Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 429

Today’s the day to duck

This is the day (Friday) that the asteroid we blogged about earlier will be passing the earth closer than the orbit of many of our satellites.  The rock, the size of half a football field travelling 8 times the speed of a rifle bullet, will be visible from Europe, much of Asia, and Australia, but [...]

Chaucer & St. Valentine’s Day

You must read Rev. Joseph Abrahamson’s post on the origins and history of St. Valentine’s Day.  It’s part of his series that we’ve often linked to on Christian holidays that are mistakenly claimed to have pagan origins.  He shows that St. Valentine’s Day is not based on Roman festivals but on a day commemorating the [...]

Should we make divorce harder to get?

Here is a Valentine’s Day topic, sort of:  The Family Policy Institute of Washington cites a bi-partisan effort in socially-liberal Washington State to extend the waiting period to get a divorce from 90 days to a year: A bill aimed at lowering divorce rates by extending waiting periods for divorce was introduced in the Washington [...]

At the still point of the turning world

From Ash Wednesday by T. S. Eliot If the lost word is lost, if the spent word is spent If the unheard, unspoken Word is unspoken, unheard; Still is the unspoken word, the Word unheard, The Word without a word, the Word within The world and for the world; And the light shone in darkness [...]

Lent and Ash Wednesday are NOT pagan relics

Pastor Joseph Abrahamson dismantles  the myth that Lent and its practices have pagan origins.  An excerpt from his longer post on the subject: The ancient Church chose to keep a fast during the forty days before Passover/Easter to focus on repentance and the gift of the Resurrection at Easter. St. Athanasius, who led at the [...]

LCMS president apologizes for the Newtown controversy

Rev. Matt Harrison leads the way for Lent by repenting for what he now describes as mishandling the controversy over the pastor who participated in an interfaith gathering in Newtown, Connecticut.  Read the whole letter, but here is an excerpt: As president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, I take responsibility for this debacle. I handled [...]

Discuss the State of the Union Address here

I missed it!  I had a class.  How was it?  What was said?  What new programs do we have to look forward to? Here is a copy of the text.

What to read for Lent?

One of the ways I observe Lent (which starts tomorrow) is to read.  I know, that’s like a fish saying that he is making plans to swim.  I read quite a bit anyway, but for my specifically Lenten reading I look for something that is challenging yet devotional.   What would you suggest?  (I’ll give you [...]

The State of the Union

Tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET, President of Obama will give his State of the Union address.  He is expected to propose policies and legislative measures to flesh out the ideology set forth in his Inaugural address.  What proposals do you think he will put forward?  (I usually watch these things, but I have a class [...]

Debt as a new form of currency

I knew it would only be a matter of time before the newly-ascendant left applied some postmodern linguistic constructivism to make our problems go away.  From Zachary Karabell in the Washington Post: Debt is simply a new form of currency that is issued, bought, priced and sold like any other currency,and the fear that it [...]