Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 333
May 8, 2014
Funding weaker opponents
In some creative campaign finance shenanigans, some Democratic candidates have been giving financial and advertising support to Republicans whom they think would be easier to defeat than their primary opponents. This includes funding attack ads casting doubt on whether the frontrunner is conservative enough, all in a ploy to get the more conservative and easier-to-beat [Read More...]
May 7, 2014
The best Cranach posts on Patheos
I’ll soon be going on my second year of this blog being hosted at Patheos, where we’ve built up our audience considerably and been bringing in some income to pay the bills. Patheos is celebrating its 5th year anniversary and, in conjunction with that, is asking its bloggers to send in links to their 5 [Read More...]
Two conservative atheists
Being a Christian is not the same as being a conservative, and being a conservative is not the same as being a Christian. Two prominent conservative columnist, George Will and Charles Krauthammer, have come out as atheists, though of the sort that “respect religion and religious people.” From Jamie Weinstein, George Will: ‘I’m an amiable, [Read More...]
How the Egyptians moved those big stones
No, it wasn’t aliens who moved those massively huge blocks for the Pyramids. An ancient drawing shows builders dragging a monument on a sledge with someone pouring water in front of it. Egyptologists interpreted that as some kind of purification ritual. But scientists have discovered that pouring water on sand reduces the friction so that [Read More...]
May 6, 2014
A pastor, a country music artist, & Honky-Tonk Gospel
Some of you know Rev. Eric Andrae, a Lutheran pastor of note in Pittsburgh. He sent me an e-mail saying, “I have a very good friend who’s a local country musician of some renown,” Slim Forsythe. “we both just read your book Honky-Tonk Gospel, and we will have a radio appearance together next week [that [Read More...]
A different religious liberty angle on gay marriage
The arch-liberal United Church of Christ, which approved of gay marriage back in 2005, is suing North Carolina for infringing its religious liberty by not allowing pastors to perform same-sex weddings. From the Religious News Service: The United Church of Christ sued the state of North Carolina on Monday (April 28) over its constitutional ban [Read More...]
Supreme Court allows Christian prayers in public meetings
The Supreme Court has ruled that public meetings, including those involving local governments, may feature distinctly Christian prayers, including those that are in the name of Jesus. From High court ruling favors prayer at council meeting (Associated Press): A narrowly divided Supreme Court upheld decidedly Christian prayers at the start of local council meetings on [Read More...]
May 5, 2014
Is Jesus just a legend?
Jesus must be either who He said He was–the Son of God–or He must have been a liar or a lunatic. So goes the “trilemma” as developed in the apologetics of C. S. Lewis. But now lots of people are claiming another option, that He was simply a legend. But was he? And how can [Read More...]
Pope calls conclave to re-examine sexual teachings
At this rate, maybe Pope Francis will be the last pope! Contraception, cohabitation, divorce, remarriage and same-sex unions: They’re issues that pain and puzzle Roman Catholics who want to be true to both their church and themselves. Now those issues are about to be put up for debate by their leader, a man who appears [Read More...]
Global poverty is plummeting, but no one believes it
Thirty years ago, 52% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. Now only 21% do. There is lots of other good news about economic progress in the developing world, including declines in child deaths. But 84% of Americans are unaware of this progress, and 67% think that world-wide poverty has increased. So says a [Read More...]
