Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 148
July 11, 2016
The NRA and Philando Castile’s 2nd Amendment rights
Is the NRA doing enough in support of Philando Castile, who was killed by a Minnesota police officer at a traffic stop after explaining that he had a concealed carry permit for a firearm, then reaching for his ID? From The NRA’s internal revolt over Philando Castile – The Washington Post: After a white Minnesota police [Read More...]
USA is now the Saudi Arabia of oil
The United States is now the number 1 country in the amount of oil reserves, according to a new study, passing Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Canada. From Adam Wilmoth, United States moves to No. 1 in oil reserves | News OK: he United States has become the global leader in recoverable oil reserves as improved [Read More...]
July 8, 2016
Five police killed, seven wounded, at “Black Lives Matter” rally
Snipers killed five police officers, wounded seven more, plus two civilians in Dallas last night. It happened at a “Black Lives Matter” march, protesting police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. Three suspects are in custody. One shooter was killed by a robot bomb. Details after the jump. From Snipers kill five police [Read More...]
No exemptions for church services “open to the public”?
The Iowa Civl Rights Act forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Churches have an exemption for “a bona fide religious purpose.” But the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has ruled that if a church service “is open to the public,” it is a “public accommodation” that may not discriminate. This would mean [Read More...]
Donald Trump and Nietzsche
In a discussion of Donald Trump’s theology, Christian conservative Peter Wehner observes that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s worldview–with its emphasis on power, strength, and winning and its constant putdowns of the weak, the unattractive, and “losers”–is that of the anti-Christian philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. From Peter Wehner, The Theology of Donald Trump – The New York [Read More...]
“Preacher”
The figure of the wanderer dominates the popular imagination, as evident in the heroes of our popular TV shows and movies. So observes Alissa Wilkinson at RogerEbert.com, who says the wanderer reflects the spiritual condition of our time. As an example, she points to the TV series “Preacher,” based on a comic book about a [Read More...]
July 7, 2016
Orthodox council ends
The last Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church was 1,200 years ago, and this one has been in the works for 70 years. Despite boycotts by several church bodies, including the largest, the Russian Orthodox Church, the council met and finished its work. As for what it accomplished, it doesn’t seem like much, falling [Read More...]
Christian dating sites must arrange same-sex matches
A California judge is requiring a company that operates Christian dating sites to provide its services to same-sex couples. Affected are ChristianMingle.com, CatholicMingle.com, AdventistSinglesConnection.com, and BlackSingles.com. From Christian Mingle Must Now Allow Same-Sex Matches Following Discrimination Lawsuit: Dating site ChristianMingle.com will soon allow users to search for same-sex matches, courtesy of a “judge-approved settlement of [Read More...]
Still waiting for Godot
Some former students are putting on Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett’s absurdist comedy, and asked me to write a post for the troupe’s blog that would help people understand what the heck is going on. So I offered some worldview analysis of Beckett’s absurdist existentialism and threw in some literary analysis, as is my wont. [Read More...]
July 6, 2016
Did Donald Trump “accept Christ”?
Many evangelicals believe that a person becomes a Christian by making a “decision for Christ,” an act of the will, usually involving saying some version of “the sinner’s prayer,” in which the person “accepts Christ.” We Lutherans certainly believe in conversion, though not construing that as an act of the will, as such, but rather [Read More...]
