Cranach - Page 878 of 878 -

Halloween costumes sexualizing children

October 31, 2007 By Gene Veith

On an earllier blog post, I complained about how Halloween is getting ever more gruesome, sexualized, and taken over by adults. But now I read that companies are making–and apparently parents are buying–sexually-oriented costumes for little girls! Pre-teens! As young as 8! Read this and be appalled: Gabby is 11. And the Playboy Racy Referee costume was only the latest that her mother had vetoed one pre-Halloween-crazed afternoon at Party City in Baileys Crossroads as too skimpy, too revealing, too… Read more

On Tolerance

October 30, 2007 By Gene Veith

373 Comments

Here’s a great quotation about tolerance from Michael Gerson: For many, tolerance does not result from the absence of moral convictions but from a positive religious teaching about human dignity. Read more

Vocational Video

October 30, 2007 By Gene Veith

214 Comments

Look what I can do with my new blog! I offer here this video on the doctrine of vocation for your edification and theological analysis. Read more

Stupid Scientist Tricks

October 30, 2007 By Gene Veith

4 Comments

We blogged on the old site about how the discoverer of DNA’s double helix structure, James Watson has fallen off the eugenics deep end. This articletells how his partner in the discovery, fellow Nobel laureate Francis Crick, theorized that life may have come to earth via alien spores sown by comets. (But that doesn’t even explain anything! Where did THAT life come from?) He also wanted to experiment on prisoners. Other distinguished scientists have also been, shall we say, crackpots:… Read more

What Cranach Looked Like

October 29, 2007 By Gene Veith

9 Comments

Thanks for your comments and suggestions about this blog’s new look. What do the rest of you think about this Cranach self-portrait I found on the web? A little forboding? Or as tODD said, creating a sense that he is looking upon your comment with disapproval? Or as frank sonnek said, an example of “cool realism”? To me, this self-portrait has a kind of postmodern self-referential feel: The image is of the artist looking into the mirror as he tries… Read more

The Vocation of the Three Stooges

October 29, 2007 By Gene Veith

121 Comments

The release of a DVD anthology of the first 19 Three Stooges episodes is the occasion of some much-deserved critical commentary. The funniest part of the article is the juxtaposition of the expert’s title with the topic that he is expounding: “I call it their ‘triadic dynamic,’ ” says Jon Solomon, the Robert D. Novak professor of Western civilization and culture at the University of Illinois.” But the commentary, with its background information, is quite revealing, such as this on… Read more

World Series vs. Superbowl

October 29, 2007 By Gene Veith

110 Comments

Well, the Colorado Rockies were STILL blessed to come as far as they did, even though the Red Sox swept them in the World Series. (This is a reminder too that God’s blessings are to be found in the Cross, not in Glory.) Nevertheless, the Rockies will be greeted by their hometown fans as heroes and their season will become part of the team’s legend. When a team makes the World Series but loses, the home city (unless it is… Read more

Cranach’s New Look

October 26, 2007 By Gene Veith

136 Comments

As I had said was going to happen, WORLD’s sub-blogs have had to find new homes. It’s kind of a good feeling, in this era of virtual real-estate to have my own domain! (Seinfeld jokes, at this point, are not allowed.) I went ahead and gave it my own name, for various reasons, but it’s still the Cranach blog, independent and unbound! This means that this old dog has to learn a new system, so please be patient. Yes, I’m… Read more

The Change in Halloween

October 26, 2007 By Gene Veith

158 Comments

Halloween used to be a holiday that centered on little kids getting dressed up and going trick-or-treating. Now, adults have taken over the day, knocking down the children and turning Halloween into a gore-fest. Adults have injected both sex and violence into the day, with one-up-manship centered on how to outdo one’s neighbors in images of sado-masochistic horror. That’s not just me talking, it’s “The Washington Post.” Read Terri Sapienza’s article entitled When Did Halloween Get So Gruesome? A sampling:… Read more

New Battles in the Abortion Wars

October 26, 2007 By Gene Veith

131 Comments

The pro-life movement has a hero in Phill Kline, the former Attorney General of Kansas, who crusaded, among other things, against Wichita’s notorious abortion clinic that specializes in late-term, partial-birth abortions (that is to say, infanticide). Columnist Robert Novak tells about how the abortion industry targeted him for defeat: That industry pumped an estimated $1.5 million into the 2006 campaign of Paul Morrison, the pro-choice Republican Johnson County district attorney who turned Democratic to run against Kline for attorney general…. Read more