Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 246
May 29, 2015
Laura Ingalls Wilder rediscovered
Some weeks ago, I blogged about the publication of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir, entitled Pioneer Girl. This was the manuscript she wrote about her life on the frontier that she could not get published, whereupon she switched gears to write a slightly fictionalized version in a series of books for children. These became the nine [Read More...]
May 28, 2015
You Might Be a Lutheran If…
The invaluable Anthony Sacramone has put together a mashup of theological culture and Jeff Foxworthy, resulting in a list of 20 descriptors entitled “You Might be a Lutheran if. . . .” My favorite: “You think the pope is the antichrist but still a Christian.” After the jump, the first part of the list and [Read More...]
The new artificial intelligence paragon
The tech world is getting excited about “Nara,” a new search algorithm built on the analogy of how neurons connect with each other. It will be an even more sophisticated way of selling us stuff. But it also is being hailed as an “artificial brain,” a robot taking us even closer to a machine becoming [Read More...]
The Democrats’ bench problem
The Democrats have a few pretenders, but no real options to the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton. This is a symptom, according to Josh Kraushaar, of a more serious structural problem for the party. Democrats have done so poorly in state and local elections that they are lacking good candidates for the higher offices. They [Read More...]
May 27, 2015
How Christianity humanized children
One of the many cultural influences of Christianity, observes Eric Metaxas, discussing a book on the subject, was the practice of treating children as human beings of great value. That was not how children were treated in the ancient pre-Christian world. Notice too that now that the Christian cultural consensus is unravelling, we have already [Read More...]
Luther’s notes to “Freedom of a Christian” discovered
A first edition of Luther’s classic treatise “The Freedom of a Christian,” dated 1520, has been discovered in a library in France. It contains annotations in red ink in Luther’s hand, indicating the changes he wanted to make in future editions. As far as I can tell, those annotations have not yet been published, but [Read More...]
Whatever happened to Vacation Bible Schools?
It’s getting to be Vacation Bible School season. In 1997, 81% of churches offered them. In 2012, that number dropped to 68%, largely due, reportedly, to the difficulty of finding enough volunteers. VBS still seems pretty popular, particularly since unchurched people often like to have a place to send their children during the day since [Read More...]
Court strikes down Obama’s amnesty decrees
A federal appeals court struck down President Obama’s use of executive orders to implement his amnesty program for illegal immigrants. From Appeals Court Denies Bid to Let Obama Immigration Plan Proceed – NYTimes.com: A federal appeals court on Tuesday denied the Obama administration’s request to lift a hold on the president’s executive actions on immigration, [Read More...]
May 26, 2015
New baptisms for the transgendered?
At a baptism, the baptized person is given a name. That’s not all that happens, but that’s what a lot of people associate with the rite. So in the Church of England, some transgendered individuals have asked to be re-baptized, so as to have the Church affirm their new name and new identity. So far, [Read More...]
Bikers declare war against police
A motorcycle gang involved with the Waco shootout, at which 9 bikers were killed and 179 arrested, is calling for members to retaliate against police officers and their families (!). Prediction: Law and order is going to come back as a political issue, as riots, attacks against police officers, and other breakdowns in social order [Read More...]
