Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 235
July 13, 2015
Exorcising America
A group of Roman Catholic clerics in Mexico recently conducted an exorcism designed to cast the demons out of the whole country. Now there are calls for an exorcism to cast the demons out of America. Do you consider this (1) a good idea (2) something that couldn’t hurt (3) papist superstition (4) questionable theology? [Read More...]
Making online ‘trolling’ illegal?
New Zealand has passed a law that would punish “harmful digital communication”–harassing, bullying, or indecent internet postings–by up to two years in prison, plus a $50,000 (NZ) fine. It’s being described as a law against trolling. It passed parliament by a margin of 116 to 5. From New Zealand makes internet ‘trolling’ illegal – Telegraph: [Read More...]
Puerto Rico and the minimum wage
Liberals think that a good way to help the poor is to just raise the minimum wage. Conservatives counter that this would have the perverse incentive of causing employers to hire fewer workers, thus increasing joblessness and poverty. Who is right? According to Charles Lane, Puerto Rico’s financial woes that we blogged about began when [Read More...]
July 10, 2015
“debt” = “guilt”
I’ve read two articles on Germany’s hard line against bailing out Greece that blame in part the German language. Says Michael Birnbaum, “This tough stance comes from a rules-oriented nation where even the language is conspiring against Greece’s struggles: Germans use the same word for “debt” and for “guilt.” (Harold Meyerson makes the same point.) [Read More...]
Should we have the right to be forgotten?
As we blogged about last year, the highest court of the European Union ruled that Google must implement “the right to be forgotten,” requiring the search engine to strike out embarrassing about individuals upon their request. There is now a movement to bring that right to the United States. Read about it after the jump. [Read More...]
Biphobia against bisexuals
Another sexual minority is coming out of the closet: bisexuals–those with attractions both to the opposite sex and to their own–a group often condemned by gay activists, who deny there is such a thing. And yet bisexuals reportedly constitute 40% of the LGBT community. After the jump, an account of an effort to form “more [Read More...]
July 9, 2015
The “free exercise” of religion
Justice Kennedy, in his opinion establishing gay marriage, did affirm the right of religious people to disagree with same sex unions. But the dissenting justices warned that this ruling could cause conflicts with religious liberty. The Constitution protects not just religious beliefs privately held, they observe, but the “free exercise” of religion. That is, what [Read More...]
Gay marriage among the ancients
I’ve been hearing from gay marriage defenders that same-sex marriages are not an unprecedented cultural innovation but that they can be found in other cultures. Even the Romans had them. Well, it’s true that emperors Nero and Elagabalus had wedding ceremonies with their same-sex lovers, as did others, but, if you read the accounts in [Read More...]
Crashing technology
Yesterday, the New York Stock Exchange was shut down for four hours because of a systems crash. A little earlier, computers went down at United Airlines, grounding flights nationwide. Also, the Wall Street Journal website went down. Tech people say the day of disruptions in business, finance, and media was not caused by hackers or [Read More...]
July 8, 2015
The black church
E. J. Dionne writes about how the black church shows facets of Christianity that are often overlooked. From E. J. Dionne, Jr., Liberated by grace – The Washington Post: For those who see religion as primarily an opiate, African American Christianity offers a riposte. For those who see Christianity itself as a faith that encourages [Read More...]
