Sally Quinn marks 5 years of doing her On Faith discussions for the Washington Post. She says after all of this religion coverage that she is no longer an atheist. She doesn’t have a personal relationship with God, though, and she believes that all religions are equally valid. Still, her reflections contain some good stories: An atheist father was trying to explain to his son that there was no such thing as God. “But dad,” asked the boy, “how do… Read more
Newt as front-runner, so attacks begin
November 21, 2011 By Gene Veith 58 Comments
Newt Gingrich, according to some polls, has pulled ahead of Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. So, following form, the news stories are digging up unfavorable material about him. But there is a difference this time: The stories are about how he has violated conservative orthodoxy: His think tank to propose free market solutions to health care issues once suggested–or maybe even came up with the idea–of mandatory insurance coverage, a hallmark of Obamacare. He once… Read more
Congress fails again
November 21, 2011 By Gene Veith 28 Comments
Back in August, Congress averted a government shutdown at the last minute by kicking the can to a “Supercommittee” that was assigned to find $1.2 trillion in savings. The incentive was a provision that if the bipartisan task force failed to do so, $1.2 trillion would automatically be cut, with half from social programs (to get the liberals to co-operate) and half from defense (to get the conservatives to co-operate). The deadline for an agreement would be Thanksgiving. Well, that… Read more
Why no two snowflakes are identical
November 18, 2011 By Gene Veith 48 Comments
As if to put us in the mood for winter, the Washington Post has a fascinating feature explaining why no two snowflakes are the same: Newly formed snow crystals with only a handful of molecules would be nearly impossible to distinguish. But that’s not really the issue. We’re talking about real snowflakes, which have something on the order of a quintillion molecules. (That’s the number 1 with 18 zeros.) Now, it’s not a law of nature that no two snowflakes… Read more
Would Calvin have Occupied Wall Street?
November 18, 2011 By Gene Veith 64 Comments
Would even liberal Lutherans say this of Martin Luther? The cause of demonstrators involved in the “Occupy Wall Street” movement would have been supported by John Calvin, the 16th century church reformer who helped shape modern-day Protestantism, says the General Secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). “I am sure he would have been in the streets of New York or London with a placard,” says Setri Nyomi of the French lawyer and theologian who wrote extensively about… Read more
Huntsman’s conservative credentials
November 18, 2011 By Gene Veith 56 Comments
The impression most people have is that Jon Huntsman is not conservative, that he is at best a moderate. Not so, says Nichole Austin: Despite scuttlebutt to the contrary, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman is not a Democrat in disguise, but was in fact a relatively ambitious conservative governor. And if he is “moderate,” he is not appreciably more moderate than other leading candidates or party leaders. If one compares records honestly and looks at policy positions realistically, one will… Read more
A pro-life movement in Russia
November 18, 2011 By Gene Veith 6 Comments
In Russia, the most commonly-used method of birth control is abortion. It has the world’s highest abortion rate: 73 for every 100 births. But now a pro-life movement has started up in Russia, led by the Orthodox Church, and the Russian parliament, faced not only with the church’s lobbying but with a population collapse, is expected to pass a law imposing sharp restrictions (though not prohibition) of the practice: Backed by the Russian Orthodox Church, an influential anti-abortion lobby is… Read more
Chaplain Mike on the Sacraments
November 17, 2011 By Gene Veith 12 Comments
The third installment from Chaplain Mike on what he is appreciating so much from his new Lutheranism. This time he focuses on the Sacraments. Read the whole post, but here is a sample: The sacramental perspective takes God’s presence and action in the midst of his creation seriously. Some expressions of faith are essentially world-denying and more akin to forms of Platonism or gnosticism that make radical distinctions between the material and spiritual worlds. From this perspective, God works and… Read more
The beam in our Missouri Synod eyes
November 17, 2011 By Gene Veith 229 Comments
Friends, you should read the comments on Chaplain Mike’s sacrament post at Internet monk, linked above. It’s touching how some of his evangelical readers are responding to what he is saying. I have to say, though, that I’m kind of ashamed that some of these potential Lutherans have come to THIS blog, which Chaplain Mike links to, and are marveling about how all we Missouri Synod Lutherans can say about his joy in discovering Lutheran theology is to castigate him for… Read more
Respect vs. pity
November 17, 2011 By Gene Veith 18 Comments
I have long observed this and written about it, that instead of honoring those who hold the military vocation in the traditional way–admiring their prowess in battle and celebrating their victories–today our culture’s support for our troops is expressed by feeling sorry for them. Now this is getting on their nerves: The troops are lavished with praise for their sacrifices. But the praise comes with a price, service members say. The public increasingly acts as if it feels sorry for… Read more
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