Balaam's Ass

In the past month I have seen both a button and a bumper sticker that read: If you’re not going to ordain women, stop baptizing them! The logic is impeccable. If that’s impeccable logic, I’d hate to see the peccable kind.  I don’t want to disagree with someone who describes himself as a “consumer of

Thanks to Todd Wilken and Issues, Etc. for making Balaam’s Ass blog of the week for this quote. Timotheos

Listen, if you want to know how to do propaganda right, you should visit the Museum of Tolerance next time you’re in L.A.  My aunt and uncle took me, and we spent most of our time in the Holocaust exhibit, which, except for a few minor annoyances, was a good cursory introduction to the Holocaust.  [

Whoever does not want to trust in God’s word and to take his stand on these or on similar passages, ‘What God says, he can do’ [Rom. 4:21], and ‘God cannot lie’ [Hebrews 6:18], I faithfully counsel him to leave Holy Scripture and the articles of the Christian faith alone.  For his interpretation con

Watching the testimony on religious liberty yesterday in the House Oversight Committee (I especially appreciated the testimony of my Synod’s President), and following Planned Parenthood’s Twitter feed at the same time, I have some questions.  I don’t need anecdotes or uninformed opinions–so keep the

Do you ever get the feeling that people think they can use words however they want?  I fully understand the plasticity of words: they change; languages are not static, etc.  But in order for meanings of words to shift, they have to actually mean something in the first place.  Otherwise, it’s not a s

I got this message through Facebook, presumably after seeing a comment I made on the Susan G. Komen FB page: Why be pro-life? I mean, do you know what hyperemesis gravidarum, pre-eclampsia, and ectopic pregnancies are? Do you know how physically hellish pregnancy can be for a woman? Do you know all

That seems to be the argument by seemingly otherwise pro-life people when discussions such as this come up.  It is irrelevant to me what the rabid abortion lobby thinks about this, since they are apparently unaware of any sort of rational discourse on the subject of abortion.  (E.g., simply scroll t

That’s the question that “bioethicists” are trying to answer.  (Whenever I see the word “bioethicist,” by the way, I get a little queasy.)  From a non-religious point of view, and certainly from a non-Judaeo-Christian point of view, I can understand why philosophers and bioethicists would argue this

I can’t stand most holiday music.  It’s too gimicky or cheesy or just unimaginative.  Do we really need 86 more covers of Joy to the World and Silent Night?  I think not.  All such renditions manage to do is dull the actual message and make the sacred of one piece with the secular: Santa Claus [...]