Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 287

Be thankful for rivers

Why has America, among all the world’s nations, always been so prosperous?  Lots of reasons.  But, according to a new book, it begins with our rivers. From Fareed Zakaria,  America’s prospects are promising indeed – The Washington Post: Peter Zeihan’s “The Accidental Superpower” begins with geography, pointing out that the United States is the world’s [Read More...]

Why Ben Franklin preferred the Turkey to the Eagle

“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perch’d on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches [Read More...]

Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

Thanksgiving Proclamation Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789 By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation. Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to [Read More...]

Call to prayer from the Continental Congress

Very often, in the early days of our nation, Congress would call for a day of “fasting, humiliation, and prayer.”  (Google the phrase and compare the resolutions from the Continental Congress through Lincoln.)  This was the kind of resolution that led to the holiday of Thanksgiving.  (I’ll post Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation tomorrow.) After the jump, [Read More...]

Postmodern riots

Back in August, a police officer shot a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.  According to media accounts, the teenager was unarmed and shot from a distance, suggesting an egregious case of police brutality.  That’s what it seemed like even to conservatives like Rand Paul and to this blog.  But the testimony of two eyewitnesses, the [Read More...]

No sex as an “orientation”

Some people don’t have sexual desires.  The Bible describes that as a gift of God (Matthew 19:11-12; 1 Corinthians 7).  Today it’s being called a”sexual orientation,”  an identity.  There is now an “asexual community,” whose members call themselves “Aces.” From Ellen McCarthy, Asexuals seek to raise awareness of the ‘invisible orientation’ – The Washington Post: [Read More...]

Evangelicals take part in Vatican marriage conference

Evangelicals, Pentecostalists, and even Mormons took part in a recent Vatican conference on marriage, which was hosted by Pope Francis.  Southern Baptist social ministries spokesman Russell Moore was an invited speaker.  So was megachurch pastor Rick Warren, who was said to have turned the Roman Catholic meeting into a “revivalist meeting.”  (Does anyone know if [Read More...]

Supreme Court takes up Facebook threats

Does this message from an estranged husband to his wife after she filed a restraining order against him sound like a threat to you? “Fold up your PFA [protection-from-abuse order] and put it in your pocket.  Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?” Does it matter that it was posted on his Facebook page?  [Read More...]

Jim Webb for president?

Former Virginia senator Jim Webb has formed an exploratory committee for a run for the Democratic presidential nomination.  Webb, a much-decorated Marine in Vietnam, was President Reagan’s Secretary of the Navy.  He later turned Democrat, but he has been very much a maverick.  A die-hard supporter of Veterans and the Military, he is also a [Read More...]

The effect of the liberal arts in Hong Kong

Progressive education, which tries to reduce everything to a narrow academic specialty, thinks “liberal arts” means “humanities.”  But in reality, the classical liberal arts refers to a whole approach to education– one that is broad rather than narrow, connected rather than fragmented, open to the past rather than favoring whatever is new, etc., etc. It’s [Read More...]