Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 396

Depression among Christians

Christians struggle with depression–including the bleakest, blackest clinical depression–like everyone else.  On Emily Scrivener’s blog A New  Name–Emily has written about her own struggle with anorexia–a guest writer, Glen, posts about evangelicals’ bouts with depression.  He writes about what helps and what hinders in the evangelical tradition. Just because he cites as problems things Lutherans [Read More...]

The Salvation of Unborn Children

What is the eternal destiny of children who die in the womb or who are aborted?  Some have said that their original sin merits eternal condemnation.  Most such a horrible conclusion hasn’t rung true for most Christians.  Roman Catholics have posited the existence of “Limbo,” a place of natural–though not supernatural–happiness for the unbaptized.  The [Read More...]

Pastor Strawberry

Remember Darryl Strawberry, the baseball superstar whose life came apart because of alcohol and drugs?  Well, he turned to Christianity, which really did put his life back together, and now he is a pastor, with a special outreach to alcohol and drug addicts. And for all of you pastors who daydream about a more glamorous [Read More...]

The NSA and the end of the “world wide” web

According to British journalist John Naughton, the consequences of the NSA surveillance scheme, as revealed by Edward Snowden, go far beyond questions of terrorism, espionage, or individual privacy.  They impact the nature and governance of the internet and spell the end of the “world-wide” part of the “world-wide web.” From John Naughton in the (London) [Read More...]

LCMS convention post mortem

The convention of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is over.  There were no big controversies.  Virtually all of the resolutions passed, overwhelmingly, and those that didn’t were defeated overwhelmingly.  No challenges to Lutheran orthodoxy even came up.  The delegates were pretty much all on the same conservative page.  After the jump, Lutheran journalist Mollie Hemingway [Read More...]

How the Democrats used FaceBook

The Washington Post is publishing excerpts from its reporter Dan Balz’s book on the last presidential election: Collision 2012: Obama vs. Romney and the Future of Elections in America.  Monday’s installment was about how the Democrats’ sophisticated use of technology to target their message and get out the vote.  After the jump, an account of [Read More...]

Al-Qaeda works on its image

Al-Qaeda has an image problem.  So to improve its PR in its campaign to take over Syria, the terrorist organization has started holding church-social type events, including picnics for families, tug-of-war games, and ice cream eating contests.  Al-Qaeda is circulating videos of these family-friendly activities, replacing the old videos of public executions. From Loveday Morris, [Read More...]

The Pope refuses to judge gay people

Pope Francis, responding to reporters’ questions, said, “Who am I to judge gay people?”  Though what he said about homosexuality and gay priests is being hailed as a revolutionary change, he really didn’t alter church teaching.  He just spun it differently.  After the jump, an account of what he said and some reflections. From BBC [Read More...]

What happened to Detroit

Detroit has filed for bankruptcy.  Charles Krauthammer explains why, going on to show why the “reactionary liberalism” that keeps adding entitlements without being able to pay for them cannot work for long, whether for a city or for a country. From Charles Krauthammer: Stein’s Law – The Washington Post: If there’s an iron rule in [Read More...]

Split decision on contraception mandate

Two different federal appeals courts have issued opposite rulings on whether Obamacare can force company owners to violate their religious beliefs by providing contraception and Morning After Pills to their employees.  One court has ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby’s lawsuit, but another has ruled against Conestoga Wood Specialities, which is owned by Mennonites.  Such [Read More...]