Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 277

After assembling them, I realized the first link is about the friend zone and the final link is about manly wedding rings.

On Fridays I share articles/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my way.

Things Glen Found Interesting

  1. How To Get Out Of The Friend Zone (Aaron Renn, The Masculinist): “Friendships between men and women have the characteristic that they often evolve into asymmetry of intent, which is exploitative if it persists…. remember, just as no woman is under any obligation to go out on a date with a man such as you, you are under no obligation to be a friend to women.”
    • Every once in a while I like to toss out something sure to rile people up, just to make sure you’re all paying attention. 
  2. God Mode Activated: Meet the Gamers Bringing Jesus to Twitch (Christopher Hutton, Medium): “Dustin Phillips is a blond-haired, bearded children’s pastor in Texas who also serves as GMA’s CEO. On Twitch, he goes by the handle PastorDoostyn and is known as the “demon-slaying pastor.” He preaches the gospel to his 1,400 followers while streaming games like Doom and Pokemon.“ Recommended by a student who was no doubt procrastinating on finals. 
  3. Boy Scouts Face At Least 82,000 Sex Abuse Claims (Ministry Watch): “Today is the deadline set by a bankruptcy court for filing a sex-abuse claim against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The number of claims so far filed now exceed 82,000, far more than the 9,000 claims filed in Catholic Church cases.”
    • Some of you have heard me say this before: the sexual abuse scandal in the church is horrific, yet it will be dwarfed by what we uncover about sexual abuse in public schools and in youth organizations. The churches deserve rebuke for their handling of the wickedness in their ranks; sadly, I doubt that you will hear nearly as much about the far more massive scandals lurking in nonreligious institutions.
  4. Andy Stanley on Evangelicals After Trump (Emma Green, The Atlantic): “In the Gospels, Jesus calls on his followers to go out, teach his message, and baptize people. Stanley has organized his life around this imperative, called ‘the Great Commission.’ The question for evangelicals, now, is whether the undeniable association between Trump and their version of Christianity will make that work harder. ‘Has this group of people who have somehow become “evangelical leaders”’ aligned with Trump ‘hurt the Church’s ability to reach people outside the Church? Absolutely,’ Stanley said. But he’s not overly worried: A year or two from now, he said, ‘all that goes away.’ New leaders will rise up. The Trump era of evangelical history will fade. Stanley chuckled. ‘And this will just be, for a lot of people, a bad dream.’”
    • Related: The Cultural Consequences of Very, Very Republican Christianity (David French, The Dispatch): “What’s the cultural effect of a very, very Republican Christianity? It’s way too simple to say that it impairs the ability of Christians to reach their friends and neighbors. In some places it enhances the church’s appeal and integrates Christians within their community. In other places it creates a host of challenges and needlessly alienates Christians from their fellow citizens.” Insightful.
  5. Victimhood or Development? (Glenn Loury, John McWhorter, Shelby Steele and Eli Steele, Quillette): “Again, the biggest mistake we made is to buy into the idea that our victimization by racism was our source of power rather than our self, our skills, our talents, our development. As victims, we had won a great civil rights movement. The downside is it seduced us.” A fascinating conversation to eavesdrop on. You can also watch it on video.
  6. Madison Cawthorn, the GOP’s young star, arrives in Washington (Matthew Kassel, Jewish Insider): “He… seemed to believe that evangelism was a calling on par with public service. ‘If all you are is friends with other Christians, then how are you ever going to lead somebody to Christ?’ Cawthorn mused. ‘If you’re not wanting to lead somebody to Christ, then you’re probably not really a Christian.’”
    • I share that article to provide context for this article: Newly Elected GOP Congressman Madison Cawthorn Has Tried to Convert Jews to Christianity (Pilar Melendez, The Daily Beast): “Madison Cawthorn, the North Carolina Republican who will become the youngest member of Congress in history, has admitted he tried to convert Jews and Muslims to Christianity.” The journalist seems genuinely shocked.
    • Contrast that with Convert Me If You Can (David Harsyani, National Review): “To be honest, I’m often surprised at how shy Christians are at [evangelism]. As a heathen, though, I am flattered by the attention. And as a person in possession of free will, I am also unconcerned.” 
  7. Pastor John MacArthur and California church closings: Why isn’t this a national story? (Julia Duin, GetReligion): “Indoor worship services are banned in California, a state of megachurches. You don’t have to be a religion expert to know that restriction wasn’t going to fly, especially when stores and other businesses had no similar restrictions…. Again, religious folks see a chasm between how they’re treated and how other protestors are treated. And in-person nude dancing is a form of protected cultural expression, as opposed to public worship?”

Less Serious Things Which Also Interested/Amused Glen

Things Glen Found Interesting A While Ago

Every week I’ll highlight an older link still worth your consideration. This week we have Manly wedding rings for tough guys who are dudes (Dan Brooks, The Outline): “I don’t hunt, but I briefly considered buying a camouflage ring, partly to signal my deep commitment to irony and partly to get better service at the auto parts store.” I really enjoyed this essay, and I hope that many of you have need of wedding bands in the not‐too‐distant future. First shared in volume 210.

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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.

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