Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 261
March 18, 2015
Super-Christians & vows against vocation
In the second in Mission Work’s series on a Lutheran perspective on faith & work, Rev. Adam Roe offers a post entitled No super-Christians. He discusses Luther’s reaction against the view that those who want to be particularly spiritual–”super-Christians”–would become monks, nuns, or priests. These were considered callings from God–”vocations”–while lay occupations were not. I [Read More...]
Male abortions & the end of “women’s issues”?
Feminism and gender politics in general may be coming apart, since gender identity is being parsed into ever-smaller mutually offended units. To so much as speak of “women’s issues” is now considered in some of these circles to be oppressive to transexuals, an act of “cissexism,” defined as “transphobia.” To the point that some pro-abortion [Read More...]
The actual war against Christianity
As Christians are preoccupied with the thought that the culture is carrying on a war against them, an actual war is being waged in the Middle East that exterminating whole populations of Christians. And yet, not the American government nor even American churches are doing or even saying much about it. An article in Foreign [Read More...]
March 17, 2015
The true meaning of St. Patrick’s Day
The true meaning of St. Patrick’s Day, which is today, is not to honor Ireland but to honor missionaries. But we can honor Ireland too, which–thanks to St. Patrick and the church he brought to that island–saved civilization. To celebrate the day, don’t just wear green. Read this meditation by St. Patrick, which has been [Read More...]
It’s the family, stupid
Before Robert Putnam there was Patrick Moynihan, the social scientist and later Democratic Senator from New York, who pointed to the dire social and economic consequences when children are not raised by intact families. His research to this effect came out 50 years ago. He was studying African-Americans, who back in 1960 had a birthrate [Read More...]
The Cranach NCAA pool
There is probably a way to set up an online pool for your NCAA basketball tournament predictions, complete with interactive brackets and monetary awards, but that goes beyond the scope of our Patheos software. So let’s just keep it simple: Give your projections for the Final Four, the top two, and the national champion. BONUS: [Read More...]
March 16, 2015
Not secularism but pluralism
Several decades ago, sociologists were writing about how modernization was accompanied by the rise of secularism. Today, so-called “secularization theory” has been abandoned, including by its former advocates such as Peter Berger. I came across a trenchant quote from him that defines the new issues. From Eboo Patel in the Chronicle of Higher Education: The [Read More...]
The Twelve Principles of Conservatism (from 1960)
I blogged about the death of M. Stanton Evans, one of whose accomplishments was to draft “The Sharon Statement” articulating 12 principles that would serve as rallying points for the conservative movement in the 1960s. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute has published them in an attractive graphic, which I reproduce after the jump. Read it and [Read More...]
Slow TV
Americans are taking advantage of streaming and on-demand-video to indulge in “binge TV,” watching a series’ entire season in a few sittings. Norwegians, though, are watching television in a completely different way. They are watching real-time renditions of train rides and ocean voyages. Or twelve hours of knitting. They are calling it “slow TV,” and [Read More...]
March 14, 2015
Happy Super Pi Day: 3.14.15
Today is “Pi Day,” the 14th day of the 3rd month (3.14). Not only that, it is “Super Pi Day,” with the rest of the date giving the next two numbers: 3.14.15. Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Though circles are everywhere, their numeric ratios can never be [Read More...]
