Tag: politics

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 76

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

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

  1. Some thoughts about slavery and the Bible — Does The Bible Support Slavery? (a lecture given by the warden of Tyndale House at Cambridge University, the link is to the video with notes) and Does God Condone Slavery In The Bible? (Part One — Old Testament) and also Part Two — New Testament (longer pieces from Glenn Miller at Christian Thinktank). All three are quite helpful. 
  2. Structural Racism (John Piper, Desiring God): “if your mind is Bible-saturated, you would consider it absolutely astonishing if structural racism were not pervasive wherever sin is pervasive. In other words, Bible-shaped people should expect to see structural racism almost everywhere in a fallen world.”
  3. How Methodists Invented Your Kid’s Grape Juice Sugar High (Luke Harrington, Christianity Today): why many churches use grape juice for communion.
  4. More post-election thoughts:
    1. Why Can’t I Mourn? (Kyle James Howard, personal blog): “For many, it appears that it is unacceptable for me to grieve racism and abortion equally. That for many, a Christian only has the capacity to grieve one or the other but not both.”
    2. No, the Majority of American Evangelicals Did Not Vote for Trump (Joe Carter, Gospel Coalition): you may recall that I suggested something similar in last week’s email — here’s a wide-ranging explanation. There is no doubt more to be said on this.
    3. You Are Still Crying Wolf (Scott Alexander, SlateStarCodex): “I realize that all of this is going to make me sound like a crazy person and put me completely at odds with every respectable thinker in the media, but luckily, being a crazy person at odds with every respectable thinker in the media has been a pretty good ticket to predictive accuracy lately, so whatever.” This is a long and detailed argument that Trump is not racist (or at least not more racist than lots of people). I was surprised at how well it held my interest. See also Ross Douthat’s insightful twitter critique of the article. For a contrary point of view (sort of — it’s less about Trump and more about what Trump signifies), see Racism Probably Is Getting Worse. (I Hope I’m Wrong.) (Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg View). If you read one, read all three.
    4. Stunned By Trump, The New York Times Finds Time For Some Soul-Searching (Michael Cieply, Deadspin): “By and large, talented reporters scrambled to match stories with what internally was often called ‘the narrative.’ We were occasionally asked to map a narrative for our various beats a year in advance, square the plan with editors, then generate stories that fit the pre-designated line.” This piece is important and depressing.
    5. The coalition for diversity whose diversity did diversity just win? (Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution): do not let the confusing title put you off. Cowen argues that the Republicans are in some senses significantly more diverse than the Democrats.
    6. #NeverTrump And President Trump (Jake Meador, Mere Orthodoxy): “The church’s greatest theologians have long said that a properly Christian commonwealth will be concerned not with the greater good—the most good for the most people—or with the private good of Christians alone, but with the common good.”
    7. How covering the Redskins name debate prepared me for Donald Trump’s win (Dan Steinberg, Washington Post): “They told me that media Twitter wasn’t the real world, that it created a phony idea of consensus for a stance that wasn’t actually ascendant. And they argued that a politically correct onslaught from big-city elites would only strengthen their convictions.”
    8. Donald Trump can absolutely ban Muslims from entering the US, without Congress (Zack Beauchamp, Vox): “I [asked] several experts on US immigration law. Their answer was unanimous: Trump would be able to implement his ban. In fact, he would be able to do it easily.” I didn’t know the president had this power. Surprising given our system of checks and balances.
    9. The Culture That Created Donald Trump Was Liberal Not Conservative (Jim Lewis, The Intercept): “Liberals were sure the devil would come slouching out of Alabama or Texas, beating a bible and shouting about sodomy and sin. They didn’t expect him to be a businessman who lives on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street.” This is something I saw alluded to in the primaries but haven’t seen mentioned in a while. 

Things Glen Found Amusing

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.

Things Glen Found Interesting — Election Edition (vol 75)

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

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 — Election Edition

Before I say anything else, I feel the need to say I didn’t have an agenda when selecting these articles other than trying to understand what happened and what it means. I’m not trying to make a case for or against anyone — I just want some insight.

