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C. S. Lewis on Vocation

March 15, 2012 By Gene Veith

Have you read C. S. Lewis’s “Learning in Wartime”? It’s an address to students at Oxford on the verge of World War II. They were wondering how they can pursue a liberal arts education–studying poetry, digging into history, thinking through ancient philosophy–when the world is seemingly coming apart and they themselves may soon have to go to war. Lewis’s perspective on education is priceless, but I had forgotten how he also treats with great insight the doctrine of vocation. A… Read more

Lyle Lovett confesses his faith with his church

March 14, 2012 By Gene Veith

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Three generations–all members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Klein, Texas–confess their faith in the words of the Nicene Creed, which itself goes back through generation after generation in the church of Jesus Christ. First we hear from Erich Klenk, 97 years old. Then we hear from singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett (of whom I am a big fan). Then we hear from fourth-grader Erin Pali. The effect of hearing the creed from these very different and yet very united Christians is deeply… Read more

Obamacare will cover abortions for $1 premiums

March 14, 2012 By Gene Veith

64 Comments

The Obama administration has figured out how to let Obamacare cover abortions despite the Hyde Amendment. (P.S.: Why doesn’t the Hyde Amendment prevent government funding for abortion pills, as in the insurance mandate?) Health Insurance companies will have to offer abortions as a premium service for which the insured will have to pay extra. But the extra fee will be no more than $1 per month. From LifeSite: It’s official. The concern pro-life organizations had about the ObamaCare legislation funding… Read more

College does not cause students to lose their faith

March 14, 2012 By Gene Veith

54 Comments

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum has been saying that 62% of college students lose their faith by the time they graduate. Calvin College sociologist Jonathan P. Hill takes a look at the dubious source of that statistic and cites better studies that point to a different conclusion: We know that some measures of religious belief, and quite a few measures of religious practice, decline as young people move from adolescence to emerging adulthood. In order to decide if blame should be… Read more

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

March 13, 2012 By Gene Veith

546 Comments

I’ve blogged about Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of Billy Graham and the successor to D. James Kennedy as pastor of the influential Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. In the course of some struggles over his ministry, he came to a deeper understanding of the Gospel with the help of some Lutheran writers (e.g., C. F. W. Walther, Bo Giertz, Gerhard Forde, Hal Senkbeil, Rod Rosenbladt). He has written a book about his experience and his new liberating… Read more

Legal issues in overturning the insurance mandate

March 13, 2012 By Gene Veith

18 Comments

The Obamacare abortion pill/contraceptive mandate is so obviously a government assault on religious liberty that the courts are sure to overrule it. Right? I’ve been hearing that. Eight lawsuits have already been filed. But the legal issues get complicated, with a precedent that might let the Obama administration have its way. There is, however, a way to trump that precedent, depending on how the issue is construed. Journalist N. C. Aizenman gives a useful overview of how the cases will… Read more

In defense of politics

March 13, 2012 By Gene Veith

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“Politics” has become a dirty word. As in: “It’s just politics.” “They are just playing politics.” “He’s just another politician.” This is understandable, but also dangerous. So says Alec MacGillis, an editor at the New Republic, who examines a number of recent decisions derided as “political” by liberals and conservatives, showing that it was a good thing that lawmakers had to take the political process–that is to say, voters–into account. Some of his comments: It’s not surprising that “political” is an… Read more

The UN & NATO authorize our wars, not Congress

March 12, 2012 By Gene Veith

66 Comments

So says our Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs: The Obama administration and Defense Secretary Panetta are contending that when offensive military action is needed, it does not have to go to Congress first for permission but that international agreements, the UN or NATO can override Congressional acts of authorization of war or use of force. At a hearing that was held in Washington on March 7, 2012, Sen. Sessions of the Senate Armed Services Committee… Read more

Foreclosing on churches

March 12, 2012 By Gene Veith

72 Comments

The housing market woes are having a big impact also on houses of worship, as banks are increasingly foreclosing on churches: (Reuters) – Banks are foreclosing on America’s churches in record numbers as lenders increasingly lose patience with religious facilities that have defaulted on their mortgages, according to new data. The surge in church foreclosures represents a new wave of distressed property seizures triggered by the 2008 financial crash, analysts say, with many banks no longer willing to grant struggling… Read more

Oklahoma Democrats

March 12, 2012 By Gene Veith

28 Comments

I blogged earlier about the political beliefs that characterize my beloved natal state of Oklahoma. On Super Tuesday, Oklahoma also held its Democratic primary. And Barack Obama only received 57% of the vote. His main competitor for Oklahoma Democrats? Anti-abortion militant Randall Terry! See this, with its rather questionable analysis: Why Oklahoma is so anti-Obama – The Washington Post. The article begs the question of why Oklahoma urban areas don’t go for Obama the way other urban areas do. … Read more