Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 63
July 21, 2017
Harry Potter as “sacred text”
Those who are spiritual but not religious now have a Bible: the Harry Potter books. A podcast “Harry Potter and the Sacred Text” uses passages from the novels to discuss spiritual issues, much like Christians do with the Bible. The podcast has a big following and the two Harvard Divinity School graduates behind it have [Read More...]
“We’re going to punish the wicked”
Tim Gill, who made his fortune from Quark publishing software, may be the biggest funder of LGBT causes. In an interview with Rolling Stone (revealing for its description of the money behind the movement), Gill promises to take on Christians who resist the LGBT agenda in the name of religious liberty. “We’re going to punish the [Read More...]
From love songs to sex songs
Popular music used to favor love songs. In popular music today, the theme of romantic love has been largely replaced by songs that are just about sex. My fellow Patheos blogger G. Shane Morris has written about this in The Federalist, citing several studies that confirm the change. His discussion, quoted and linked after the jump, includes readings of [Read More...]
July 20, 2017
Liturgy for transgender transitions?
There are liturgies that go with birth, coming of age, getting married, and dying. Now it is being proposed to develop a liturgy to mark gender transitions. The Church of England has voted to affirm transgendered individuals and to study developing a liturgy that would solemnize the decision or medical procedures whereby a man [Read More...]
Why having fewer children won’t save the earth
A study that claims having one fewer child will reduce your carbon footprint by 58 metric tons a year is getting attention. Especially from progressives who already tend to look down on big families. But Lyman Stone shows that the study is fake science based on ludicrously fake mathematics. From Lyman Stone, Why The Latest [Read More...]
The left’s “hamburger problem”
Go to lunch with a progressive and you may well be badgered about how your hamburger contributes to global warming. Also that you are oppressing animals. Also that your unhealthy eating is contributing to the nation’s health care problems. Also that the burger joint isn’t paying its workers enough. Now a Democrat is complaining that his [Read More...]
July 19, 2017
A confessional text on marriage, natural law & human law
Since Lutherans believe that marriage is a civil ordinance rather than a sacrament (though still established by God that speaks to us of Christ and the Church), they have traditionally looked to the state for marriage laws. But now that the state has legalized same-sex marriage, contrary to the Scriptures, this would seem to have [Read More...]
Republicans again fail to repeal & replace Obamacare
Two more Republican Senators announced that they would oppose the latest attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, killing the measure. What about just trying to repeal Obamacare, which has been floated as plan B? Enough Republicans have said that they will oppose that too, so that proposal is dead in the water. Republicans say that [Read More...]
America’s birthrate is going down
America’s birthrate has gone down for the second year in a row. Teenagers and twenty-something are having fewer children, with mothers getting older. This, in turn, means that their childbearing years are fewer. Americans are not having enough children to replace themselves, but they haven’t since 1971. That America’s population continues to increase is due [Read More...]
July 18, 2017
Religious experience & magic mushrooms
Representatives of the world’s major religions–well, not ALL of the world’s major religions–are being given the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms” in a scientific study of religious experience. The Johns Hopkins and New York University study has enlisted two dozen participants, including Catholic and Orthodox priests, Presbyterian ministers, Jewish rabbis, and Zen Buddhists. No Muslims [Read More...]