The Election: What Happened?

  1. Few predicted Trump had a good shot of winning. But political science models did. (Andrew Prokop, Vox). Social scientists — believe in your discipline! 
  2. How Half Of America Lost It’s F**king Mind (David Wong, Cracked): If you can’t understand how people voted for Trump, read this. Apologies for the language, but I seriously think this piece should be considered for a Pulitzer. 
  3. The smug style in American liberalism (Emmitt Rensin, Vox): “If the smug style can be reduced to a single sentence, it’s, Why are they voting against their own self-interest? But no party these past decades has effectively represented the interests of these dispossessed. Only one has made a point of openly disdaining them too.” This is an older piece which turned out to have strong predictive value. Shared by a student. There is one factual error I feel obliged to point out: Kim Davis won. She got what she wanted. It’s revealing that even someone sympathetic like Rensin doesn’t seem to realize that. 
  4. Further Thoughts: How Social Justice Ideology Fuels Racism and Sexism (Alastair Roberts, blog): “the overreach of progressive liberals, who are chronically out of touch with social and natural reality, has played a prominent part in provoking the rise of a movement that is resistant to shame and guilt, as these had formerly been weaponized to control them.”
  5. What This Means, How This Happened, What To Do Now (Nathan Robinson, Current Affairs): “Progressives need to understand how people who are different from them think. No more writing them off as racist and deplorable. Even if they are, what good does that do? You need to understand racists not so you can sympathize with them, but so you can figure out what shapes people’s beliefs, and help them reach different beliefs.”
  6. The Age Of Acceptable Lies (Mike Cosper, Gospel Coalition): “In other words, we don’t want Trump to be a misogynist, since it undermines our ability to vote for him. So his words find new interpretations. Or we don’t want Hillary to have a record of disregard for both the rule of law and policies that protect national security. So we don’t believe her email scandal means anything. Or we don’t want the Bible to say hard things about sexuality. So we don’t believe it does.” This article is about something broader than but germane to the election. Read this one even if you skip most articles in this section.

Thoughts From People Who Voted For Trump
I have overheard several people asking how anyone could have voted for Trump. Here are a few first-person accounts.

  1. Bethel Church’s Bill Johnson: Why I Voted For Donald Trump (Bill Johnson, Gospel Herald) 
  2. Donald Trump Key To Isaiah 45 Prophecy? (Lance Wallnau, Charisma News): I’ve heard more than one person reference this idea.
  3. After much prayer and soul-searching, I have reluctantly decided to vote for the Trump-Pence ticket. Here’s why. (Joel Rosenberg, personal blog)
  4. I Am  (Cassie Hewlett, personal blog). The title is not a religious reference. A student shared this one with me.

Implications / Consequences Of The Election

  1. What Trump Might Mean For The Economy (Christos Makridis, Fast Company): yes, that’s our Christos. Proud of the way you put your scholarship out there for the public, man. Keep it up!
  2. Two Concerns for the Religious Right Under President Trump (Colin Hansen, Gospel Coalition): “First, many evangelical leaders had lost touch with the rest of the movement. And second, the rest of the movement had lost touch with the concerns with their minority brothers and sisters.” If you only read one thing in this section, read this.
  3. 4 Problems Associated With White Evangelical Support Of Donald Trump (Thabiti Anyabwile, Gospel Coalition): one significant caveat about both this and the previous article — I expect that the 80% statistic will dwindle under more careful investigation. Consistently in the polls before the election there was a marked difference between people who self-identified as evangelical and those who actually attended evangelical churches. The 80% number is about the former. We don’t yet have data on the latter.
  4. A rash of racist attacks have broken out in the US after Donald Trump’s victory (Heather Timmons, Quartz): very distressing. Serious question: how many racist attacks are there on a daily basis in America? I’m wondering what the comparative uptick is.
  5. Why some fear this election’s lasting damage to American Christianity (Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post): “When reports emerge about whom evangelicals voted for, they usually mean ‘white evangelicals,’ glossing over a growing racial division within Christianity.”
  6. Trump Won. Here’s How 20 Evangelical Leaders Feel. (Christianity Today): this is well worth reading and not that long.
  7. Don’t Expect The Supreme Court To Change Much (Cass Sunstein, Bloomberg View): Sunstein is a Harvard Law professor.
  8. The Election Is Over. Let’s Get Political (Jonathan Leeman, Gospel Coalition): “Every week, our congregations gather as embassies of heaven. Every week, our pastors make a political speech, and we go out as ambassadors with a political message. ‘The King offers pardon for every rebel who would repent!’”

