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
- Someone is Learning How To Take Down The Internet (Bruce Schneier, personal blog): Schneier is one of the most trusted voices in the field of computer security. For a follow-up, see this article which includes thoughtful musings on the probability and consequences of such a takedown.
- Scandal? What Scandal? (Mark Hemingway, The Weekly Standard): “A recent NBC poll found that only 19 percent of Americans approve of the media, a rating well below that of Clinton or even Trump. And the missives in Podesta’s inbox reveal good reasons for the media’s reputation to be in the dumpster.” For a less alarmed take, see WikiLeaks and the Oily Washington Press (Jack Schafer, Politico).
- Related: The Fact Checkers Keep Destroying Fact-Checking (Timothy Carney, Washington Examiner): “Lots of journalists, including myself, worry about what happens when the public broadly loses faith in the media.”
- The Guilt-free Gospel of Donald Trump (Daniel Burke, CNN): a helpful explanation of Trump’s religious beliefs.
- One third-party candidate has a real shot at gaining electoral votes, and you may not have even heard of him: How Evan McMullin Could Win Utah And The Presidency (Benjamin Morris, FiveThirtyEight): for what it’s worth, I have heard a surprising number of people I respect say that they will vote for McMullin instead of Trump or Clinton. These people are generally Christian intellectuals and are not at all representative of the general population. As a result they know he will not win the election, but feel he is someone they can vote for with a clear conscience.
- How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too (Erica Klarreich, Quanta Magazine): “Two young computer scientists have figured out how to fairly divide cake among any number of people, setting to rest a problem mathematicians have struggled with for decades. Their work has startled many researchers who believed that such a fair-division protocol was probably impossible.”
- This Is The Most Under-Reported Conflict In The World Right Now (Chris Blattman, personal blog): Ethiopia is facing tough times.
Things Glen Found Amusing
- The Best Simple Summary of This Election I Have Seen
- Rat For President (Pearls Before Swine)
- Guilt-Ridden Tim Tebow Apologizes For Stealing Second Base (Babylon Bee): the title is better than the article.
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.