Orthodox Editors

Democrats Move Left On Abortion

Wall Street Journal | Naomi Schaefer Riley | Aug. 20, 2008

“Above my pay grade.” Those words rang in the ears of Gene Taylor, a middle-age member of Saddleback Church I interviewed after the worship service on Sunday morning. He was referring to the answer offered by Barack Obama when Pastor Rick Warren asked him at what point in its development a baby gets “human rights.”

“In this country,” Mr. Taylor told me, “there is no higher pay grade than the president.” Which is true at least metaphorically. Mr. Taylor added, “I thought I was going to be supporting John McCain. Now I’m sure of it.” [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Christianity and the Cult of Celebrity

BreakPoint | Stephanie Bennett | Aug. 22, 2008

It used to be that people were known for being heroes. Doing something noble or worthy of praise would be reason for someone’s popular acclaim, but with the advance of mass media, a new phenomenon arose within American culture. People began to be known—just for being known. In media studies we’ve come to know this phenomenon as the rise of the celebrity.

Today, people famous for being famous are not simply celebrated; they are part of an entertainment culture that increasingly sets the tone for the values we espouse as well as those we project out into the wider world. Unfortunately, whether or not we personally adhere to the values of celebrity culture, we are influenced by them in many ways. Whether through obvious temptations, endless amusements and distractions, obsession with our “looks,” the frittering away of our time, or the slow and seemingly innocuous stream of a carnal images and ideas, our lives are increasingly shaped by the entertainment culture in which we live. It is an environment. We are in its bubble. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Intel Cuts Electric Cords with Wireless Power System

AFP | Aug. 21, 2008

Intel on Thursday showed off a wireless electric power system that analysts say could revolutionize modern life by freeing devices from transformers and wall outlets. Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner demonstrated a Wireless Energy Resonant Link as he spoke at the California firm’s annual developers forum in San Francisco.

Electricity was sent wirelessly to a lamp on stage, lighting a 60 watt bulb that uses more power than a typical laptop computer. Most importantly, the electricity was transmitted without zapping anything or anyone that got between the sending and receiving units. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

What about the Poor?

FrontPageMagazine.com | Barry Loberfeld | Aug. 13, 2008

For defenders of the Constitution, the free market, and individual liberty, no single issue has thus far proved more defeating – on both the intellectual and electoral battlefields – than that of poverty. It has handed one unearned (and by no means inevitable) victory after another to the unconstitutional statism of collectivist liberals.

The conquest of poverty (to borrow the title of Henry Hazlitt’s classic) requires just two weapons: wealth and compassion. So the only real question is: Who can better provide these – civil society (“the market”) or the political state?

The answer as it regards wealth has now been settled: “[C]apitalism has won,” conceded left-aligned economic historian Robert Heilbroner in 1989. “Socialism,” conversely, “has been a great tragedy this century.” [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Imagine Abortion Was a Terrible Disease

An Orthodox priest places the horrors and evil of Abortion in their proper perspective.

OrthodoxNet.com | Fr. Jason Kappanadze | Aug. 13, 2008

There is evil, injustice, pain, suffering and unfairness everywhere, and our Christian hearts must be wounded by all of it. But would you consider the argument that the worst of these is abortion?

Imagine if a terrible disease began to spread through the country, resulting in 50,000,000 suffering deaths — the equivalent of 1,851 OCAs. Imagine that the disease was able to mutate, avoiding every attempt to eradicate it, and able to appear in different forms at will so as to infect as many victims as possible. What if there was no end in sight for this death machine? Would the headlines or office talk be about health insurance, or global warming, or distribution of wealth? I think not! [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Why I Am Not a Liberal

Townhall.com | Dennis Prager | Aug. 12, 2008

The following is a list of beliefs that I hold. Nearly every one of them was a liberal position until the late 1960s. Not one of them is now. Such a list is vitally important in order to clarify exactly what positions divide left from right, blue from red, liberal from conservative.

I believe in American exceptionalism, meaning that (a) America has done more than any international organization or institution, and more than any other country, to improve this world; and (b) that American values (specifically, the unique American blending of Enlightenment and Judeo-Christian values) form the finest value system any society has ever devised and lived by. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

God’s Welfare State

FrontPageMag | Mark D. Tooley | Aug. 7, 2008

Christianity, Judaism and Islam do all commend helping the poor, of course. But the Book of Deuteronomy, a law book for the ancient Hebrews’ theocracy, does not provide detailed policy guidance for modern political parties. How interesting that left-leaning religious groups can quote from the Old Testament and its supposed counsel about welfare programs and environmental regulations. In contrast, conservative religious groups that cite the Scriptures about their moral and political issues are widely derided as aspiring theocrats. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

US States Lead the World in High Corporate Tax Rates

TaxProf Blog | Paul L. Caron | Mar. 24, 2008

The Tax Foundation has released U.S. States Lead the World in High Corporate Taxes:
Many states impose state corporate income taxes at rates above the national average of 6.6%. Iowa, for example, imposes the highest corporate tax rate of 12%, followed by Pennsylvania’s 9.99% rate and Minnesota’s 9.8% rate.

When added to the federal rate, these states tax their businesses at rates far in excess of all other OECD countries. When compared to other OECD countries… 24 U.S. states have a combined corporate tax rate higher than top-ranked Japan. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Obama: Premature Babies Aren’t People

Human Events | Aug. 8, 2008

Barack Obama worked to allow a gruesome practice, in which babies born alive after attempted abortions are left to die without medical care, to continue in Illinois. National Review journalist David Freddoso’s new book, The Case Against Barack Obama, exposes the lengths to which Barack Obama went to protect this ghastly procedure.

Because of a loophole, doctors in Illinois had no legal obligation to treat these babies. Under the law, they were non-persons. Illinois legislators tried to close this loophole with a bill mandating that babies born alive during an abortion would have to be treated just like every other baby born prematurely. The same laws and the same rules of medical ethics would apply to these born, living babies as to any other born, living human being. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail