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.
As the year comes to a close, remember that this post is the overflow of a nonprofit ministry. Compiling these links is something I do for the students I minister to at Stanford University, sharing it here is just me making it available more broadly. You can donate to support the ministry if you are ever so inclined (you can even make gifts via a DAF or with stock). Don’t give to pay for the content — it only takes me five minutes a week to take the email I send to the Chi Alpha students and reformat it for this platform. If you choose to give, give because you believe in the mission of reaching Stanford students with a thoughtful gospel message.
And that’s the last time I’ll share about that here until next December.
Whether you choose to give or not, I hope this email blesses you and helps you think about God and our world more clearly.
Things Glen Found Interesting
- Gift link: What We Get Wrong About Christian Nationalism (Molly Worthen, New York Times): “I got a taste of this variety and disagreement when I visited King’s Park International Church in Durham, N.C. Christians there look for God to heal the sick, reveal prophetic messages and perform other signs and wonders. The stranger thing, perhaps, is that both Republicans and Democrats attend. The church’s 120 elders, deacons and employees are split ‘about half and half, Republican and Democrat,’ Reggie Roberson, the pastor, told me. The several hundred people who worship at King’s Park on an average Sunday are a mix of races, national backgrounds, ages and income levels.”
- Worth a read. Dr. Worthen is, of course, a well-known adult convert to Christianity. While she writes positively about charismatic Christians here, she herself is more of a Southern Baptist. She’s a professor of history at UNC.
- Gift link: Christianity Is a Dangerous Faith (David French, New York Times): “There is an unspoken implication that people would actually like Christians if we behaved more like Christ. But no. That’s demonstrably wrong. It’s true that people want to receive love and compassion, and that when they encounter Christians who love them and serve them, they tend to like them. Many people do not, however, appreciate it when a Christian loves and serves their enemies. They absolutely do not like it when a Christian refuses to join their political crusade.”
- Some international Christmas stories:
- This Christmas will be even harder for China’s Christians (Christian Shepherd and Huiyee Chiew, Washington Post): “While Zion has faced the most pressure, about half a dozen other unregistered churches have been subject to police raids as well. Last week, hundreds of police officers in riot gear descended on a small town in Zhejiang province and arrested two local pastors and dozens of Christians, according to videos and accounts of the incident shared with The Washington Post.… ‘The government is inherently suspicious of religious communities, especially Christian groups,’ said Karrie Koesel, an associate professor specializing in Chinese politics and religion at the University of Notre Dame. Beijing views organized religion that promotes an alternative worldview and ‘answers to a higher power’ as potentially an existential threat to its grip on power, Koesel said. Churches, mosques and other places of worship have faced intense pressure to accept strict government oversight. State-approved religious leaders must submit their sermons and publications for approval to ensure that they teach the ‘correct understanding’ of theology.”
- Gaza’s tiny Christian community tries to capture the holiday spirit during the ceasefire (Mariam Fam, Associated Press): “Tarazi and much of the rest of Gaza’s tiny Palestinian Christian community are trying to capture some of the season’s spirit despite the destruction and uncertainty that surround them. He clings to hope and the faith that he said has seen him through the war. ‘I feel like our joy over Christ’s birth must surpass all the bitterness that we’ve been through,’ he said. He’s been sheltering for more than two years at the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza.… He prays for peace and freedom for the Palestinian people. ‘Our faith and our joy over Christ’s birth are stronger than all circumstances,’ he said.”
- How the Bible Helped Smash the Crown (Meir Soloveichik, The Free Press): “Our politics is consumed by culture wars linked to religion—religious freedom is a subject dominating debates in the Supreme Court. But the fact remains that shorn of biblical faith, no cogent explanation can be given for the doctrine of equality that lies at the heart of the American creed. Indeed, the other sources of antiquity to which the Founders turned for inspiration—the philosophers of Greece and the statesmen of Rome—denied human equality and held a worldview that there were those destined to rule and others born to serve.”
- Discovering God in Hamas tunnels, hostages led a national trend (Dina Kraft, Christian Science Monitor): “Several recent studies in Israel back up anecdotal evidence of an uptick in religious connection in response to Oct. 7 and the war that followed. In a poll by Hiddush, an organization that advocates for the separation of religion and state, 25% of respondents said those seminal events strengthened their faith in God. Fifty-five percent said they had not impacted their faith, and 7% said they had weakened it. Researchers at The Hebrew University found in a survey of students that one-third experienced an increase in spirituality, while 9% said it decreased.”
- The diversity overcorrection in the workplace (Megan McArdle, Washington Post): “For some mysterious reason, people consistently overestimate the minority share of the population, which made the Whiteness of newsrooms, Hollywood studios and academic departments look more unfair than it was.… even if [there had not been past discrimination], newsrooms, writer’s rooms and classrooms would have been very White because most Americans born in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were White. I suspect people forgot about these cohort effects because so much of the DEI discourse came up around college admissions, where diversity can be achieved relatively speedily: admit a racially balanced class four years in a row, and voilà , you ‘look like America.’ But a large corporate employer often has a workforce spanning 40 years, not four. Rebalancing that through representative hiring would take decades. The DEI champions didn’t want to wait that long.”
- McArdle’s point about the difference between corporations and universities is an important one. It also explains why undergraduate populations are far more diverse than university faculty and administrations.
- Gift link: The Truth Physics Can No Longer Ignore (Adam Frank, The Atlantic): “To truly understand living systems as self-organized, autonomous agents, physicists need to abandon their ‘just the particles, ma’am’ mentality. One of physicists’ great talents—starting with the laws of simple parts (such as atoms) and working up to a complex whole—cannot fully account for cells, animals, or people.”
- The author is an astrophysicist at the University of Rochester.
Less Serious Things Which Also Interested/Amused Glen
- Jesus In Home Alone (YouTube): three minutes, shared with me by an alumnus. Worth pondering.
- Book Titles (SMBC)
- ‘I Hate You, Too’ — OpEd By Your Printer (Babylon Bee)
- China mall installs glass windows on men’s toilet doors that turn transparent when users smoke (Fran Lu, South China Morning Post): “The glass uses a special technology that is normally opaque and cuts off the power in a few seconds after it detects smoke, making the glass transparent. The shopping centres ensure that bathroom users are aware of the function with a notice on the door that says: “The glass will turn transparent if you smoke. Hold your urge to smoke if you do not want to become famous online.â€
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 understandâ€) 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.