Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 310

Are freedom and democracy obsolete?

The Prime Minister of Hungary has said what many people around the world have been thinking:  That freedom and democracy are obsolete.  With today’s complex economic and social problems, the democratic process is always checking and balancing itself, making it just too slow and polarizing, as evidenced by the political paralysis in the United States.  [Read More...]

“Greater love hath no man than this. . . .”

Another example of sacrificing yourself for your neighbor: When Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Harris and Petty Officer 1st Class James Reyher descended to the murky depths of a pond at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., last year, virtually everything went wrong. Their equipment didn’t work right, the communication with sailors on the surface wasn’t [Read More...]

Our muted response to ISIS

If you are worried that the U.S. is reigniting the war in Iraq, don’t be.  Despite the atrocities being committed by ISIS/The Islamic State, our airstrikes are designed simply to protect Americans in threatened cities and to protect those Yazidis besieged on that mountain (that siege is reportedly over, as the Yazidis have now escaped).  [Read More...]

Church vs. “spiritual-but-not-religous”

Jeff Hual brings back from a few years ago a piece by Lillian Daniel, in which she expresses her utter boredom with people who claim to be “spiritual but not religious.”  She begins by recalling conversations with people on an airplane who go on and on about finding God on the beach and in sunsets [Read More...]

Lyle Lovett’s favorite place

The Texas Monthly ran a feature entitled “13 Famous Texans’ Favorite Places.”  When it was Lyle Lovett’s turn, he said that his favorite place was St. Paul Lutheran Church in Serbin, Texas. From Lyle Lovett | Texas Monthly: I have so many favorite places, but I’m picking St. Paul Lutheran Church, in Serbin, because besides [Read More...]

Robin Williams’ suicide

Robin Williams was beloved, wealthy, and acclaimed, always laughing and making others laugh.  And yet he took his own life.   I don’t mean to moralize or philosophize over such a sad ending with reflections about what we think to be important might not be important at all, but suicides raise the big questions about life.  [Read More...]

Sinead O’Connor’s “Take Me to Church”

Sinead O’Connor is a singer perhaps best known for ripping up the pope’s picture on Saturday Night Live, but her latest song shows a realization of what church is for.  It’s called “Take Me to Church.”  Here is the refrain: Oh, take me to church I’ve done so many bad things it hurts Yeah, take [Read More...]

The island that time forgot

Back when I was in graduate school, I took a course on American English.  We studied the history and characteristics of the various American dialects, including that of Tangier Island.  This little island in the middle of Chesapeake Bay was settled by English folks from the Cornwall district back in the 1600s.  They and their [Read More...]

Hillary Clinton breaks with Obama

Hillary Clinton played the role of a loyal soldier when she was Secretary of State, but now that she is not working for the administration and now that she is gearing up for a presidential run, she is harshly criticizing President Obama’s foreign policy, promising to be more forceful, proactive, and hawkish.  I wonder how [Read More...]

The political roots of atheism

Atheists are always invoking science, but notice how often their arguments and rhetoric use political language.  God allegedly “oppresses” human beings, taking away their “freedom.”  They say that God is “immoral,” that, in the words of John Lennon, if we imagine no religion, “the world would live as one.” In fact, as Nick Spencer shows [Read More...]