Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 169

“Pleasant to the sight”

In our Bible class, we were studying stewardship.  I know, not the most exciting of topics, but this one was really interesting, beginning with the Creation and making the point that God is the true owner of all things, which, He, however, gives to us to manage.  We looked at Genesis 2:9 and were asked [Read More...]

Cruz’s successful campaign for delegates

Not all states have either primaries or caucuses.  Colorado, North Dakota, and Wyoming–as well as the territories of Guam and American Samoa–simply have local and state party Republican conventions to choose their delegates, who then can vote for whomever they want to.   That was the way it used to be, when parties chose their [Read More...]

Finding out how the IRS investigates churches

Two years ago, the atheist group the Freedom from Religion Foundation sued the IRS in order to make it enforce the law that would take away a church’s tax exemption if it got involved in politics.  The IRS settled, to the atheists’ satisfaction, by drawing up rules and procedures that it would follow in investigating churches. [Read More...]

“Is God Dead?” 50 years–and 439 years–later

This month 50 years ago, in 1966, Time Magazine featured its cover-story entitled “Is God Dead?” The article was about the “Christian atheists,” such as Thomas J. J. Altizer, of the theology faculty at Emory, who argued that the traditional deity is no longer relevant to the modern age and that we need to find [Read More...]

The Panama Papers, Vladimir Putin, and the Clintons

The Panama Papers are the records of a law firm that specializes in setting up secret bank accounts, offering tax havens and money-laundering services to the rich, famous, and corrupt.  Investigators are still combing through those recently-leaked documents. But one thing that has come out is a connection between the Vladimir Putin-controlled Russian bank whose subsidiaries in [Read More...]

The artistic freedom of musicians and bakers

Liberal musicians have long objected to their work being used by conservative politicians.  And, as the link shows, they usually get their way.  After all, artists should have the freedom not to have their creative work employed in a cause they do not believe in. So why don’t the culinary artists who make wedding cakes [Read More...]

The Resurrection as the Christian word for defiance

Remember that it’s still Easter! The pastor of an inner city London church in a rough, drug-ridden neighborhood tells how the Resurrection of Christ enables us to “push back against the darkness.” From Giles Fraser, The resurrection isn’t an argument. It’s the Christian word for defiance | Giles Fraser: Loose canon | Opinion | The Guardian: The resurrection [Read More...]

Merle Haggard, poet of the common man, dies

Merle Haggard died, aged 79, on his birthday, still touring.  With his musicianship, his melodies, his multiple styles, his utterly expressive voice, and his eloquent, authentic songwriting, Haggard–to my mind–was the greatest country music artist since Hank Williams.  (I know, Johnny Cash has to be in there somewhere.  But “the Hag” arguably surpasses him on musical [Read More...]

The Democrats’ youth problem

This presidential election features a major rift in the Republican party, as conservatives are threatened by the Donald Trump insurgency.  But Democrats have a rift of their own:  the under-30 cohort of the party is repudiating old-school, establishment liberalism in favor of the Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.  This does not bode well, says Chris Deaton, for [Read More...]

The varieties of irrationalism

In September 2006, Pope Benedict XVI gave a speech at the University of Regensburg, which earned him much criticism for dissing Islam.  But what the speech was about was the importance of a proper use of reason to Christianity and the West, something missing in Islam. Samuel Gregg writes about the address and the issue [Read More...]