Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 160
May 19, 2016
Now that we are so connected, government surveillance is easy
Whether you think whistleblower Edward Snowden is a traitor or a hero, he makes some good points about just how EASY government surveillance is now in the age of the smartphone. From Edward Snowden, Whistleblowing Is Not Just Leaking — It’s an Act of Political Resistance Traditionally, in the context of military affairs, we’ve always understood that lethal force [Read More...]
May 18, 2016
Top 5 religion and politics stories so far
The Religious News Service, not being able to wait for the New Year, issued a list of the top 5 religious and politics stories so far. It is very telling. I post the topics after the jump. Go to the link for details about each one. Can you add some more? I’ll add one. From [Read More...]
Voting for Hillary under the Hamilton Rule
Some Never Trump conservatives are saying they will vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Not that they like Clinton. They are invoking what they call the “Hamilton Rule” from the founder who, in opposing fellow Federalist John Adams, said, “If we must have an enemy at the head of government, let it be one whom we can [Read More...]
Untranslatable words
Adam was given the power to name things; that is, he, as well as human beings after him, could devise a word to signify some reality. Thus we have language. Learning a new word can make us aware of truths and feelings that we otherwise might have missed. Some languages have words for things that others [Read More...]
May 17, 2016
A Lutheran exorcist
Harold Ristau is a pastor in the Lutheran Church of Canada (with which the LCMS is in fellowship). And he is an exorcist, with extensive experience in casting out demons. He has written a book on the subject, with an introduction by John Kleinig, the great Australian writer on Lutheran spirituality. I’ve sampled Rev. Ristau’s book [Read More...]
Similarities & differences between libertarians and conservatives
In the course of an essay on the history and negative consequences of progressivism, Bradley J. Birzer discusses its two main opponents, conservatism and libertarianism. He gives both what they agree on and what they disagree on. See what he says after the jump. Is libertarianism really a major opponent of progressivism, or is it rather, [Read More...]
Supreme Court may have a solution for Obamacare mandate
The Supreme Court unanimously agreed to send the lawsuit from religious organizations objecting to the Obamacare contraceptive requirement back to a lower court. Apparently, the justices think they have found a solution that would prevent the religious groups from feeling “complicit in sin” by notifying the government about their objections, so as to force their insurance [Read More...]
May 16, 2016
The Holy Spirit
Sunday was Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, commemorating the day that the Holy Spirit was given to the Church. The Holy Spirit may be the most mysterious person of the Trinity–the revealer rather than the revealed; not the Savior, but the one who brings us to the Savior; not the prime object of faith, but the creator [Read More...]
The transgender mandates
President Obama has commanded all public schools to open their bathrooms and locker rooms to either sex in cases of children who are “transgendered.” Children are generally too young for sex-change operations, so what we are dealing with is the extremely small number of children with “gender dysphoria,” confusion about what gender they are. Not long ago, [Read More...]
And now, euthanasia for obsessive cleaning
The Netherlands has extended its legalized euthanasia program to include people with mental and emotional problems. Victims of sexual abuse are now being euthanized, as is at least one woman with a obsessive compulsion to clean. From Dutch euthanasia extends to woman being killed by doctors for cleaning obsession | Daily Mail Online: She is a [Read More...]
