Miers and religion

As somebody who also found religion in his mid-30s, I find Harriet Miers’ story very interesting. Take a look at this article here. Yes, yes, I know Miers’ is a Bush crony, never has been a judge and is in fact the devil incarnate — at least if you believe all the commentators out there. If I were Bush I would have probably named 100 people before naming her. But given that she’s likely to be confirmed despite all the noise, let’s hope her she applies her new religious feelings in the right way on the Bench. And of course there’s another reason to be join the pessimists: Jimmy Carter is an evangelical too.

UPDATE: This article makes the very interesting and unusual argument that Miers is a trojan horse for conservatives.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The great Mark Steyn basically agrees with my take on Miers here. (registration required for the Spectator).

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The Battle for the Meaning of Sin

In a few recent conversations, there’s been some back and forth over whether a certain behavior is a sin or not.* The minority view, which held that the behavior is a sin, argued that the behavior is harmful and leads to addiction and unhappiness. Those on the opposite side conceded these points, but argued that it’s just unkind and unhelpful to put that label on the behavior, since many engage in it against their will, or with limited agency, or under pressure from society, or are otherwise pitiable.

These arguments sound like non sequiturs to me.

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How to Ditch Roe

Today’s announcement has me thinking about matters of constitutional law. One of the matters I find most pressing is a little case called Roe v. Wade. While I rarely speak up in the Bloggernacle regarding my personal politics– mostly because my personal politics are quite diluted and hazy– this is an issue that I feel unabashedly strong about. And yes, I do think there’s a strong religious component in this sentiment, although I have no intention of demanding the same views of my co-religionists.

Anyway, for those of us who pray for the demise of Roe v. Wade, let us spend a minute today fantasizing about just such an event, in order to get us through the creeping ambivalence sparked by the President’s latest appointment.

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