Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 11
July 30, 2018
What Does It Mean to be “Conservative”?
Sir Roger Scruton is a British philosopher who has written perceptively on a wide range of topics. (See, for example, his short book on beauty.) I heard him speak at Patrick Henry College. In all of the subjects that he has treated, Scruton shows himself to be a conservative. He has a new book that explains […]
July 27, 2018
The One Hour Bible
The Bible is a really good book, most people would agree, but who has time to read all that stuff? So a Christian publisher in the U.K. has come up with The One Hour Bible: From Adam to Apocalypse in Sixty Minutes. This is not a paraphrase, but rather an edition that gives certain key […]
Why Banning Straws Will Not Save the Oceans
The latest cause is banning plastic straws, which are said to pollute the oceans. So restaurants, coffee houses and fast food joints are getting rid of them, sometimes voluntarily and sometimes because they are being forced to by local laws and regulations. Starbucks is phasing them out. San Francisco and Seattle have joined the cities […]
July 26, 2018
Saint G. K. Chesterton?
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was a truly great Christian author. He was a Christian apologist who wrote with humor, energy, and an infectious joy, as well as startlingly illuminating insights. In a style filled with exuberant paradoxes, Chesterton showed that Christianity is no dull, dreary, life-suppressing institution–as it is often portrayed and as it is often […]
Waiting for Babies to Choose Their Gender for Themselves
Some parents refuse to take their children to church so that they can choose their own religious identity when they get older. That misguided approach to a child’s spiritual being is now being carried over to a child’s physical being. Such “gender-neutral” parenting means “gender-neutral” babies. The infant is never called either a “boy” or […]
July 25, 2018
Confession and Absolution
The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has just issued a major study of the doctrine and practice of confession and absolution. The report by the Commission on Theology and Church Relations establishes the Biblical and theological basis for confessing your sins to a pastor and receiving forgiveness from his words of absolution. This may sound strange […]
The Paranoid Style in American Politics
Historian Andrew J. Bacevich warns us against slipping into “the paranoid style in American politics.” He draws on a book with that title published in 1964. The author, Richard Hofstadter, alerts readers to the dangers of “heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy” and worrying about falling under the sway of “a free, active demonic agent” who […]
July 24, 2018
Orwellian Abortion Signs
I’ve been posting about the relevance of George Orwell’s novel 1984 to today and how the pro-abortion movement uses the exact kind of language that he warns against in his essay “Politics and the English Language.” I came across yet another example of an Orwellian exaggeration that has come true. In the novel, the protagonist Winston […]
Playing Politics
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has become a by-word among conservatives for her extreme liberalism. And yet, she is not extremely liberal enough for the California Democratic party, which is refusing to endorse her for re-election, choosing instead to throw its weight behind the even-more-leftist Kevin de León. De León, among other things, wants […]
July 23, 2018
When Poland Was Lutheran
Poland may be the world’s most Catholic country. But at the time of the Reformation, it may have been the most receptive region to Lutheran preaching outside of Germany. Oxford scholar Natalia Nowakowska has written a book on this subject entitled King Sigismund of Poland and Martin Luther: The Reformation before Confessionalization. She summarizes the tale […]
