Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog

The estimable Hans Fiene, the pastor behind Lutheran Satire, puts a name to a particular and time-honored technique for violating religious liberty.  He calls it the “Babylonian trick.” In a piece published in The Federalist, entitled Twitter’s New Trans Speech Rules Emanate From Religious Extremism, Rev. Fiene discusses a new Twitter policy that would ban users who use […]

You have probably heard about John Chau, the 26-year-old who was dropped off at Sentinel Island, home of one of the most isolated tribes on earth, so that he could tell the inhabitants about Jesus.  They responded by shooting him with arrows, killing him on the beach.  Some Christians are hailing him as a martyr.  […]

Fleming Rutledge reminds us that Advent is not primarily about the baby Jesus.  Rather its main emphasis is the Jesus who comes as the mighty judge who will set the world aright.  That was the theme of John the Baptist:  “He who is coming after me is mightier than I. . . . His winnowing […]

George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States, has died at the age of 94. He was one of the most qualified and experienced individuals ever to hold the office, having served as a decorated Navy pilot in World War II, a U.S. Congressman, Ambassador to the UN, envoy to China, director of […]

Conservative Christians, especially white evangelicals, are among President Trump’s most loyal supporters.  Which seems odd to many people, given his history as a womanizing casino magnate, some of his policies that critics deride as heartless, and his intemperate insulting tweets.  Even though Trump has been repaying his Christian supporters by appointing conservative judges, implementing strong […]

In this era of political outsiders and disenchantment with government, many candidates from the business world with no governmental experience have been running for office promising to “run the government like a business.”  President Trump is the most noted example, but business outsiders are being elected at every level, including, most recently, the new governor […]

Following up with our recent post on exorcism, The Atlantic–which is far from being a Christian or culturally conservative magazine–has a fascinating, sympathetic, and rather in depth article on the subject. The author, Mike Mariani, cites data indicating that about half of Americans believe in demonic possession.  And the demand for exorcism is growing.  He interviewed the […]

One of the current attacks on religious liberty is the practice of university administrators to decertify campus Christian groups because they require their leaders to be Christian.  This is said to constitute “discrimination” against non-Christians in violation of university policies. This has been happening in universities throughout the country, including University of Colorado, Vanderbilt, and the entire California […]

The Christian Right, having fulfilled their cause of getting conservative judges, have a new priority:  criminal justice reform.  Does that sound odd?  Not restricting pornography?  Not limiting abortion?  Not protecting religious liberty?  I’m sure the Christian activists still support such causes, but their priority right now is addressing the problems with our prisons and the […]

One of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving celebration is leftovers.  I love returning to the remnants of the feast for days afterwards, not only in full replays but in football grazing and random snacking until nothing is left.  OK, I’m weird that way, but there is so much abundance to Thanksgiving and what we […]