Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 274
January 22, 2015
Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
Today is the March for Life, a day to protest the Roe v. Wade decision, which opened the door to the abortion of untold millions of children. Last Sunday was designated as “Life Sunday.” One of the readings was about the calling of Nathanael (John 1:43-51), whose first words when Philip told him about Jesus [Read More...]
Our dynastic politics
Under monarchies, the throne is kept in the family, with subsidiary power passed on through powerful aristocratic families. Under our democratic republic, a good many of our presidential contenders so far are the scions of political families: Clinton, Bush, Romney, Paul. Columnist Dana Milbank has some interesting things to say about this phenomenon. From Dana [Read More...]
The Patriots cheated!
The NFL has determined that the New England Patriots used under-inflated footballs, which are easier to throw in bad weather, in the victory over Indianapolis that sent them to the Super Bowl. Patriot coach Bill Belichick also cheated against St. Louis in 2007 when he was found to have spied on a practice, affecting another [Read More...]
January 21, 2015
Gospel of Mark fragment from before 90 A.D.?
Researchers studying the paper used in the masks of Egyptian mummies have apparently discovered what may be the oldest manuscript of the New Testament: a fragment from the Gospel of Mark, which most scholars believe is the earliest Gospel, that dates from before 90 A.D. That would be around 60 years after the Crucifixion of [Read More...]
State of the Union
So what did you think of President Obama’s State of the Union address? Notice how the president is bolder just as his proposals have less of a chance passing, thanks to the Republican domination of both houses of Congress. And this higher energy liberalism is sending his popularity ratings back up. But here is my [Read More...]
Two more planets in our Solar System?
Pluto has been demoted from its planet status, though some dispute that. But astronomers have found evidence that there may be two actual planets beyond Pluto. If they are definitively discovered, what should we call them? The names should be classical to fit with the others. I say name one Athena, after the goddess of [Read More...]
January 20, 2015
Responding to satire with satire
Anthony Sacramone, no mean satirist himself, shows how a religion that is being attacked by satire should respond: with satire. And he gives the example of one of the great apologists of the Early Church: Tertullian. From Anthony Sacramone, How a Religion Should Respond to Public Ridicule | Intercollegiate Review: He was a North African [Read More...]
Letting kids walk home as child neglect
A 10-year old-boy and his 6-year-old sister were walking home from a park in an affluent Maryland suburb. The police stopped them and are now investigating their parents for child neglect. The parents are said to be part of the “free-range” parenting movement. But I walked seven blocks to and from school from the time [Read More...]
Tonight’s State of the Union address
Tonight, President Obama will give the annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress beginning at 9:00 p.m. EST. The previews suggest that the president will put forward a number of liberal fantasies–raise taxes, offer free community college–that have absolutely no chance of passing in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and [Read More...]
January 19, 2015
A narrowed religious liberty vs. erotic liberty
Religious liberty, Al Mohler observes, is being restricted to private, unexpressed inner feelings and to what happens within the walls of a church. Whereas traditionally, religions liberty extended to convictions that apply to external behavior and views about society. But today religious views about how a person lives his or her life in the world [Read More...]
