Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 296
October 20, 2014
Family synod’s final statement is more conservative
The initial statement from the Roman Catholic synod on the family was hailed for its welcoming language for divorced Catholics and same-sex partners, but the final version emphasized more traditional moral teachings. But votes on the sections show a very divided group of bishops. The deliberations will continue next year with a broader selection of [Read More...]
October 17, 2014
Vatican pushes back against initial report
There are liberal Catholics and there are conservative Catholics. The latter faction at the Synod on the Family is criticizing the revisionist views of sexual morality that appeared in a preliminary working document. (See here and here.) From Twelfth General Congregation: evaluation and suggestions based on the post-discussion report, Official Vatican Network: Firstly, some perplexity [Read More...]
Ebola symptoms & flu symptoms
Ebola starts with a fever and aches and pains, sort of like the flu. Then comes vomiting and diarrhea. Then comes a red rash. If the disease progresses, the whites of your eyes turn red. You start to hemorrhage internally. Then you start bleeding from your eyes, your ears, your mouth, and every other orifice. [Read More...]
Nobel Prize for justifying government regulation?
French economist Jean Tirole won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Economics for showing the inter-relationship between markets and government regulations. According to Matt O’Brien’s explanation, government regulation of company’s “excess profits” is assumed to be a good thing. From Matt O’Brien, Jean Tirole won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics for actually showing us how [Read More...]
October 16, 2014
Houston subpoenas sermons
Annise Parker, the openly gay mayor of Houston, is cracking down on churches that are opposing “HERO,” the latest city ordinance that forbids discrimination against homosexuals. She has issued subpoenas of pastors’ sermons to see if they are preaching against the bill, which could be construed as politicking from the pulpit, which in turn would [Read More...]
Pestilence update
A second nurse in Dallas who took care of Thomas Duncan, who died of the disease, has been diagnosed with Ebola. A further problem is that she was on a flight from Cleveland the day before she was admitted to the hospital, exposing 132 passengers. The Dallas hospital that treated Mr. Duncan now admits that [Read More...]
The Kansas City Royals are in the World Series!
The Kansas City Royals, which taught me to love baseball long ago, have hit the fewest home runs in the major leagues, relying on speed, defense, and pitching. But they swept the mighty Orioles, after also sweeping the mighty Angels. And now they are in the World Series. From World Series bound: For 8 glorious [Read More...]
October 15, 2014
Invitation to the Feast
The New Testament reading for last Sunday was the parable about the king’s invitations to the marriage feast–those who turned them down and those who were brought in off the streets (Matthew 22:1-14). You’ve got to see what our pastor did with this. From Rev. James Douthwaite, St. Athanasius Lutheran Church: Pentecost 18 Sermon: Weddings [Read More...]
Synod says, look for the good in gay & non-marital unions
More from the first working document from the Catholic synod on the family: The Church should “appreciate the positive values” that can be found in gay unions and with couples living together out of wedlock. Traditional marriage, it says, is “ideal,” but the synod is raising the question, “What good can we find” in non-marital [Read More...]
The Nobel Prize winners
After the jump, a complete list of the 2014 Nobel Prize winners. Which do you find especially significant? Fromvia The 2014 Nobel Prizes at a glance – The Washington Post: MEDICINE U.S.-British scientist John O’Keefe split the Nobel Prize in medicine with Norwegian couple May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser for breakthroughs in brain cell research [Read More...]
