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.
Nothing here about Minnesota or Iran. They’re both in the news, but I haven’t yet read anything about them that I’ve found stimulating.
Things Glen Found Interesting
- The Tyranny of the Complainers (Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution): “In 2023, for example, 5059 sexual discrimination complaints came from a single individual–from a total of 8151 complaints. Thus, one individual accounted for 68.5% of all sexual discrimination complaints in that year.… These complaints have to be investigated so this single individual may be costing taxpayers millions. It’s as if a single individual were pulling a fire alarm thousands of times a year, mobilizing emergency services on demand, and never facing repercussions.”
- What I’ve Learned from Watching People Wait to Have Children (Sarah Poggi, The Free Press): “I’ve known all of this for as long as I’ve been a doctor. So have my colleagues. That’s why ob-gyn residents, despite working 80-hour weeks, are more likely to get pregnant during their training than any other medical specialists.”
- The author is a med school prof at Johns Hopkins.
- Why Suffering for Christ Is More Than Just a “Necessary Evil” (Matt Rhodes, Crossway): “You won’t go far in evangelistic conversations in the West today before someone asks you to explain the problem of theodicy: how it is that a good God could allow suffering in the world.… But we mustn’t forget that questions can be loaded. Ask a defendant in court, ‘Have you stopped beating your wife yet?’ and his lawyer is sure to object, ‘Your honor, the question presupposes my client has beaten his wife.’ The question needs to be reframed, not responded to.”
- Recommended by a student.
- Why Christians Ignore What the Bible Says About Immigrants (Russell Moore, Christianity Today): “The Bible does not give a comprehensive public policy for migration or asylum. Christians of good faith can disagree on those things. But the Bible does give a comprehensive view on what we are to think of human beings, including migrants. The church has a mission to shape consciences around how we minister to scared and vulnerable people, regardless of whether we think they should have stayed somewhere else. And Jesus has already taken the question of ‘Who is my neighbor?’ off the table…”
- Some Venezuela perspectives:
- Was Trump’s Venezuela Attack Legal? (Jeb Rubenfeld, The Free Press): “Under current U.S. doctrine and precedent, what President Donald Trump just did in Venezuela is almost certainly legal; in fact, the U.S. did the very same thing in Panama four decades ago, and the courts upheld it after years of litigation and careful consideration. But Trump’s plan to ‘run’ Venezuela for the foreseeable future, declared at a press conference earlier today, is much murkier.”
- The author is a professor at Yale Law School.
- Why the Venezuela Operation Won’t Embolden America’s Enemies (Eli Lake, The Free Press): “If anything, a precise military operation to seize a rogue tyrant in a predawn raid with no U.S. casualties will cause China and Russia to think twice about testing American power. Venezuela counted on a Russian-made air defense system that failed to stop the U.S. Air Force from dominating its airspace. That sends a chilling message to Russia and anyone who has purchased its military hardware. China had invested billions in Venezuela’s oil sector only to see the man who cut those deals arraigned this week before a U.S. federal court in Manhattan.”
- Why I Cold-Called President Trump at 4:30 in the Morning (Tyler Pager, New York Times): “I just called him directly and he picked up. I wasn’t that surprised because the president’s phone habits are pretty well-documented — he regularly picks up calls from reporters.… This is the first time I have ever called the president on his cellphone.”
- That’s a wild detail in a wild news cycle. How many reporters have Trump’s number and are just waiting for the right moment to call?
- Was Trump’s Venezuela Attack Legal? (Jeb Rubenfeld, The Free Press): “Under current U.S. doctrine and precedent, what President Donald Trump just did in Venezuela is almost certainly legal; in fact, the U.S. did the very same thing in Panama four decades ago, and the courts upheld it after years of litigation and careful consideration. But Trump’s plan to ‘run’ Venezuela for the foreseeable future, declared at a press conference earlier today, is much murkier.”
- So What If the Bible Doesn’t Mention Embryo Screening? (Brad East, Christianity Today): “Open up the glossary in the back of your Bible, and you won’t find ChatGPT, CRISPR, or IVF. There are no chapter-and-verse citations for lip fillers, egg freezing, or practical questions like the ‘right’ age to get married or the ‘ideal’ number of children.… Mature Christians, and especially pastors and whole churches, must therefore be able to give confident scriptural answers to new questions even when overt biblical teaching is lacking.”
- I hope these Friday emails are of some small service in this regard.
- The Case for Prohibiting Vice (Charles Fain Lehmann, National Affairs): “This framing of the vice issue — as a matter of permitting behavior that may be immoral but is more importantly ‘harmless’ — is so central to our public debate that both proponents and opponents articulate their criticisms in its language. They haggle about which is more harmful, vice or its prohibition.… the fact that both proponents and opponents of vice have resorted to appeals to harm actually greatly undermines the harm principle’s utility. Part of the purpose of the principle is to separate the truly damaging from the merely unliked. But the distinction, it turns out, is far less coherent than proponents once claimed.… [Vice] is intrinsically a problem, because human well-being — the good life — is always threatened by it.”
Less Serious Things Which Also Interested/Amused Glen
- Hippo Blasts Poop At Hyena (YouTube): ten seconds
- Teenager Confused How Parents Still Don’t Know Everything When It Only Took Him 16 Years (Babylon Bee)
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.