Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 77

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

On Fridays I share articles/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

Things Glen Found Interesting

  1. White Christian Apocalypse? (Philip Jenkins, The American Conservative): Jenkins is a well-known historian. “On one critical issue, though, contemporary debate and theorizing really is trespassing on my areas of expertise.” Jenkins unpacks some long-term trends and their implications for America’s demographic destiny.
  2. The End of Identity Liberalism (Mark Lilla, NY Times): One of the more insightful things I’ve read lately. It’s inspired by the recent election, but is about something much broader — some intrinsic weaknesses of identity politics. For a very strong reaction against it, read Making White Supremacy Respectable. Again. (Katherine Franke, LA Review of Books). Both authors are professors at Columbia, which will no doubt make for tense times in the faculty lounge.
  3. Yes, Trump will build his border wall. Most of it is already built. (Peter Andreas, Washington Post): “It is important to remember that Trump’s predecessors carefully avoided calling any new border barriers a ‘wall.’” Wow. I did not realize how much of the southern border is already barricaded. It would be helpful if reporters periodically brought this fact up for context.
  4. Trying To Think Through The Logic Of Abortion Rights (Justin Taylor, The Gospel Coalition): Taylor summarizes the arguments of two philosophy professors. For me, meditating on Luke 1:39–45 has been important when thinking about abortion. 
  5. Everyone should have the right to assisted suicide — or no one should (Felicia Nimue Ackerman, Vox): “a society that ‘pathologizes’ suicidal feelings of indignity and degradation in rape victims while endorsing them in the terminally ill is, I contend, engaging in a horrifying, odious form of bigotry.” The author is a philosophy professor at Brown.

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it).

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Archives at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 76

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

On Fridays I share articles/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

Things Glen Found Interesting

  1. Some thoughts about slavery and the Bible — Does The Bible Support Slavery? (a lecture given by the warden of Tyndale House at Cambridge University, the link is to the video with notes) and Does God Condone Slavery In The Bible? (Part One — Old Testament) and also Part Two — New Testament (longer pieces from Glenn Miller at Christian Thinktank). All three are quite helpful.
  2. Structural Racism (John Piper, Desiring God): “if your mind is Bible-saturated, you would consider it absolutely astonishing if structural racism were not pervasive wherever sin is pervasive. In other words, Bible-shaped people should expect to see structural racism almost everywhere in a fallen world.”
  3. How Methodists Invented Your Kid’s Grape Juice Sugar High (Luke Harrington, Christianity Today): why many churches use grape juice for communion.
  4. More post-election thoughts:
    1. Why Can’t I Mourn? (Kyle James Howard, personal blog): “For many, it appears that it is unacceptable for me to grieve racism and abortion equally. That for many, a Christian only has the capacity to grieve one or the other but not both.”
    2. No, the Majority of American Evangelicals Did Not Vote for Trump (Joe Carter, Gospel Coalition): you may recall that I suggested something similar in last week’s email — here’s a wide-ranging explanation. There is no doubt more to be said on this.
    3. You Are Still Crying Wolf (Scott Alexander, SlateStarCodex): “I realize that all of this is going to make me sound like a crazy person and put me completely at odds with every respectable thinker in the media, but luckily, being a crazy person at odds with every respectable thinker in the media has been a pretty good ticket to predictive accuracy lately, so whatever.” This is a long and detailed argument that Trump is not racist (or at least not more racist than lots of people). I was surprised at how well it held my interest. See also Ross Douthat’s insightful twitter critique of the article. For a contrary point of view (sort of — it’s less about Trump and more about what Trump signifies), see Racism Probably Is Getting Worse. (I Hope I’m Wrong.) (Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg View). If you read one, read all three.
    4. Stunned By Trump, The New York Times Finds Time For Some Soul-Searching (Michael Cieply, Deadspin): “By and large, talented reporters scrambled to match stories with what internally was often called ‘the narrative.’ We were occasionally asked to map a narrative for our various beats a year in advance, square the plan with editors, then generate stories that fit the pre-designated line.” This piece is important and depressing.
    5. The coalition for diversity whose diversity did diversity just win? (Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution): do not let the confusing title put you off. Cowen argues that the Republicans are in some senses significantly more diverse than the Democrats.
    6. #NeverTrump And President Trump (Jake Meador, Mere Orthodoxy): “The church’s greatest theologians have long said that a properly Christian commonwealth will be concerned not with the greater good—the most good for the most people—or with the private good of Christians alone, but with the common good.”
    7. How covering the Redskins name debate prepared me for Donald Trump’s win (Dan Steinberg, Washington Post): “They told me that media Twitter wasn’t the real world, that it created a phony idea of consensus for a stance that wasn’t actually ascendant. And they argued that a politically correct onslaught from big-city elites would only strengthen their convictions.”
    8. Donald Trump can absolutely ban Muslims from entering the US, without Congress (Zack Beauchamp, Vox): “I [asked] several experts on US immigration law. Their answer was unanimous: Trump would be able to implement his ban. In fact, he would be able to do it easily.” I didn’t know the president had this power. Surprising given our system of checks and balances.
    9. The Culture That Created Donald Trump Was Liberal Not Conservative (Jim Lewis, The Intercept): “Liberals were sure the devil would come slouching out of Alabama or Texas, beating a bible and shouting about sodomy and sin. They didn’t expect him to be a businessman who lives on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street.” This is something I saw alluded to in the primaries but haven’t seen mentioned in a while. 