Other News That Caught My Eye

  1. China’s plan to organize its society relies on ‘big data’ to rate everyone (Simon Denyer, Washington Post): this is the most terrifying thing I’ve read all week. I mentioned this to a Chinese citizen and she said she’d only heard about it from Americans and was skeptical it would happen as described.
  2. Vatican Blinded to Reality in Venezuela (Francis Rooney, Real Clear Religion): “As the crisis spirals out of control, Venezuela is in danger of becoming this hemisphere’s Syria.”

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.

Some Thoughts About The Election

This is an email I sent to the students in my ministry the morning following the 2016 presidential election:

I would like to say something to the despondent and the jubilant: the despondent should not be too despondent and the jubilant should not be too jubilant.

To The Despondent:

You just woke up and feel as though you woke up in a different country than the one you thought you lived in. You feel as though you don’t belong. I want to encourage you: this will pass. There are rarely permanent defeats in politics. You will get another try at the presidency in four years and at the legislative branch in two years. Remember when Obama rode into office? The Democrats had the House, the Senate, and the Executive Branch along with most state gubernatorial and legislative offices. The days of the Republican party seemed over, yet now the Republicans have usurped the Democrats in every one of those roles. Your turn will come again. Be patient.

A few practical pieces of advice for you in the meanwhile:

1) If you did not register to vote, do it now while you’re motivated. It will not take much time and is one of the few productive things you can actually do right now.

2) You may be tempted to blame the other side’s victory on the basest of motives. The other side is racist. The other side is misogynistic. The other side is driven by hate. Please hear this: they don’t think they are. “But they are — I know it!” Even if you are right that there are vile motives floating around inside their souls, you will not change their minds by pointing that out. Instead, you must understand your opponents in order to persuade them. If you are genuinely shocked that a large chunk of Americans are afraid of the Democratic party and what it would have done with four to eight more years of power, you need to read more widely.  Add to your reading list authors such as Mollie Hemingway, Ross Douthat, Thomas Sowell, Matthew Lee Anderson, Russell Moore, Rod Dreher, and David French. If you use Twitter, follow each of them. If you don’t, pay attention to their writings. They pop up from time to time in the Friday emails I send out — begin deliberately reading the entries you think you’ll disagree with. Also, consider watching Fox News from time to time.

3) Pray. This is something you will have a chance to do at Chi Alpha tonight. #justsaying

To The Jubilant:

It’s a good feeling when your side wins. Enjoy the moment, but recognize how ephemeral it is. Whenever one party sweeps into power across multiple branches of government, corruption and infighting ensues. Your team is likely in for a rough time two years from now in the midterm elections and will face a serious challenge four years down the road.

A few practical pieces of advice for you:

1) Recognize that some of your friends are genuinely terrified right now. People who are made in God’s image — some of whom are your brothers and sisters in Christ — are in pain. Be empathetic. Even if you think that their emotions are overblown, acknowledge that their emotions are real.

2) Prepare for disappointment. Politicians rarely deliver what you hoped for. The Democrats didn’t deliver immigration reform when Obama was in office even though the Democrats held the House and the Senate. The Republicans will almost certainly get bogged down on issues that later prove to be inconsequential and as a result will let some of your highest priorities slip out of their grasp. Two years is not that long and Republican officials will refuse to believe that’s probably all the time they have.

To Everyone:

Yesterday America elected a president for the next four years, but we know the King who reigns forever. So acknowledge the president, “but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord” (1 Peter 3:15a).

