Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 322
June 23, 2014
The woman condemned to die for her faith is released!
A Sudanese court has released Meriam Ibrahim, who had been sentenced to die for refusing to renounce her Christian faith! (HT: Paul McCain) From Sudan to release woman on death row for apostasy (AP) – Yahoo News: A Sudanese woman on death row for apostasy had her sentence canceled and was ordered released by [Read More...]
Theological flowers
Calvinists sum up their theology, as well as their Dutch connections, with the acronym TULIP. That stands for Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints. Southern Baptists are currently in the midst of a controversy between their Calvinist members and their more Arminian brethren. So to compete with the [Read More...]
Obamacare numbers
A Kaiser study has found that 57% of the 8 million who have signed up for Obamacare were previously uninsured. Supporters of the Affordable Care Act are hyping that number, since other studies found that only 26% to one-third of the enrollees had been uninsured. But let’s accept the higher figure and then do the [Read More...]
The phone as a device to avoid talking to people
Alexandra Petri discusses the decline in people checking their voicemails, the demise of landlines, and how texting is replacing live conversations. Read the whole essay. A sample: A phone is not for making calls. Phones are actually devices that you use to avoid talking to people, and anyone who thinks otherwise is surely older than [Read More...]
June 20, 2014
The Faith & Work movement
The doctrine of vocation, in its different versions, seems to have come back to Christendom. In fact, people are now speaking of a Faith and Work movement! Recently, a whole channel on the topic was started here at Patheos. You should check out the blogs on that channel that are devoted exclusively to this topic, [Read More...]
Presbyterians (USA) vote to allow gay marriages
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to revise its Book of Order to redefine marriage as being between “two persons” rather than between a man and a woman, thereby fully sanctioning gay marriages and gay weddings. The revision must be approved by a majority of presbyteries, but congregations in states that have [Read More...]
Obama’s order to hit religious charities?
President Obama has signed an executive order forbidding anyone with a federal contract from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The effect may be to cut off faith-based charities and institutions from participating in government projects or receiving federal funds. After the jump, what this may mean from a Catholic point [Read More...]
June 19, 2014
Behind the laws banning religious conversions
The militant Hindu political party won big in India’s recent elections. Now the party’s vice chairman is calling for a law in Nepal to ban religious conversions. Hindus would just not be allowed, by law, to become Christians. This is already the case in Muslim countries. The thought of banning thoughts and inner convictions seems [Read More...]
Is Hillary Clinton inevitable?
Hillary Clinton has almost been anointed by the media as the next president, and she certainly looks that way in the polls right now. I suspect that the Democratic nomination is hers if she wants it, which she surely will. But I think Mrs. Clinton will not wear well when the general public is exposed [Read More...]
A post-mortem of Obama’s foreign policy
British journalist Charles Moore has written a devastating critique of President Obama’s foreign policy. Read it all, but sample the excerpts after the break. From Charles Moore, Iraq: Barack Obama’s self-regarding goodness is bad news for the rest of us – Telegraph. The new American foreign stance was to be chilly towards friends and nicer [Read More...]
