Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 412

The collapse of entitlement?

Robert J. Samuelson sees a shift underway in Americans’ expectations: We are passing through something more than a period of disappointing economic growth and increasing political polarization. What’s happening is more powerful: the collapse of “entitlement.” By this, I do not mean primarily cuts in specific government benefits, most prominently Social Security, but the demise [...]

The history of coffee

Here is something we can thank the Islamic world for:  coffee.  BBC gives an interesting account of the history of that beverage and how it came to the West: Although a beverage made from the wild coffee plant seems to have been first drunk by a legendary shepherd on the Ethiopian plateau, the earliest cultivation [...]

Obama: “God bless” Planned Parenthood

Rev. Michael Schuermann calls out the president for confusing his office and for taking God’s name in vain: President Obama spoke to Planned Parenthood this morning (Friday, April 26th). He said all sorts of things. Yet what was most galling, at least in my mind, is how he ended his speech. Here’s what he said: [...]

Protestant schools and volunteerism

Interesting findings reported in Christianity Today, including a nice shout-out to Lutheran schools (the largest network of church schools next to that of the Catholics): Religious Americans participate in charitable or volunteer organizations twice as much as do secular Americans. So says existing research. But a new study suggests that it’s not people’s religion that [...]

Tolkien’s Imagination

Arman J. Partamian has written a fascinating piece entitled “J.R.R. Tolkien and the Catholic Imagination.”  My question:  What is distinctly “Catholic” about what he describes?  Could a Lutheran or an Anglican or Orthodox or other kinds of Christians (at least sacramental Christians) have this kind of imagination as well?  From the post (but read it [...]

An opera about Katie Luther

Remember Lori Lewis, who used to be a frequent commenter on this blog?  She is a musician who used to be involved with the contemporary Christian music scene, discovered confessional Lutheranism, and became a critic of that genre.  Now she’s a professional opera singer (as well as the mind behind the online lifestyle and arts [...]

Leaks in the federal budget

Feds spend at least $890,000 on fees for empty accounts – The Washington Post.  (Every time the federal government sets up a grant, it opens an account.  When the grant money is spent, the account can’t be closed, according to government rules, until a full accounting of the program has been made.  That takes time [...]

Can Christianity survive gay marriage?

Rod Dreher, a Christian writer of the Orthodox persuasion,  has written a provocative article for the American Conservative that is getting a lot of attention entitled Sex after Christianity.   He raises the question of whether Christianity can even survive once its assumptions about sexual morality are jettisoned.  The short answer is, of course Christianity will [...]

Lutherans, Calvinists, & Evangelicals on vocation

Tim Keller, the well-respected pastor of Redeemer Prebyterian Church in New York, City, has written a book about vocation entitled Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work.  I haven’t read it yet, though I’m ordering it, but from what I’ve heard and read on the preview at Amazon (click the link), it looks [...]

How to interrogate a terrorist

Interesting piece from the BBC about how the FBI conducts interrogations of terrorist suspects.  And it doesn’t involve torture.By Tara McKelvey: The best interrogation tool is a can of Coke on a table. ME “Spike” Bowman, a former deputy general counsel for the FBI, says offering a suspect something he wants – whether a can [...]