Remember Philippians 3:20: “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Elections matter, but eternity matters more. Keep perspective today and always.

God bless and I hope to see you at worship tonight. I’ll talk more about these things there and we will pray.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 74

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

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

  1. Men Are More Likely to Be Sexually Attracted to Their Opposite-Sex Friends (Drake Baer, Science of Us): “the study found that guys are more likely to define a female friend as ‘a member of the opposite sex to whom I am attracted and would pursue given the opportunity’ and ladies to define their opposite-sex friends as simply ‘a friend of the opposite sex.’” For an amusing take on this idea, see this three-minute video (it’s got over 9 million views).
  2. The New Evangelical Moral Minority (Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker): this is a well-written essay focusing on the Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore, of whom I am a huge fan and with whom I usually agree. Highly recommended, although the author’s snark shows through occasionally. The author, incidentally, is the son of famed Christian missiologist Lamin Sanneh.
  3. In Love and Marriage, Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect (Scott Stanley, Psychology Today):  “We found that having more sexual and cohabiting partners before marriage is associated with lower relationship quality once married. In particular, having only ever lived with or had sex with one’s spouse was associated with higher marital quality.” The author is a research professor at the University of Denver. The research upon which this article was based is available here.
  4. Positive Parenting is Ideal, But Many Children Need Time-Outs, Too (Robert Larzelere, Institute For Family Studies): “Yes, the worst outcomes were for the type of authoritarian parenting that Dr. Coulson opposes, which can be defined as strict enforcement without love. But the second-worst 10-year outcomes were for overly permissive parents…” When we sing that God is a good, good Father we should should remember we are celebrating the fact that he both encourages and disciplines. 
  5. North Korea’s War On Christianity: The Globe’s Number One Religious Persecutor (Doug Bandow, Forbes): “[Christian Solidarity Worldwide] reports documented cases of believers being ‘hung on a cross over a fire, crushed under a steamroller, herded off bridges, and trampled underfoot.’”
  6. The Case Against Democracy (Caleb Craine, The New Yorker): I’m a monarchist, truth be told. In the Kingdom I call home we don’t get a vote, but we welcome anyone who wishes to immigrate. Join us! #kingjesus  

Things Glen Found Amusing

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.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 73

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

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

  1. Here is the 2010 article I mentioned in my sermon: Study of the therapeutic effects of proximal intercessory prayer (STEPP) on auditory and visual impairments in rural Mozambique (Google scholar link). And the book I mentioned, Miracles by Craig Keener, is in Green Library at BS2548 .K44 2011. 
  2. The Burial Place Of Jesus Exposed For The First Time In Centuries: An Interview On What It Originally Looked Like And How We Know This Is The Right Location (Justin Taylor, Gospel Coalition): “Readers might wonder, though, how we know this is really the place Jesus was buried…. What does the Bible say? How about archaeology? Do we know what first-century tombs looked like? How big were these tombs?”
  3. Papyrus offers nonbiblical mention of Judean kingdom in Jerusalem (Michael Chabin, Religion News Service): “Israeli archaeologists have unveiled the earliest known nonbiblical Hebrew-language reference to Jerusalem, dating back to the time of the First Temple in the seventh century B.C.” Note that there is some controversy about the papyrus. 
  4. Neither Trump Nor Clinton Is The End Of The Republic (Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic): “[America] survived chattel slavery that made a mockery of founding principles, Shay’s Rebellion, the Whiskey Insurrection, the burning of its capital by the British, the Trail of Tears, The Dred Scott decision, the aforementioned civil war, the assassinations of presidents, Plessy vs. Ferguson, an imperialist foray into the Philippines, the Espionage and Sedition Acts, a flu pandemic that killed 20 million worldwide and an estimated 675,000 Americans, the Great Depression, the global rise of fascism, World War II, an expansionist Communist dictatorship with nuclear weapons that infiltrated the U.S. government, Jim Crow, Watergate, urban riots, the Sexual Revolution, and the September 11 attacks. But now it’s all over [because of this election].” See also Friedersdorf’s article How  Millions Of Good People Can Vote Differently Than You Will.
  5. The Unintended Consequences of Law (Joe Bosquin, Builder): “Large, sweeping statutes like Prop 13 have consequences that continue to manifest decades after they are passed. In this case, it’s a dearth of entry-level housing.”