Things Glen Found Amusing

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it).

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Archives at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links.

Things Glen Found Interesting — Election Edition (vol 75)

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

On Fridays I share articles/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

Things Glen Found Interesting — Election Edition

Before I say anything else, I feel the need to say I didn’t have an agenda when selecting these articles other than trying to understand what happened and what it means. I’m not trying to make a case for or against anyone — I just want some insight.

The Election: What Happened?

  1. Few predicted Trump had a good shot of winning. But political science models did. (Andrew Prokop, Vox). Social scientists — believe in your discipline! 
  2. How Half Of America Lost It’s F**king Mind (David Wong, Cracked): If you can’t understand how people voted for Trump, read this. Apologies for the language, but I seriously think this piece should be considered for a Pulitzer. 
  3. The smug style in American liberalism (Emmitt Rensin, Vox): “If the smug style can be reduced to a single sentence, it’s, Why are they voting against their own self-interest? But no party these past decades has effectively represented the interests of these dispossessed. Only one has made a point of openly disdaining them too.” This is an older piece which turned out to have strong predictive value. Shared by a student. There is one factual error I feel obliged to point out: Kim Davis won. She got what she wanted. It’s revealing that even someone sympathetic like Rensin doesn’t seem to realize that. 
  4. Further Thoughts: How Social Justice Ideology Fuels Racism and Sexism (Alastair Roberts, blog): “the overreach of progressive liberals, who are chronically out of touch with social and natural reality, has played a prominent part in provoking the rise of a movement that is resistant to shame and guilt, as these had formerly been weaponized to control them.”
  5. What This Means, How This Happened, What To Do Now (Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs): “Progressives need to understand how people who are different from them think. No more writing them off as racist and deplorable. Even if they are, what good does that do? You need to understand racists not so you can sympathize with them, but so you can figure out what shapes people’s beliefs, and help them reach different beliefs.”
  6. The Age Of Acceptable Lies (Mike Cosper, Gospel Coalition): “In other words, we don’t want Trump to be a misogynist, since it undermines our ability to vote for him. So his words find new interpretations. Or we don’t want Hillary to have a record of disregard for both the rule of law and policies that protect national security. So we don’t believe her email scandal means anything. Or we don’t want the Bible to say hard things about sexuality. So we don’t believe it does.” This article is about something broader than but germane to the election. Read this one even if you skip most articles in this section.

Thoughts From People Who Voted For Trump
I have overheard several people asking how anyone could have voted for Trump. Here are a few first-person accounts.

