Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 133
September 12, 2016
Star Trek & the Gene Roddenberry myth
A classic has been defined as a work of art that still holds up after 50 years. The songs of the Beatles have attained that status. And last Thursday, on September 8, so has Star Trek. To mark the occasion, Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman have written The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral [Read More...]
September 9, 2016
Commemorating or undoing the Reformation?
On Reformation Day, October 31, the Pope will commemorate the Reformation in a common service with Lutherans in Sweden. Michael Root, in The Christian Century, discusses the event, sponsored by the Lutheran World Federation, and gets into the difficulties it and related events scheduled for the 500th Anniversary of the 95 Theses have been posing for [Read More...]
Americans are still reading books
The death of the book has been greatly exaggerated. A Pew study has found that Americans are reading books in large numbers. Nearly three-fourths of Americans have read at least one book in the past year. The average number of books read in that period is 12. E-books are growing in popularity, but they still [Read More...]
Why Tim Tebow is good for baseball
Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow has signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets. Much of the baseball world is skeptical and derisive. But Joel Sherman compares Tebow’s baseball dreams with those of Michael Jordan, who also, after his basketball super-career, tried to make it in baseball. From Joel Sherman, Tim Tebow is baseball’s [Read More...]
September 8, 2016
The internet as god
The internet is everywhere. It knows everything about you. It will solve all of our problems. It will protect us. The singularity will create a new world. When we download our consciousness into the web, we will have eternal life. Doesn’t that sound as if the internet is a god? Werner Herzog’s documentary film Lo and [Read More...]
Voting for a candidate without “supporting” him
Political scientist James Campbell doesn’t like Donald Trump much, but he is still going to vote for him. He argues that there is a difference between “supporting” a candidate and “voting” for him. He says that he does not “support” Trump–rather, he will feel free to criticize him and denounce him–and yet he will still vote [Read More...]
The piety of cosmonauts
Remember when that Russian cosmonaut went up in space and when he came back reported that he didn’t see God? Things are different now for Russian space travelers. From Faith in space: Cosmonauts who vie to affirm their devotion | The Economist: . . .Displays of religous devotion have become a field of competition among cosmonauts, with [Read More...]
September 7, 2016
This incarnate and human God
When we think of God, we often think of Him as a transcendent being, far above and beyond this world. This would be the case whether we were mystics, Deists, or philosophers. Or, we might think of Him as a being who dwells within us. Or as a being who is both transcendent and indwelling. [Read More...]
Be the tax shelter
Ireland has a corporate tax rate of 12.5% The rate in other European states is twice that. The rate in the United States is the highest in the world at 39%. Though their rate is already low, the Irish are willing to cut them still lower in individual arrangements to bring industries to their [Read More...]
98% of pregnant women with Zika have healthy babies
Pro-abortionists are using the threat of birth defects from Zika infections to justify abortions, including late-term abortions. But only 2% of pregnant women with Zika give birth to children with microencephaly. That is, 98% of pregnant women with Zika give birth to healthy babies. From Micaiah Bilger, 98% of Pregnant Women Infected With Zika Give Birth [Read More...]