Things Glen Found Amusing

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.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 72

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. 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.”
  4. The Guilt-free Gospel of Donald Trump (Daniel Burke, CNN): a helpful explanation of Trump’s religious beliefs.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.”
  7. 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

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.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 71

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

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

  1. Set Our Hearts On Fire Again (Zac Hicks, Desiring God) : “Christ-centered worship [is] a cyclical process of two actions. Let’s call those actions displacement and replacement.” This one was recommended by a student. The real meat is the last half.
  2. The Shift from Authority to Preference—And Its Consequences for the Church (Os Guinness, 9 Marks): This is long but worthwhile. “in today’s world, freedom of conscience is confused with freedom of choice and therefore rendered dutiless and shorn of its rights.”
  3. A Fight In The Leper Colony (Doug Wilson, personal blog): “what we [have] is a vile woman running against a vile man, and we must choose between them, God says, because we are a vile people. We get a presidential campaign between a corruptocrat and a clown, and this is because God has now narrowed our choice down to what would best represent this stiff-necked generation.” For a more gentle approach, see Joe Carter’s insightful Why Evangelicals Are Divided Over Trump and the interview with Russell Moore titled The Evangelical Civil War.
  4. The New Culture Of Life (Ruth Graham, Slate): “In conversations over the past several weeks with activists and other young people who care deeply about ending abortion, I found many who are skeptical of the movement’s long-held ties to the GOP and the Christian right. Instead, they are using the language of feminism, human rights, and the Black Lives Matter movement to make their case for a new culture of life.”
  5. China targets parents with religion rules in Xinjiang (Al Jazeera): a take on China’s religious crackdown from a Muslim perspective. “While China officially guarantees freedom of religion, minors are not supposed to participate in religious activity.” 
  6. Real Insights About Pornography and Marriage (Nick Wolfinger, blog): “Even more curious is the role of religion. Porn only seems to threaten marital stability for couples who don’t attend church regularly” (emphasis added). The author is a professor of sociology.
  7. Human Rights Campaign threatens Johns Hopkins over New Atlantis “Sexuality and Gender” report (Al Mohler, The Briefing): “One of the things Christians must keep in mind is that science is a human endeavor. Science simply doesn’t exist independent of, well, scientists, that is human beings. It isn’t some kind of independent authority…. That is to say, there is no such thing as a science that is free of ideology when it comes to human beings, after all, studying themselves.”

Things Glen Found Amusing

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.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 70

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

On Fridays I share articles/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

This edition is coming out early in the morning because I’m about to hop on a plane to preach at a retreat in Virginia. Your prayers for fruitful ministry are appreciated!

Things Glen Found Interesting

  1. Red Tape: China Wants To Constrict Christian Activities With 26 New Rules (Sarah Zylstra, Christianity Today): there are interesting parallels between the way Stanford regulates students and how states such as China and Russia regulate their citizens. #seriouslytho
  2. How Christianity Flourishes (Jared Wilson, Gospel Coalition): “I cannot find anywhere in the New Testament where it teaches Christians how to be a majority presence in the world.”
  3.  Jonah Goldberg On Why He Won’t Vote For Hilary or Trump (Seth Stevenson, Slate): the Solzhenitsyn quote alone makes the article worthwhile.
  4. Why Believing In Miracles Could Be Hazardous To Your Health (David Briggs, Washington Post): if you think medicine and faith are opposed to each other, you have bad theology. Matthew 9:12 seems relevant.
  5. Don’t Take A Test On A Hot, Polluted Day (Alex Tabbarok, Marginal Revolution): “I find both of these results hard to believe which doesn’t necessarily mean that they shouldn’t be believed.”
  6. Is globalization bad for the global poor? This study ran an experiment to find out. (Vox): “Something as complicated as globalization is never going to be just good or just bad. We need to divide the good and the bad, and figure out how to address the latter without eliminating the former.”
  7. Undoing Insularity: A Small Study of Gender Sociology’s Big Problem (Charlotta Stern, Econ Journal Watch): “gender sociology insulates its sacred beliefs from ideas that challenge those beliefs, even when the challenging ideas are very well-grounded. The sacred beliefs are to the effect that the biological differences between the sexes are minor and that the cultural differences between (or among) the genders are the result of social processes and have little basis in biological differences.”