  1. Bethel Church’s Bill Johnson: Why I Voted For Donald Trump (Bill Johnson, Gospel Herald) 
  2. Donald Trump Key To Isaiah 45 Prophecy? (Lance Wallnau, Charisma News): I’ve heard more than one person reference this idea.
  3. After much prayer and soul-searching, I have reluctantly decided to vote for the Trump-Pence ticket. Here’s why. (Joel Rosenberg, personal blog)
  4. I Am  (Cassie Hewlett, personal blog). The title is not a religious reference. A student shared this one with me.

Implications / Consequences Of The Election

  1. What Trump Might Mean For The Economy (Christos Makridis, Fast Company): yes, that’s our Christos. Proud of the way you put your scholarship out there for the public, man. Keep it up!
  2. Two Concerns for the Religious Right Under President Trump (Colin Hansen, Gospel Coalition): “First, many evangelical leaders had lost touch with the rest of the movement. And second, the rest of the movement had lost touch with the concerns with their minority brothers and sisters.” If you only read one thing in this section, read this.
  3. 4 Problems Associated With White Evangelical Support Of Donald Trump (Thabiti Anyabwile, Gospel Coalition): one significant caveat about both this and the previous article — I expect that the 80% statistic will dwindle under more careful investigation. Consistently in the polls before the election there was a marked difference between people who self-identified as evangelical and those who actually attended evangelical churches. The 80% number is about the former. We don’t yet have data on the latter.
  4. A rash of racist attacks have broken out in the US after Donald Trump’s victory (Heather Timmons, Quartz): very distressing. Serious question: how many racist attacks are there on a daily basis in America? I’m wondering what the comparative uptick is.
  5. Why some fear this election’s lasting damage to American Christianity (Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post): “When reports emerge about whom evangelicals voted for, they usually mean ‘white evangelicals,’ glossing over a growing racial division within Christianity.”
  6. Trump Won. Here’s How 20 Evangelical Leaders Feel. (Christianity Today): this is well worth reading and not that long.
  7. Don’t Expect The Supreme Court To Change Much (Cass Sunstein, Bloomberg View): Sunstein is a Harvard Law professor.
  8. The Election Is Over. Let’s Get Political (Jonathan Leeman, Gospel Coalition): “Every week, our congregations gather as embassies of heaven. Every week, our pastors make a political speech, and we go out as ambassadors with a political message. ‘The King offers pardon for every rebel who would repent!’”

Other News That Caught My Eye

  1. China’s plan to organize its society relies on ‘big data’ to rate everyone (Simon Denyer, Washington Post): this is the most terrifying thing I’ve read all week. I mentioned this to a Chinese citizen and she said she’d only heard about it from Americans and was skeptical it would happen as described.
  2. Vatican Blinded to Reality in Venezuela (Francis Rooney, Real Clear Religion): “As the crisis spirals out of control, Venezuela is in danger of becoming this hemisphere’s Syria.”

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it).

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Archives at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links.

Some Thoughts About The Election

This is an email I sent to the students in my ministry the morning following the 2016 presidential election:


I would like to say something to the despondent and the jubilant: the despondent should not be too despondent and the jubilant should not be too jubilant.

To The Despondent:

You just woke up and feel as though you woke up in a different country than the one you thought you lived in. You feel as though you don’t belong. I want to encourage you: this will pass. There are rarely permanent defeats in politics. You will get another try at the presidency in four years and at the legislative branch in two years. Remember when Obama rode into office? The Democrats had the House, the Senate, and the Executive Branch along with most state gubernatorial and legislative offices. The days of the Republican party seemed over, yet now the Republicans have usurped the Democrats in every one of those roles. Your turn will come again. Be patient.

A few practical pieces of advice for you in the meanwhile:

1) If you did not register to vote, do it now while you’re motivated. It will not take much time and is one of the few productive things you can actually do right now.

