Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 90
March 17, 2017
A comma rule goes to court
Which is correct?: men, women, and children. Or men, women and children. Some authorities, including many newspaper style sheets, say that you don’t need a comma after the last item in a series when it is preceded by a conjuction. The reasoning is that the conjunction (e.g., and) separates the last item from the rest [Read More...]
March 16, 2017
Luther’s cross-cultural appeal
Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, the editor of Lutheran Forum, has been co-teaching a seminar in Wittenberg on Luther to students from all over the world. She writes in Christian Century about the continuing impact of Luther 500 years after the beginning of the Reformation. She gives an ELCA perspective, full of ecumenical yearnings for union with Rome, [Read More...]
The infinite number of universes
Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel has written an article explaining how the infinite number of parallel universes, as hypothesized by quantum theorists, could actually be real. After explaining the quantum theory behind the idea, Siegel gives three possibilities of how infinite universes could be a reality. If it is, he says, “everything that was ever possible happened [Read More...]
Judge blocks Trump’s new travel ban
President Trump’s new travel ban, revised to eliminate the legal difficulties that a judge found in his first order, has also been thrown out by a federal judge. A Hawaii federal court blocked the ban, which was to go in effect today. The judge said that Trump’s campaign comments about Muslims show that the restrictions [Read More...]
March 15, 2017
Are atheists dying out?
An article in Evolutionary Psychological Science looks at the “secularization hypothesis,” the assumption that modernity would be accompanied with the gradual dying out of religion. That is proving not to be the case, with many researchers trying to figure out why. The authors of this study sought a biological reason. They found a strong correlation between “religiosity” [Read More...]
The end of Reaganism?
At the Conservative Political Action Conference, attendees swooned over President Trump. They applauded him even when he advocated policies that used to be anathema to conservatives: paid family leave; economic protectionism; a big public works program. Rich Lowry, marveling, concluded that President Trump, with his brand of nationalistic conservatism, has triumphed over small-government conservatism. That is [Read More...]
Forcing pro-life centers to advertise abortions
Hawaii is on the verge of passing a law requiring pro-life pregnancy centers to post signs or distribute flyers referring clients to abortion providers. California and Illinois already have similar laws on their books. Most of these pregnancy centers have a Christian mission. Some even operate out of churches. These laws force religious people to [Read More...]
March 14, 2017
Saying Christ is the only way to God is “abusive and criminal”?
Two British street preachers were arrested for publicly reading the Bible, particularly the parts about Jesus being the only way to God. In their trial, the prosecutor said,“To say to someone that Jesus is the only God is not a matter of truth. To the extent that they are saying that the only way to [Read More...]
Shutting down the government over the Wall & Planned Parenthood
Senate Democrats say they will shut down the government by filibustering any spending bills that include building a wall along the Mexican border or that defund Planned Parenthood. The government runs out of money on April 28 unless more funding is approved. President Trump plans to release his proposed budget this week. If the government gets [Read More...]
The ACLU “resistance”
The American Civil Liberties Union conducted livestreamed training across the country Saturday, teaching people how to stage protests and other acts of “resistance” against the Trump administration. The ACLU also said that it would be organizing “freedom cities” to defy immigration laws. The Executive Director of the ACLU promised new lawsuits. “We’ll do the work in [Read More...]
