Mark M. Goldblatt
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Mark Meyer Goldblatt (born June 8, 1957) is an American
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
,
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...
,
theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and educator. He attended Queens College of the City University of New York from 1974-1979, where he earned a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in English. After brief stints as a
proofreader Proofreading is the reading of a galley proof or an electronic copy of a publication to find and correct reproduction errors of text or art. Proofreading is the final step in the editorial cycle before publication. Professional Traditiona ...
and copyeditor, he enrolled in the
CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the C ...
in 1983 and was awarded a
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
in English literature in 1990, writing his dissertation on the theological underpinning of the
Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Goldblatt is perhaps best known as a
political commentator A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...
. He published his first opinion piece on the op-ed page of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' in 1989. Since then, he has written hundreds of columns and book reviews for periodicals and online journals such as '' Newsday'', ''
The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'', ''
The New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in t ...
'', ''
Commentary Magazine ''Commentary'' is a monthly American magazine on religion, Judaism, and politics, as well as social and cultural issues. Founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945 under Elliot E. Cohen, editor from 1945 to 1959, ''Commentary'' magazine dev ...
'', ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'', ''
Reason Magazine ''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 50,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the ''Chicago Tribune''. History ''Reaso ...
'', ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'', ''
the American Spectator ''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor- ...
'', the Claremont Review of Books, '' the Common Review'' and Intellectual Conservative. Since 1989, Goldblatt has taught at
Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...
of the State University of New York.


Political writing

Though often classified as a
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
or even a neocon, Goldblatt has on occasion veered from right of center positions. He has been a steadfast supporter of the war against totalitarian Islam and a fierce critic of hip hop culture. In an article published on October 17, in 2005, Goldblatt attributed African American poverty to "their frican Americangroins", a statement which attracted criticism from hip-hop scholarship. Goldblatt is, additionally, a critic of postmodernism and
multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
, but has also argued in favor of legalizing gay marriage and upholding the Roe v. Wade decision. He has written sympathetically about
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
. ''Bumper Sticker Liberalism'', a book of political commentary, was published by HarperCollins in 2012.


Novels

Goldblatt’s first novel, ''Africa Speaks'', was published by Permanent Press in 2002. It a satire of black urban culture told in the voice of a young black man named Africa Ali. In her blurb for ''Africa Speaks'', far-right columnist
Michelle Malkin Michelle Malkin (; Maglalang; born October 20, 1970) is an American conservative political commentator. She was a Fox News contributor and in May 2020 joined Newsmax TV. Malkin has written seven books and founded the conservative websites Tw ...
stated, "With an uncanny knack for the hip-hop idiom, stiletto-sharp satire, unusual sensitivity, and unparalleled courage in tackling racial taboos, Mark Goldblatt has created a masterpiece. ''Africa Speaks'' sings." Conservative critic
John Podhoretz John Mordecai Podhoretz (; born April 18, 1961) is an American writer. He is the editor of ''Commentary'' magazine, a columnist for the ''New York Post'', the author of several books on politics, and a former speechwriter for Presidents Ronald ...
declared that Goldblatt was "one of America’s most uncompromising literary iconoclasts." His second novel, ''Sloth'', a comedic take on the through-the-looking-glass world of postmodern thought, was published by Greenpoint Press in 2010. Two more novels followed in 2013: ''The Unrequited'', a literary mystery published by Five Star/Cengage, and '' Twerp'', a middle grade novel published by
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
. ''Finding the Worm'', a sequel to ''Twerp'', was published by
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
in 2015.


Theology

In a pair of essays for the British journal ''
Philosophy Now ''Philosophy Now'' is a bimonthly philosophy magazine sold from news-stands and book stores in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada; it is also available on digital devices, and online. It aims to appeal to the wider public, ...
'', Goldblatt addressed the subject of rational language and the existence of
God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
. In "Did the World Have a Beginning?" he argues that the temporal world cannot always have existed. An actual infinity is impossible, he reasons, because infinity is a potential value that cannot be reached. A line, for example, may be extended infinitely—that is, without a limit—but at no point will the actual measure of the line become infinite. Likewise, time itself, whether measured by minutes or millennia, cannot comprise an actual infinity. Therefore, the temporal world cannot have existed forever. In a follow up article, "Talking About God", Goldblatt teases out the ramifications of his conclusion about the impossibility of an actual infinity with respect to the concept of an infinite God. Since we know that the temporal world cannot have existed forever, it therefore must have come into existence "in the beginning". It cannot have come into existence without an efficient cause (since that would violate the law of causality, one of the basic
laws of thought The laws of thought are fundamental axiomatic rules upon which rational discourse itself is often considered to be based. The formulation and clarification of such rules have a long tradition in the history of philosophy and logic. Generally th ...
). That
First Cause The unmoved mover ( grc, ὃ οὐ κινούμενον κινεῖ, ho ou kinoúmenon kineî, that which moves without being moved) or prime mover ( la, primum movens) is a concept advanced by Aristotle as a primary cause (or first uncaused cau ...
, Goldblatt states, following the
Cosmological Argument A cosmological argument, in natural theology, is an argument which claims that the existence of God can be inferred from facts concerning causation, explanation, change, motion, contingency, dependency, or finitude with respect to the universe ...
of
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
, is what all men call God. But this realization leads to a paradox. On the one hand, it would seem God cannot be infinite either since an actual infinity is impossible. On the other hand, God cannot have come into existence since that would require a cause prior to the First Cause and lead to an infinite regress of causes . . . which, in turn, would comprise an actual infinity (which cannot be). Therefore, we must suppose an infinite God as the First Cause of the world—even though an actual infinity violates the laws of thought. But whatever violates the laws of thought cannot be subject to rational language; it cannot be said to exist any more than a sentient stone (i.e. a sentient non-sentient being) can be said to exist. (At the moment a stone becomes sentient, in other words, it ceases to be a stone.) Goldblatt concludes that two theological statements, which seem irreconcilable, are nevertheless necessarily true: 1) God created the world; 2) God does not exist.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldblatt, Mark M. Living people 1957 births People from Queens, New York Graduate Center, CUNY alumni Queens College, City University of New York alumni American political commentators Fashion Institute of Technology faculty