2) You may be tempted to blame the other side’s victory on the basest of motives. The other side is racist. The other side is misogynistic. The other side is driven by hate. Please hear this: they don’t think they are. “But they are — I know it!” Even if you are right that there are vile motives floating around inside their souls, you will not change their minds by pointing that out. Instead, you must understand your opponents in order to persuade them. If you are genuinely shocked that a large chunk of Americans are afraid of the Democratic party and what it would have done with four to eight more years of power, you need to read more widely.  Add to your reading list authors such as Mollie Hemingway, Ross Douthat, Thomas Sowell, Matthew Lee Anderson, Russell Moore, Rod Dreher, and David French. If you use Twitter, follow each of them. If you don’t, pay attention to their writings. They pop up from time to time in the Friday emails I send out — begin deliberately reading the entries you think you’ll disagree with. Also, consider watching Fox News from time to time.

3) Pray. This is something you will have a chance to do at Chi Alpha tonight. #justsaying

To The Jubilant:

It’s a good feeling when your side wins. Enjoy the moment, but recognize how ephemeral it is. Whenever one party sweeps into power across multiple branches of government, corruption and infighting ensues. Your team is likely in for a rough time two years from now in the midterm elections and will face a serious challenge four years down the road.

A few practical pieces of advice for you:

1) Recognize that some of your friends are genuinely terrified right now. People who are made in God’s image — some of whom are your brothers and sisters in Christ — are in pain. Be empathetic. Even if you think that their emotions are overblown, acknowledge that their emotions are real.

2) Prepare for disappointment. Politicians rarely deliver what you hoped for. The Democrats didn’t deliver immigration reform when Obama was in office even though the Democrats held the House and the Senate. The Republicans will almost certainly get bogged down on issues that later prove to be inconsequential and as a result will let some of your highest priorities slip out of their grasp. Two years is not that long and Republican officials will refuse to believe that’s probably all the time they have.

To Everyone:

Yesterday America elected a president for the next four years, but we know the King who reigns forever. So acknowledge the president, “but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord” (1 Peter 3:15a).

Remember Philippians 3:20: “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Elections matter, but eternity matters more. Keep perspective today and always.

God bless and I hope to see you at worship tonight. I’ll talk more about these things there and we will pray.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 74

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

On Fridays I share articles/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

Things Glen Found Interesting

  1. Men Are More Likely to Be Sexually Attracted to Their Opposite-Sex Friends (Drake Baer, Science of Us): “the study found that guys are more likely to define a female friend as ‘a member of the opposite sex to whom I am attracted and would pursue given the opportunity’ and ladies to define their opposite-sex friends as simply ‘a friend of the opposite sex.’” For an amusing take on this idea, see this three-minute video (it’s got over 9 million views).
  2. The New Evangelical Moral Minority (Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker): this is a well-written essay focusing on the Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore, of whom I am a huge fan and with whom I usually agree. Highly recommended, although the author’s snark shows through occasionally. The author, incidentally, is the son of famed Christian missiologist Lamin Sanneh.
  3. In Love and Marriage, Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect (Scott Stanley, Psychology Today):  “We found that having more sexual and cohabiting partners before marriage is associated with lower relationship quality once married. In particular, having only ever lived with or had sex with one’s spouse was associated with higher marital quality.” The author is a research professor at the University of Denver. The research upon which this article was based is available here.
  4. Positive Parenting is Ideal, But Many Children Need Time-Outs, Too (Robert Larzelere, Institute For Family Studies): “Yes, the worst outcomes were for the type of authoritarian parenting that Dr. Coulson opposes, which can be defined as strict enforcement without love. But the second-worst 10-year outcomes were for overly permissive parents…” When we sing that God is a good, good Father we should should remember we are celebrating the fact that he both encourages and disciplines. 
  5. North Korea’s War On Christianity: The Globe’s Number One Religious Persecutor (Doug Bandow, Forbes): “[Christian Solidarity Worldwide] reports documented cases of believers being ‘hung on a cross over a fire, crushed under a steamroller, herded off bridges, and trampled underfoot.’”
  6. The Case Against Democracy (Caleb Craine, The New Yorker): I’m a monarchist, truth be told. In the Kingdom I call home we don’t get a vote, but we welcome anyone who wishes to immigrate. Join us! #kingjesus  

Things Glen Found Amusing

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it).

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Archives at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links.