You’ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Interesting
On Fridays I share articles/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues likely to be of interest to Christians in college. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions, so if you read something fascinating please pass it my way.
It’s graduation week at Stanford and I’ve been busier than normal — fewer links this week as a result. Are you graduating? Want to keep receiving these emails? They’re mirrored on Substack — subscribe at https://theglendavis.substack.com/
Things Glen Found Interesting
- The War in Ukraine Has Now Gone On Longer Than World War I (Constant Méheut, New York Times): “The war in Ukraine has often been compared to World War I for its brutal infantry assaults and heavy casualties. Yet the idea that it could, by any measure, surpass a conflict so long and bloody that French soldiers hoped it would be ‘the last of the last’ once seemed unthinkable. That is just what happened on Thursday. The war in Ukraine — which reached 1,569 days, or more than four years and three months — has now outlasted World War I.… Roughly nine million to 11 million soldiers died in World War I, compared with about half a million in Ukraine so far.”
- More Than Evolution Requires (David Brooks, Comment): “As [Beha] began to appreciate the flaws in the atheist worldviews, he suffered a crisis of faith in atheism. But there is a big difference between losing faith in atheism and discovering faith in God. He seems to have experienced the pause between those two states that many have experienced. Kierkegaard famously likened it to being suspended above water and doing the motions of swimming without actually being in the water and swimming. In some ways the hero of this book is Ludwig Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein was no Christian, but he understood that ‘if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all.’ ”
- Will I Get Canceled for Dating a Freshman? (Abigail Shrier, The Free Press): “Is it worth the risk of public exposure to talk to this girl you like? Tom, few things in life are _more_ worth the risk. Few opportunities will ever be as valuable as the chance to connect with a girl you might come to love. You’re a junior and she’s a freshman which, in the perverse calculation of deliberate overreaction, means some of your censorious peers may deem you ‘predatory.’ Anonymous campus spaces reward socially progressive moral performance. Ordinary interpersonal situations morph into show trials, ruled by the jealous who delight in shaming men out of normal feelings and behavior. Don’t let them fool you.”
- Deep Blue Families: A Surprising Mix of Trad and Egalitarian Values (Joshua Sohn, Institute for Family Studies): “…my family lives in the District of Columbia, where Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump 90% to 6% in the last election. Essentially all the families in my kids’ elementary school are Democrats, and most are liberal Democrats. These families also have some remarkable features: marriage is virtually universal, while divorce is virtually nonexistent. Almost every kid is growing up in a two-parent married family. And if we’re going to highlight the general retreat from marriage and parenthood in Blue America, we should also look at the circumstances where Blue Americans buck the trend. As it turns out, there are three features that might account for these strong Blue families in my own family’s social circle: (1) These families have a surprising mix of egalitarian and “trad” — lifestyle markers. (2) They have rejected the money-first Midas mindset in favor of a family-first one. (3) They have found ways to create a sense of community.”
- A Medical Student Took His Own Life. His Parents Blame the School. (Frannie Block, The Free Press): “I’ve reported on more than a dozen instances of institutional overreach during disciplinary proceedings at universities—ranging from serious allegations of misconduct or cheating to investigations over whether or not a student under the age of 21 drank a beer. In all of these stories, the students’ families told me two things. First, that the universities failed to grant them due process. Second, that they failed to take the students’ mental health into consideration. In each case, the parents consistently felt that the schools failed their children and were more concerned with image control than nurturing their students. The students felt like the schools always had the upper hand, and didn’t give them the opportunity to properly defend themselves when their entire futures were on the line. The students, residents, and staff at Texas Tech Health who I interviewed told me their institution is no exception.”
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). And to the extent you can discern my opinions, please understand that they are my own and not necessarily those of Chi Alpha or any other organization I may be perceived to represent. 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. If this was forwarded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up here. You can also view the archives.