Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 307

Militarized bureaucracies

We blogged about whether police are too militarized.  But, as Mark Hemingway shows, in what his wife Mollie calls the new administrative state, our federal bureaucracies–including those that have nothing to do with law enforcement–are also militarized.  He shows that the Department of Health & Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education, [Read More...]

Better places to send your “ice bucket challenge” money

Fighting ALS (“Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) is a worthy cause, worth dumping an ice bucket over your head.  The main beneficiary of the “Ice Bucket Challenge” is the ALS Association.  The problem with that group, though, is that they use a stem cell line from an aborted child.  There are, however, other ALS research organizations that [Read More...]

Christianity’s relationship of opposition

The Orthodox Rod Dreher, who quoted Bonhoeffer in an essay on Christians separating themselves from the world, quotes another Lutheran, Søren Kierkegaard.  In his Attack upon “Christendom”, his devastating critique of the Danish state church and “cultural Christianity,” Kierkegaard argues that inherent to the faith is “a relationship of opposition” to the world.  He also [Read More...]

The administrative state

Mollie Hemingway at the Federalist just rips to shreds the Obamacare contraceptive mandate.  In the course of doing so, she points to an overarching problem:  The establishment of the administrative state, in which Constitutional government is replaced by administrative agencies, which have the power to make laws, enforce them, and judge and punish those who [Read More...]

Reading on Kindle vs. reading on paper

The London Guardian reports on a study of reading on a Kindle as compared to reading a traditional book.   Readers of the paper version performed significantly better when it came to reconstructing the chronological order of incidents in the plot.  The story cites another study that found 10th graders had significantly higher comprehension rates when [Read More...]

Cheap Grace

We often hear references to Bonhoeffer’s term “cheap grace.”  In an essay defending Christians who are trying to separate themselves from the world–which I recommend that you read–Rod Dreher usefully quotes the entire passage and its context from The Cost of Discipleship dealing with “cheap grace.” Read the passage after the jump, and then help [Read More...]

“The most dangerous position we’ve ever been in”?

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee says that ISIS/Islamic State is developing a plan to “blow up” a major American city.  “We’re in the most dangerous position we’ve ever been in as a nation,” he said.  In the meantime, ISIS has sent a threatening  tweet with a picture of the White House next [Read More...]

Why corporations move

We blogged about “inversions,” when a corporation moves its official headquarters to another country.  George Will offers an explanation from the corporation’s point of view, going on to criticize liberals for waxing indignant over the consequences of policies they themselves promoted. From George Will,  In a stew over inversions – The Washington Post: Obama, who [Read More...]

Liturgical evangelicals

Many Lutherans have pretty much abandoned the historic liturgy to embrace evangelical worship styles.  And yet now, many evangelicals are embracing the historic liturgy.  In fact, liturgy may be the latest thing in “contemporary” worship.  If you don’t believe that, read the article from Christianity Today that I link to after the jump. The article [Read More...]

The revised contraceptive mandate

In response to the Supreme Court decision that the Obamacare contraception mandate can violate the religious liberty of pro-life business owners, the administration has issued new regulations that would allow employees to get free birth control–including those that prevent the implantation of the fertilized egg–without violating the religious convictions of employers. See the details after [Read More...]