E. J. Dionne is a liberal whose beliefs are somewhat chastened by his Catholicism. He argues in a recent column that conservatives used to be the champions of “community,” but that today’s conservatism has completely thrown off its own traditions in championing unbridled individualism. I have long admired the conservative tradition and for years have written about it with great respect. But the new conservatism, for all its claims of representing the values that inspired our founders, breaks with the… Read more
Doc Watson
May 31, 2012 By Gene Veith
8 Comments
The great guitarist Doc Watson, who pioneered flat-picking and who was the master of finger-picking, died at age 89. I also love his singing. By the way, he was blind. Read more
Agreement between LCMS & conservative Anglicans
May 30, 2012 By Gene Veith
110 Comments
Who says Missouri Synod Lutherans can’t agree with anybody? High level talks between the LCMS and Anglicans who broke away from the Episcopal Church have found some common ground (though, of course, not full doctrinal agreement). ST. LOUIS, May 25, 2012—After four meetings over the past 18 months, the Anglican Church in North America and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) rejoice in affirming core teachings of the Christian faith they share. The two church bodies, together with the Lutheran Church—Canada,… Read more
Cohabiting parents vs. married parents
May 30, 2012 By Gene Veith
50 Comments
Twenty years ago, Vice-presidential candidate Dan Quayle gave a much-ridiculed speech in which he warned about the dangers of single-parenthood, specifically attacking the way it was becoming socially-accepted through the example of TV shows such as Murphy Brown. Today, writes Isabel Sawhill in the Washington Post (no less), it is evident that Dan Quayle was right. You should read what she has to say. The evidence abounds that children do much better when their parents are married to each other. … Read more
Royal blood for America
May 30, 2012 By Gene Veith
26 Comments
A vial of Ronald Reagan’s blood was going to be auctioned online. After a time of outrage, the person who owned the vial–which was taken from the hospital that treated the president after the assassination attempt–had second thoughts and donated it to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. But, as Dana Milbank points out, that means that the blood is in conservative hands. With the genetic material found in the blood, wouldn’t we be able to clone Ronald Reagan? All Republican… Read more
The hedge of separation
May 29, 2012 By Gene Veith
38 Comments
John Garvey, the president of Catholic University, has written an op-ed piece in which he explains why his institution is joining scores of other Catholic groups in filing a lawsuit against the contraceptive & abortifacient mandate in Obamacare. In the course of his essay (in which he mentions also the Hossana-Tabor case involving the LCMS school), Garvey discusses the “wall of separation of church and state,” finding the metaphor’s origins not in Thomas Jefferson (who wanted to protect the state… Read more
Women who want a divorce
May 29, 2012 By Gene Veith
105 Comments
The Washington Post has an ongoing feature about “myths.” Last Sunday the topic was Five myths about marriage. As usual, the piece combined the interesting with the dubious. What stood out for me the most was this factoid: Two-thirds of divorces are initiated by women. We also know that women are hurt by divorce, taking a big economic hit and often thrown into the pressures of single motherhood. Still, lots of women consider it to be worth it. Recognizing… Read more
What would Romney do?
May 29, 2012 By Gene Veith
16 Comments
In raising the question why both campaigns are ignoring Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts, Ezra Klein (a liberal) goes on to show how that record might not matter too much. In doing so, he gives a succinct account of what both Romney and Congressional Republicans are planning to do should the election go their way: In Massachusetts, Romney governed a blue electorate, and negotiated with a Democratic legislature. If he wins the presidency this fall, he will almost certainly… Read more
Pentecost & Memorial Day
May 28, 2012 By Gene Veith
74 Comments
Two big holidays this weekend, one in the church year and the other national. I hope you had a meaningful Pentecost on Sunday and that you will have a meaningful and enjoyable Memorial Day today. So let’s play a holiday game. Connect the dots. What connections can you make between what we celebrate on Pentecost (the gift of the Holy Spirit, the birthday of the Church) and what we celebrate on Memorial Day (the sacrifice of our troops, in some… Read more
What Americans think is right and wrong
May 28, 2012 By Gene Veith
62 Comments
A Gallup poll surveyed what Americans find morally acceptable and unacceptable. From The Atlantic: What do we learn from this? I’ll start: Pornography comes out as worse than abortion, sex outside of marriage, and the death penalty. Nearly two out of three Americans consider pornography to be immoral? So how come that’s such a profitable industry? Contrary to Plato, to know the good is not the same as to do the good. That is, immorality is not due to ignorance… Read more
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