Things Glen Found Amusing

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.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 69

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

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

  1. How To Pray A Psalm (Justin Taylor, Gospel Coalition): prayer life need a boost? Give this a try. 
  2. A College Is A Community But It Cannot Be A Home (Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic): forget college. This whole world is not your home — 1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 13:14.
  3. Is Plagiarism A Sin? (Gervase Markham, personal blog): this is well-argued and raises issues I had not considered before.
  4. Split Over Donald Trump and Cut Off by Culture Wars, Evangelicals Despair (Laurie Goodstein, NY Times): an unusually perceptive piece from the often oblivious-to-religion New York Times.
  5. Science Denialism: Pot. Kettle. Black. (David Heddle, personal blog): a nuclear physicist gives an stimulating summary of cosmological fine-tuning and how both theists and skeptics often misunderstand it.
  6. Economic Freedom and Religion: An Empirical Investigation (SSRN): “Our cross-sectional dataset includes 137 countries averaged over the period 2001–2010. Simple correlations show that Protestantism is associated with economic freedom, Islam is not, with Catholicism in between.”
  7. Can Islam and Liberalism Coexist? (Isaac Chotiner, Slate): an absolutely fascinating interview with Shadi Hamid. “During the course of our conversation… we discussed why liberals have trouble taking religion seriously, the future of Islamist politics in Turkey and Egypt, and what the rise of Donald Trump has meant for American Muslims.”

Things Glen Found Amusing

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.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 67

1 Chronicles 12:32 - they "understood the times"
1 Chronicles 12:32 — they “understood the times”

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

  1. Icebreakers Are Terrible. They Also, Unfortunately, Work Really Well (Cari Romm, NY Magazine): “Is there any value to making a roomful of people miserable with false cheer? Psychologist Anton Villado is adamant that the answer is yes, and that icebreakers don’t have to be pleasant to be effective.” Relevant for the start of the school year.
  2. Religion in US ‘worth more than Google and Apple combined’ (Harriet Sherwood, The Guardian): “the sums spent by religious organisations on social programmes have tripled in the past 15 years, to $9bn. Twenty of the top 50 charities in the US are faith-based, with a combined operating revenue of $45.3bn.” There’s some excellent commentary on this at Crux.
  3. The First Country to Officially Defend Christians Persecuted by ISIS (World Watch Monitor at Christianity Today): It’s Hungary. Hungary’s Minister for Human Resources said, “Today, Christianity has become the most persecuted religion, where out of five people killed [for] religious reasons, four of them are Christians.… In 81 countries around the world, Christians are persecuted, and 200 million Christians live in areas where they are discriminated against.”
  4. Why Not a College Degree in Sports? (Roger Pielke Jr., NY Times): “Beyond our cultural biases, what really is the difference between a Shakespeare play, an orchestra concert and a basketball game? Each performance requires some high-level combination of physical ability and mental acuity, developed through years of training and study, and for which only a select few reach elite levels.” There is a similar article back in issue 44.
  5. Time For A Realignment (NY Times, David Brooks): “There’s a good chance many of you will be switching political parties over the next 15 years.” This is true both for the reasons Brooks mentions and also because some of you will change your minds.
  6. The world will only get weirder (Steven Coast, personal blog): “We fixed all the main reasons aircraft crash a long time ago. Sometimes a long, long time ago. So, we are left with the less and less probable events.” The piece is a few years old so the examples are dated, but it remains very intriguing.

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.