Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 29
March 23, 2018
Islam & Intersectionality
According to the leftist tenets of intersectionality, the interlocking dynamics of power and privilege mean that members of one oppressed identity group should act as “allies” of other oppressed identity groups. Thus, women should support gays, who should support racial minorities, who should support the transgendered, and so on. But Muslims are also considered an […]
March 22, 2018
Marriage, Living Together, Divorce Statistics–by Denomination
The Pew Research Center has released a study of marital status in U.S. religious groups. It gives the percentage of those married, living with a partner, divorced or separated, widowed, and never been married, broken down by denomination or religious affiliation. The results are interesting, disturbing, and surprising. But also deeply misleading. Among all American adults, […]
Judge Rules Against Trump’s Argument for Presidential Immunity
President Trump has been fending off lawsuits from three women accusing him of mistreating them on the grounds that the President of the United States is immune from civil litigation in state courts. His argument is based on the Supremacy Clause of the U. S. Constitution, which has been construed to grant “intergovernmental immunity.” But […]
March 21, 2018
“Only Let Me Get to Jesus Christ!”
In his sermon last Sunday, here in Australia, Pastor Pfeiffer quoted some fascinating words from St. Ignatius of Antioch, which he wrote just before being thrown to the lions in Rome. Ignatius was one of those very early second-generation Christians that we blogged about who confessed the deity of Christ (disproving the liberal contention that […]
The Supreme Court Arguments in Pro-Life Clinic Case
In the Supreme Court case we blogged about regarding the California law forcing pro-life clinics to promote abortion, the arguments and the justices’ reactions seemed to go in favor of the clinics. My former Patrick Henry College colleague Mike Farris conducted the oral arguments for the pro-life side, and some interesting issues emerged. Here is […]
March 20, 2018
Secularism or Liberal Religion?
Having spent time lately in the “happiest” countries that are also allegedly among the least religious, I have pointed out that they are not nearly so “secularist” as they are usually portrayed. (Do a search on my blog for my posts on Christianity in Finland, Denmark, Scandinavia, and Australia.) Now Christian Smith’s sociology of religion, […]
Supremes Hear Case on Forcing Pro-Life Clinics to Promote Abortion
Today the Supreme Court will hear the case regarding California’s law that forces pro-life clinics, among other restrictions, to provide their clients information about how to receive free or low-cost abortions. The arguments in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) vs. Becerra have to do with a California law passed in 2015 that requires pro-life […]
March 19, 2018
Religion Is For Those in Need
The 10 happiest countries one earth are among the least religious; conversely, the 10 least happy countries are among the most religious. Such information would seem to discredit religion, but it shouldn’t at all. Christian Smith’s theory of religion helps us to see why. As we blogged about, Smith in his book Religion: What It Is, Why […]
Melding Politics, Social Media, & Psychological Warfare
Cambridge Analytica is a British data firm that harvested information about 50,000,000 users on Facebook. It then “weaponized” that information by applying military techniques of psychological warfare to identify, motivate, and manipulate voters on behalf of the Trump campaign. And, yes, the Russians were involved. Does this new information coming out implicate Donald Trump? No, […]
March 16, 2018
What Is Religion, Anyway?
Christian Smith is the Notre Dame sociologist who identified the religion of America’s youth as Moralistic Therapeutic Deismand who exposed the bias in the field of sociology. Now he attempts to put the field of the sociology of religion on a more rigorous basis in his new book Religion: What It Is, Why It Works, and […]
