'color-blind' と気が付きました。

I am a Pollyanna

Richard DawkinsのThe God Delusionを読んでいます。
Do we really need policing - whether by God or by each other - in order to stop us from behaving in a selfish and criminal manner?
この事を試す様な事件がモントリオールで発生しました。
Our competing predictions were put to the test at 8:00 A.M. on October 17, 1969, when the Montreal police went on strike.
...
Perhaps I, too, am a Pollyanna to believe that people would remain good when unobserved and unpoliced by God. On the other hand, the majority of the population of Montreal presumably believed in God. Why didn't the fear of God restrain them when earthly policemen were temporarily removed from the scene? Wasn't the Montreal strike a pretty good natural experiment to test the hypothesis that belief in God makes us good? Or did the cynic H. L. Mencken get it right when he tardy observed: 'People say we need religion when what they really mean is we need police.'
Obviously, not everybody in Montreal behaved badly as soon as the police were off the scene. It would be interesting to know whether there was any statistical tendency, however slight, for religious believers to loot and destroy less than unbelievers.
"Pollyanna" は大文字で始まっているので人名からきた言葉だと思いますが、辞書で意味を調べます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: An excessively cheerful or optimistic person.: what I am saying makes me sound like some aging Pollyanna who just wants to pretend that all is sweetness and light
・Collins Dictionary: an excessively or persistently optimistic person: I'm trying not to be too much of a Pollyanna about it all in case something goes horribly wrong and the tumor comes back.
非常に楽観的な人なのですね。"Pollyanna" の由来は何でしょう？
・Online Etymology Dictionary: "one who finds cause for gladness in the most difficult situations," 1921, a reference to Pollyanna Whittier, child heroine of U.S. novelist Eleanor Hodgman Porter's "Pollyanna" (1913) and "Pollyanna Grows Up" (1915), who was noted for keeping her chin up during disasters.