Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 82

Will the government shut down?

Back when we had a divided government, with President Bush and a Democratic congress and with President Obama and a Republican Congress, we were always in danger of having the government shut down over an inability of the branches of our government to agree on spending bills. Now both the presidency and the legislative branch [Read More...]

All Democrats must now support abortion

The new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez, says that all Democratic candidates must support abortion.  Otherwise, they will receive no party money.  This applies also to state and city candidates and is “not negotiable.”   Photo of Tom Perez by Department of Justice (http://www.justice.gov/crt/aag_page.php) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons From Mike Miller, [Read More...]

Totalitarianism vs. Religion

Some atheists accuse religion of being inherently “totalitarian.”  But, as sociologist Chandler Rosenberger, points out, this isn’t true. The word “totalitarian,” coined by Italian fascists, was defined by Mussolini as “everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.”  (Limited government conservatives:  Memorize this definition.) Prof. Rosenberger explains how religion is usually [Read More...]

A blow-by-blow account of the Trinity Lutheran arguments

The London Economist, of all sources, has published a description of the arguments in the Supreme Court in the case of Trinity Lutheran Church vs. Pauley (and the State of Missouri). The report said that the argument seemed to go in the church’s favor, with even liberal justices expressing skepticism about the state of Missouri’s reasoning [Read More...]

Sexual harassment brings down Bill O’Reilly

Fox News sacrificed its top-rated program by firing Bill O’Reilly for multiple charges of sexual harassment.  The same charge earlier brought down the head of Fox News, Roger Ailes. Other conservatives have recently been brought down by sex scandals, including the governor of Alabama.  Here in Oklahoma, a state legislator was ousted for sexual harassment [Read More...]

Dispatch from Finland

We are in Finland, safe and sound.  We are having a good and fascinating time.  The church situation here is complicated, but don’t believe what you hear about the utter secularism of Scandinavia.  We are meeting some very vibrant and very solid Lutheran Christians who are true inspirations.  And, yes, they are reaping lots of [Read More...]

Hank Hanegraff, the Bible Answer Man, joins the Orthodox Church

Hank Hanegraff, who hosts the Bible Answer Man radio show and who operates the Christian Research Institute, has converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. An apologists for evangelicalism, Hanegraff and his ministry has spoken against Baptismal regeneration and the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper.  This has put him against Lutheranism. But now he is embracing [Read More...]

The search for Christ’s DNA

Forensic archaeologists have been extracting the DNA that can still be found in old bones and on ancient artifacts.  Some are aiming at the big prize:  the DNA of Jesus! We may have found the bones of John the Baptist.  He was a cousin of Jesus, so they would share some DNA patterns.  We may [Read More...]

Criminalizing pro-lifers

In France, it is illegal to attempt to disuade anyone from getting an abortion.  It is also illegal to demonstrate against abortion, to give information about alternatives to abortion, and to espouse the belief that abortion is immoral.  Pro-life expressions could result in a fine of 30,000 euros and two years in jail. So says [Read More...]

I’m off to Finland

Today my wife and I fly off to Finland.  I will be giving lectures at an apologetics conference and speaking at two universities.  I’ll also be meeting with the confessional Lutherans there, including Rev. Jujana Puhjola. Earlier, I was in Denmark and Norway, and then Denmark again.  As I said then, the image of the [Read More...]