Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 402

The qualities of gay & lesbian marriages

Sociologist Mark Regnerus discusses what we are learning about homosexual marriages, based on studies of countries that have had those arrangements for some time. It seems lesbian relationships tend to be short, so the divorce rate for lesbian couples is very high, much higher than for heterosexual couples.  Also, the frequency of sexual relationships diminishes [...]

“The least untruthful manner”

James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, had been asked in a Congressional committee if the U.S. government was collecting data on millions of Americans.  He said, no.  But now with news about PRISM and other data mining programs, he is being accused of perjury.  But what I want to draw attention to is his [...]

Luther on Learning

Thanks to Prof. Scott Ashmon of Concordia University Irvine for yet another great quote, this one from Martin Luther: “How dare you not know what can be known?” (Quoted in Robert Benne, “A Lutheran Vision/Version of Christian Humanism” Lutheran Forum 31 (1997): 42.)  [Does anybody know the source in Luther's Works? Or is this one [...]

Over-the-counter morning-after pill for all ages

Recently, the FDA approved the “morning-after pill,” a contraceptive taken after sex, for sale without a prescription to females over 15 years old.  That created a furor from those who wanted it available to girls even younger.  The government has given up the fight, so now the pill will be sold over-the-counter to children. Details [...]

Defending the Surveillance programs

Most of the discussion on this blog about the government’s program to monitor phone calls and the internet has been against it.  But some pundits, politicians, and security experts are defending the surveillance. After the jump, I have excerpts from two journalists who defend the programs.  The conservative Charles Lane argues that, despite Rand Paul’s [...]

A Patriot or a Traitor?

Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former CIA employee who has been working with an intelligence contractor, revealed himself to be the source of reports about the government’s mass monitoring of telephones and the internet. After the jump, read about the cloak-and-dagger details from the perspective of the reporter to whom he leaked the classified information. Do [...]

Beauty and Difficulty

Thanks to Prof. Scott Ashmon of Concordia University Irvine for alerting me to this quotation from Philip Melanchthon: “What is beautiful may be difficult.” (“On Correcting the Studies of Youth” in A Melanchthon Reader, ed. Ralph Keen [New York: Peter Lang, 1988], 54, 56.) Where is this evident?  How might this principle be applied?

A Lutheran Among Calvinist Baptists

In another contribution to the “Why can’t there be Lutheran Baptists” discussion, Christopher Jackson, a Lutheran attending grad school at the Southern Baptists Theological Seminary, a haven for for Calvinist baptists, weighs in.   He says there are indeed Lutheran influences at SBTS, as well as some students converting to Lutheranism.  He then blames his [...]

Catholic evangelism

Roman Catholics have been launching a major world-wide evangelism effort.  It includes “witnessing,” knocking on doors, and sharing what Jesus has done in my life. They are adopting techniques associated with evangelicals.  Do you think Catholics might have some advantages in the competition for the “unchurched”?  Their mystical tradition could appeal to the “spiritual but [...]

Church of England does the best it can on gay marriage

The Church of England has been opposing gay marriage, but votes in Parliament demonstrate that they can’t stop it.  So the state church is dropping its attempts to kill the gay marriage bill and is concentrating instead on improving it; that is, making gay marriage more like regular marriage.  For example, under the current bill, [...]