Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 101
January 26, 2017
A world without property, privacy, freedom, or problems
Danish politician Ida Auken has written a provocative essay entitled Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better. She envisions a time when property is replaced by services, when technology provides for our every need, individual privacy gives way to the needs of the group, and government takes complete care [Read More...]
Trump’s immigration edicts
President Trump has issued executive orders that provide for the building of a wall on the U.S./Mexico border; will cut off federal aid from “sanctuary cities”; and that will beef up border control enforcement. He has also prepared an executive order that will temporarily halt the admittance of immigrants from countries with a history of [Read More...]
January 25, 2017
The problem with crowds
In a column in which he explains why he didn’t go to the Inauguration, Jonah Goldberg says that it wasn’t because he is a conservative never-Trumper. He says that also doesn’t like to go to sporting events or arena concerts. He just doesn’t like crowds. But from there he raises some bigger points: Crowds can become [Read More...]
Fake News
Both sides of our political divide are accusing the other of spreading “fake news.” Rev. Tim Pauls, writing for LCMS News & Information, says that of course making up facts and believing whatever we want to is going to be a problem in a culture that rejects objective truth. He gives some striking examples and [Read More...]
China pushing Communism to replace failing Democracy
China says Western democracy has reached its limits and has started to deteriorate (alluding to Donald Trump’s victory without saying so). Global Communism will take its place, with China supplying new universal values. When I have referred to “still-Communist China,” some readers have said, in effect, are you kidding? China has become capitalist, what with [Read More...]
January 24, 2017
German government vs. Christian converts
The German government is mistreating ex-Muslim immigrants who have converted to Christianity, according to Rev. Gottfried Martens (a Lutheran pastor in fellowship with the LCMS) who has evangelized and baptized over a thousand of them). He says hearing boards on their immigration applications are testing their Christianity by asking them questions such as “what are the names [Read More...]
What Trump has done so far
Our new president has been busy. On his first weekday in office, he issued three Executive Orders: (1) Non-governmental agencies receiving federal money will no longer be allowed to perform or recommend abortions in their work overseas. (2) The U.S. has now pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the vast and complicated free trade pact [Read More...]
When Jesse Jackson was pro-life and why he changed
In a tribute to the recently-deceased Nat Hentoff, Carl Trueman describes an encounter on a train between the pro-life leftist and Jesse Jackson. From Carl R. Trueman, Strangers on a Train | Carl R. Trueman | First Things: There is one passage in Speaking Freely (177-78) that offers disturbing insights into modern political culture. Hentoff quotes [Read More...]
January 23, 2017
Mathematical proof of God’s existence?
The great mathematician and logician Kurt Gödel, who died in 1978, left behind a series of equations that purport to prove the existence of God. As I understand it (and I don’t understand the math!), the equations test the validity of St. Anselm’s ontological argument for God’s existence, which defines God as the greatest being [Read More...]
Many gods were invoked at the Inauguration service
The traditional Inauguration Service at the National Cathedral was an interfaith service featuring Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Baha’is, Native American religion, Jews, and Christians–including Catholics, Orthodox, mainline Protestants, and evangelicals–who aren’t bothered by syncretism. After the jump, a list of the participants, with a link to a story about the event. UPDATE: For a description of the [Read More...]
