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.
This is volume 465, the 30th triangular number.
Things Glen Found Interesting
- How Did Planned Parenthood Become One of the Country’s Largest Suppliers of Testosterone? (Jennifer Block, The Free Press): “The organization would not give specific numbers, or respond to multiple requests for comment, but the insurance claim data (estimates that do not include patients who pay out of pocket) suggest that 1 in 6 U.S. teens and young adults who sought gender hormones last year were seen at Planned Parenthood. Between 2017 and 2023, affiliated clinics filed gender-related insurance claims for 12,000 youths aged 12–17.”
- At 28, I Taught Myself to Be Likable. Here’s How I Did It (Substack): “The guidelines you’ll see below are going to seem really rigid and judgmental. But that’s kind of what I needed. Platitudes about how I needed to ‘be myself’ and ‘let my freak flag fly’ did way more harm than good. When I asked people for advice, a lot of them gave the kneejerk response, ‘Just don’t care what other people think of you,’ which is much easier said than done, especially when it’s blatantly obvious that other people can’t stand you.”
- Recommended by a student.
- ‘I Just Have Some Questions’: An Interview With Justice Gorsuch (David French, New York Times): “I didn’t get to ask every question I wanted to, but our conversation covered a lot of ground, including Gorsuch’s indictment of the regulatory state, his approach to evaluating agency expertise, the problem of mass incarceration and coercive plea bargaining, his jurisprudence holding the United States accountable for its obligations to Native Americans and his definition of originalism and the role of history in understanding the Constitution.”
- Unlocked.
- Israel-related:
- For college students arrested protesting the war in Gaza, the fallout was only beginning (Christopher Heller et all, Associated Press): “Some 3,200 people were arrested this spring during a wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments protesting the war in Gaza. While some colleg es ended demonstrations by striking deals with the students, or simply waited them out, others called in police when protesters refused to leave. Many students have already seen those charges dismissed. But the cases have yet to be resolved for hundreds of people at campuses that saw the highest number of arrests, according to an analysis of data gathered by The Associated Press and partner newsrooms.”
- Why Israel Escalates (Dalia Dasse Kaye, Foreign Affairs): “…Israeli defense officials do not necessarily feel comfortable relying on deterrence by denial—that is, by convincing adversaries that attacks would not succeed—as the United States prefers. In these officials’ view, the April defense of Israel was not a total success because, ultimately, the defensive coalition did not prevent the attack; it only limited the damage. Israeli defense planners prefer deterrence by punishment—showing adversaries that attacks will provoke consequences.”
- Israel Isn’t ‘Risking’ a Regional War (Kevin Williamson, The Dispatch): “…Israel is not ‘risking a regional war.’ Israel is involved in a regional war, one that was forced upon it by Iran, sometimes using proxies and sometimes using its own forces directly, as it did on April 13, when it attacked Israel with more than 300 missiles and drones. The Houthis, Iran’s proxy in Yemen, are waging war on Israel—including a recent drone attack on Tel Aviv—as well as waging a war on the United States, attacking a U.S. Navy vessel in May, and conducting a wider military campaign against shipping in the Red Sea.” May be paywalled.
- Scientists Discover ‘Dark Oxygen’ on the Ocean Floor Generated—Surprisingly—by Lumps of Metal (Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine): “Twelve thousand feet under the ocean surface is a world of eternal midnight. No sunlight can penetrate to this depth to promote photosynthesis, so no plants are producing oxygen there. Yet, the life-supporting gas is abundant in this darkness-cloaked region, thanks to an unlikely oxygen factory: potato-sized, ‘battery rocks’ on the seafloor.”
- US abortion numbers have risen slightly since Roe was overturned, study finds (Geoff Mulvihill & Kimberlee Kruesi, Associated Press): “The number of women getting abortions in the U.S. actually went up in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a report released Wednesday found, reflecting the lengths that Democratic-controlled states went to expand access.”
- Related: Kamala’s Abortion Extremism (Ryan T. Anderson, First Things): “…the Democratic Party under Harris is as radically pro-abortion as it can possibly be. Short of coming out for killing toddlers, there simply is no way to be more extreme than Kamala Harris and her party now are. Kamala Harris is a hard-core ideologue—an abortion extremist—and has been since her first days as an elected official. As president, she would be no different.”
- Political or political-adjacent (the disclaimers at the bottom really matter — I didn’t write these articles, I just found them interesting and pass them along with nonpartisan intent — wait long enough and you’ll see articles making pointed observations in all directions. They’re focused one way this week because that’s how the news cycle rolled this time around):
- Are Democrats really more likely to be childless cat ladies? (Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post): “…we had no idea what our friend Julie Zauzmer Weil was getting at when she asked if there was any evidence to support the notion of the ‘childless left.’ Weil, who you’ll recognize from her tremendous tax and data stories for The Washington Post, clarified further: ‘Do Republicans have more kids than Democrats? It doesn’t seem obvious to me that it would be true.’ The simple answer, however? Yes! About 38 percent of Democrats had never had children as of 2022, compared with 26 percent of Republicans, according to the universally beloved General Social Survey from the universally beloved NORC at the University of Chicago.”
- Democratic Party’s choice of Harris was undemocratic − and the latest evidence of party leaders distrusting party voters (Daniel Klinghard, The Conversation): “But for the first time since 1968, the Democratic nominee will win the nomination without winning a single primary vote. This may not be as much of a democratic backslide as that of the previous so-called ‘mixed period.’ But it would be a culmination of the elite-oriented trends that have shaped the nominating process since 1984, in which party elites have played an increasingly large role in shaping the presidential nomination.” Recommended by a student who said “this article left me with many thoughts to chew on.”
- Five faith facts about Harris pick Tim Walz, a ‘Minnesota Lutheran’ Dad (Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service): “Walz is Lutheran.… He does not often discuss his faith publicly but has posted about attending worship during Christmas and other services at various Lutheran churches. Walz refers to Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St. Paul — a congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a mainline denomination — as ‘my parish.’ ”
- Walz’s Brand Is More Left than Lutheran Among Minnesota Evangelicals (Harvest Prude, Christianity Today): “For the average Missouri Synod member, both pastor and lay member, [Walz] absolutely will not be seen as one of us,” Hans Fiene, a Lutheran pastor in Missouri and creator of Lutheran Satire, a multimedia project to teach about the Lutheran faith, told CT. “So there won’t be any kind of situation like with Biden being a Catholic, where Catholics go, Well, he doesn’t really represent us, but he’s still a Catholic.”
- Lutheran Satire guy! Great YouTube videos.
Less Serious Things Which Also Interested/Amused Glen
- The Olympics hits hard for Americans (Dustin Nickerson, YouTube): two minutes
- Gorillas (SMBC)
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.