Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 328
May 30, 2014
Signals weren’t from Malaysia airliner after all
The mystery surrounding the Malaysian airliner that seemingly disappeared into thin air seemed to have been solved when searchers announced that they had detected pings from the airplane’s black box in the Indian Ocean. But now, after a large-scale search of the area, searchers are saying that the pings weren’t from the aircraft after all. [Read More...]
VA scandal is worse than we thought
An investigation into the VA hospital scandal says it is worse and more pervasive than it first appeared: Delaying medical care to veterans and manipulating records to hide those delays is “systemic throughout” the Department of Veterans Affairs health system, the VA’s Office of Inspector General said in a preliminary report Wednesday. “Our reviews at [Read More...]
May 29, 2014
He ascended into Heaven
Happy Ascension Day! Today we celebrate that Jesus, in the words of the Apostle’s Creed, “ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” It’s interesting how some Christians use this teaching to deny that the Body of Christ can be really present in Holy Communion–after all, His body is [Read More...]
Hollywood, desire, & the Santa Barbara murders
Washington Post critic Ann Hornaday on the Santa Barbara murders: As deranged manifestos go, the final YouTube video made by suspected Isla Vista, Calif., mass murderer Elliot Rodger was remarkably well-made. Filmed by Rodger in his black BMW, with palm trees in the background and his face bathed in magic-hour key light, the six-minute diatribe [Read More...]
New literary biography of George Herbert
There is a new literary biography of the 17th century Christian poet George Herbert. It’s entitled Music at Midnight: The Life and Poetry of George Herbert, by John Drury. The book pays close attention to Herbert’s Christian faith and to close readings of his poetry. That Herbert’s stock is going up is evident in the [Read More...]
May 28, 2014
Tullian Tchividjian expelled for crypto-Lutheranism?
Tullian Tchividjian, the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian and the grandson of Billy Graham, was kicked out of the Gospel Coalition blogging community for what the GC folks are calling a doctrinal issue over sanctification. Others claim other reasons, including Rev. Tchividijian’s criticism of how other GC members handled a sexual abuse scandal. But I [Read More...]
The Veterans Administration scandal
What do you think is the significance of the Veterans Administration scandal, in which VA hospitals took so long to extend care that some 40 veterans died? Also that the hospitals systematically covered up the wait times? Is this an example of administrative incompetence, an overloaded system, the failures of large bureaucracies, or what happens [Read More...]
May 27, 2014
Law and Gospel in a short fairy tale
Will McDavid at Mockingbird quotes “The Ungrateful Son,” an extremely short fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm. Here it is: Once a man and his wife were sitting outside the front door with a roast chicken before them which they were going to eat between them. Then the man saw his old father coming along [Read More...]
Nationalists win big in election
The different countries that constitute the European Union held elections on Sunday for the European parliament. Political parties that oppose the European Union won big, taking over a third of the parliamentary seats. The winners included anti-immigration parties, traditional conservatives, and even neo-Nazi groups. How do you account for this apparent rise of nationalism in [Read More...]
May 26, 2014
Memorial
My father, a member of the occupying army in Europe just after World War II, died about this time last year. My wife’s father, who fought at Iwo Jima, also died last year. There aren’t many World War II veterans left. Let’s remember and thank God for them today, along with our other veterans and [Read More...]
