Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 254
April 20, 2015
Universities recruiting girls to have late-term abortions
The University of Hawaii and the University of Washington-Seattle are recruiting girls as young as 14 to have second-trimester abortions, as part of a research study on those kill-and-dismember procedures. From University Recruits Teens to Abort Babies for Research – Christian News Headlines: Researchers in Hawaii are looking for girls to participate in second trimester [Read More...]
April 17, 2015
Our established religion
Yuval Levin says that the religious liberty issues raised by the response to the Indiana Religious Freedom law involves not just the First Amendment’s right to the “free exercise” of religion, but maybe even more so to the clause forbidding the “establishment” of religion. What we have today being imposed is a single, authoritative religious [Read More...]
Totalitarianism reconsidered
Some intellectuals are arguing that democracy cannot effectively address climate change–and, indeed, makes it worse–and that what we need to save the planet is to eliminate political freedom and to turn towards a totalitarian government. Others don’t go quite that far, but they hold up as the role model for effective government the People’s Republic [Read More...]
When children played
Did you know there was a time when children on their own played games, sang songs, collected things, and had fun outside? The Intercollegiate Review has posted an excerpt from the estimable Anthony Esolen’s book on child-raising (and how not to do it), Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child. From Anthony Esolen, [Read More...]
April 16, 2015
Evangelicals who believe in Purgatory
It has long struck me how many evangelicals–including some of the most anti-Catholic–actually hold to a Roman Catholic soteriology, though without the sacraments, putting a big emphasis on the role of the will, good works, and moral perfection in salvation. Now some evangelicals are advocating belief in Purgatory. Scott McKnight reviews a book that makes [Read More...]
Authoritarian envy?
The dictator of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, died recently, to nearly universal praise in the West for the way he built his country into an economic powerhouse. Columnist Richard Cohen thinks that we have “authoritarian envy” because “too much democracy” keeps government from being able to do what it needs to do. Mr. Cohen, a [Read More...]
Language as “Darwin’s problem”
Noam Chomsky is not a conservative Christian but is rather a leftwing radical. But in his day job, he is a pioneering linguist, having shown how all languages depend on “deep structures”–complex grammatical processes that are built into the human mind–that all languages have in common and that children can master almost without effort. He [Read More...]
April 15, 2015
Why Marco Rubio goes to two churches
A piece on the religious beliefs of presidential candidate Marco Rubio says that he attends both a Baptist church with his family and also attends mass at the Roman Catholic church of his childhood. This is because he appreciates gospel preaching and also “craves” Holy Communion. He says, “I wondered why there couldn’t be a [Read More...]
Readiness for 1st grade then and now
In a column on the cops busting the parents for letting their 10 and 6 year olds walk home from the park by themselves, columnist Petula Dvorak has a felicitous sentence: “Our rapid march toward police-state parenting has got to end.” But then she compares the checklists to see if your child is ready for [Read More...]
Death of a funny guy
Humorist Stan Freberg died last week at the age of 88. He pioneered the satire of pop culture, as well as the use of music, radio, television, and recordings to do so. He is also considered the father of funny advertising. He was the son and grandson of Baptist ministers. After the jump, excerpts from [Read More...]
