Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 435
January 22, 2013
Your God shall rejoice over you
Our church celebrated Sanctity of Life Sunday. After making a no-holds- barred attack on the pro-death mentality, our pastor made a turn that we don’t always hear when Christians talk about this topic: And especially on this Sanctity of Life Sunday we recognize how powerful is the mute idol of death. Which is so sadly [...]
Having a Neanderthal baby
A Harvard geneticist is seeking a woman to be the surrogate mother of a Neanderthal baby. From the London Daily Mail: They’re usually thought of as a brutish, primitive species. So what woman would want to give birth to a Neanderthal baby? Yet this incredible scenario is the plan of one of the world’s leading [...]
Obama’s Second Inaugural Address
A president’s inauguration address can indicate his vision for his next term, rally the country, and make his play for the history books. President Obama’s speech had no soaring JFK moments (“Ask not what your country can do for you. . . .”) and even extracting significant lines to discuss was rather difficult. The speech [...]
Blog developments update
We now have e-mail subscriptions to both posts and follow-up comments! That’s one of your requests that we were able to make happen. We’re still trying to figure out comment numbering. But we’re making progress. I’ve also got the hang of the new format, with the first part of the post appearing on the home [...]
January 21, 2013
Inauguration Day
Today is the second inauguration of Barack Obama, who will be sworn into his second term at 11:30 a.m. ET. (Actually, he took his oath of office on Sunday, in accordance with the date specified in the Constitution, in the White House, but the public ceremony will be on Monday, in commendable respect for the [...]
Relationships with virtual human beings
You have probably heard about Manti Te’o, Notre Dame’s Heisman Trophy candidate, whose dying girlfriend turned out to involve an on-line relationship with a woman who didn’t exist. Now he is being accused of knowingly participating in the hoax to take advantage of the sob-story to give him publicity. Some people are saying this is [...]
Stan the Man
One of the most awe-inspiring baseball players of all time died last Saturday, Stan “the Man” Musial. He was a great, great player for the St. Louis Cardinals with a lifetime batting average of .331. He was also celebrated for his good sportsmanship, his refusal to complain, his good-nature, and. his generosity to fans. [...]
“The content of their character”
Today honors Martin Luther King, Jr., the man who said this: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” That seems clear, doesn’t it? But actually the statement [...]
January 18, 2013
Contemporary poet embraces Christianity
One of the most important publication in the contemporary literary world is Poetry Magazine. Its editor is usually a distinguished poet. Lately, the editor of that periodical, Christian Wiman, stepped down from that position. What is, perhaps, less known is that several years ago Wiman embraced Christianity. He writes about that in a new book [...]
Lance Armstrong in Oprah’s confessional
We Lutherans believe in confession and absolution. That happens in every Divine Service, and, when someone is particularly troubled with a sin, the individual confesses to a pastor, who brings Christ’s forgiveness. This is an evangelical version of what Roman Catholics do (instead of requiring acts of penance, our pastors forgive sins in terms of [...]
