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 68

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. Missionaries are struggling to work under new Russia law banning proselytizing (Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post): “A month after the restrictions went into effect on July 20, at least seven people had been charged under it…  The list includes a Baptist preacher from the United States who was charged with holding religious services in his home and advertising them on public bulletin boards. He was convicted and fined, but he is appealing the case.”
  2. ‘Hillsong’ Casts a Secular Lens on an Evangelical Band (NY Times, Joe Coscarelli): “Hillsong’s creative director… described embracing the rock-star exposure as ‘trying to draw attention to yourself for the sole premise of drawing attention away from yourself’ — to God.”
  3. 7 Books on the White-Black Racial Divide You Should Read (Ivan Mesa, Gospel Coalition): because you don’t have enough books to read at Stanford.
  4. We Gave Four Good Pollsters the Same Raw Data. They Had Four Different Results. (NY Times, Nate Cohn): “Well, well, well. Look at that. A net five-point difference between the five measures, including our own, even though all are based on identical data. Remember: There are no sampling differences in this exercise.” I didn’t know this at all. Wow. We know less about the election than we thought.
  5. “If you are a very talented person, you have a choice: You either go to New York or you go to Silicon Valley.” (Peter Thiel said it, and this link is to an op-ed by Aaron Renn in a Chicago paper defending it.) For a contrary take, read this comment from Marginal Revolution.
  6. No, We Shouldn’t Start Worrying About Global Inequality — Poverty’s The Problem (Forbes, Tim Worstall): “[Reducing inequality is] a bad goal. One reason being that rich people getting poorer reduces inequality. And if inequality reduction is our goal then we should therefore welcome such things as recessions.” Found on a student’s twitter feed.
  7. What If Evolution Bred Reality Out Of Us? (NPR, Adam Frank): reading this called to mind something Chesterton observed way back in 1908:

    It is idle to talk always of the alternative of reason and faith. Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all. If you are merely a sceptic, you must sooner or later ask yourself the question, “Why should ANYTHING go right; even observation and deduction? Why should not good logic be as misleading as bad logic? They are both movements in the brain of a bewildered ape?” The young sceptic says, “I have a right to think for myself.” But the old sceptic, the complete sceptic, says, “I have no right to think for myself. I have no right to think at all.” — Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton

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.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 66

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. “Me too” social science is not fighting inequality (Kevin T. Leicht, Work in Progress): an article about how academics can improve society. The author is a sociologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
  2. U.S. investigating potential covert Russian plan to disrupt November elections (Dana Priest, Ellen Nakashima and Tom Hamburger, Washington Post): “U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are investigating what they see as a broad covert Russian operation in the United States to sow public distrust in the upcoming presidential election and in U.S. political institutions, intelligence and congressional officials said.” The 2016 elections will make an amazing television series a generation from now. 
  3. The Idle Army: America’s Unworking Men (Nicolas Eberstadt, Wall Street Journal): the author doesn’t say it here, but video games and pornography are huge enablers of this phenomenon. This is one of those trends that everyone will be talking about in 10–15 years.
  4. You are not your brain: Why a head transplant is not what you think it is (Charles Camosy, Religion News Service): this was mind-blowing. Pun intended. With me, the pun is always intended.
  5. How A Cakemaker Became An Enemy Of The State (David Harsyani, The Federalist): “Christians are regularly compared to Southern segregationists and racists, when in reality the comparison is best reversed. Yes, the power of Jim Crow reflected popular will, but it was sanctioned by the state. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission is similarly empowered by the state to use its arbitrary power to destroy the reputations, businesses, and lives of those who happen to offend their sensibilities.” See also the alarming comments of the US Commission on Civil Rights Chairman.
  6. Reverse Voxsplaining: Drugs vs. Chairs (SlateStarCodex, the author is a doctor who writes under pseudonym). This was a stimulating piece about the EpiPen controversy to which Vox had a rejoinder to which the author offered a surrejoinder.  Informative and full of provocative statements such as “prescription drug price regulation would cost one billion life-years, which would very slightly edge out Communist China for the title of Worst Thing Ever.” For an interesting unrelated-yet-related companion piece, see the brief Two “The Rest of the Story” Stories (Alex Tabbarok, Marginal Revolution).
  7. What Does The Bible Say About Transgenderism? (Kevin DeYoung., Gospel Coalition): “We understand that following Christ means dying to ourselves (Matt. 16:24), being renewed in our minds (Rom. 12:2), and no longer walking as we once did (Eph. 4:17–18). Being ‘true to ourselves’ is always a false choice when it means going against God’s Word.”
  8. Porn Is Bad (Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, The Week): “It took decades to recognize smoking for the public health disaster that it is, and to finally get a grip on it societally. Although porn doesn’t cause cancer, there’s good evidence that it does destroy lives and families.”

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 65

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. The health effects of religious service attendance (reddit AMA): the researcher, Tyler VanderWeele, is a Harvard professor and a believer. You can see his Veritas talks here.
  2. If you’re not a sports person, you may not know that the San Francicso 49’s quarterback recently refused to stand for the national anthem because America is unjust. Controversy ensued. Two alumni shared relevant articles: Colin Kaepernick Is Righter Than You Know: The National Anthem Is a Celebration of Slavery and the saltier Why I’ll Never Stand Again For ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’. Doug Wilson offered good insights at The Seated Colin Kaepernick. See also Be Useful (A Post About Colin Kaepernik) by Scott Adams and Insulting Colin Kaepernick Says More About Our Patriotism Than His by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. For a contrary view, see Colin Kaepernick, Meet Henry Johnson (David French, National Review).
  3. Framed. (Christopher Goffard, LA Times): this is one of the craziest things I have read all year. Highly recommended. Heads up: there is a Stanford connection in the story and it is not a positive one.
  4. What science really has to say about sexuality and gender (Joe Carter, ERLC): this is a readable summary of a 144 page PDF written by Paul McHugh (a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins) and Lawrence Mayer (an biostatistician at Arizona State). From the original article: “Sexual orientation and gender identity resist explanation by simple theories. There is a large gap between the certainty with which beliefs are held about these matters and what a sober assessment of the science reveals.”
  5. How The Catholic Church Documented Mother Teresa’s 2 Miracles (Tom Gjelten, NPR): “The group reasoned that if Duffin, as an atheist, found there was no scientific reason the woman should have recovered, who could doubt it was a miracle? In fact, after her investigation of the woman’s recovery, Duffin agreed that the woman’s healing was — for lack of a better word — miraculous.” The Pope and I disagree about a lot of things (including saints), but I have long been impressed with the way the Catholic Church critically evaluates miracles.
  6. FBI Says Foreign Hackers Penetrated State Election Systems (Michael Isikoff, Yahoo News): I am convinced we are way more vulnerable on this front than most people know.
  7. The Sneaky Program To Spy On Baltimore From Above (Conor Friederdorf, The Atlantic): “In reality, unlike in 1984, Big Brother may watch for awhile without revealing that there is a Big Brother.”
  8. Waiting To Die (Michael Patton): well worth your time.

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 64

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. Students seem upset about Stanford’s new alcohol policy. Check out this Harvard prof’s NY Times op-ed from 1989 arguing Actually, Prohibition Was a Success. For the record, I think the new policy is a step in the right direction. I stand by my earlier comments and am also amused at how similar the arguments I hear today are to those I heard back in 2003.
  2. Kayla Mueller in Captivity: Courage, Selflessness as She Defended Christian Faith to ISIS Executioner ‘Jihadi John’ (James Gordon Meek, Megan Christie, Brian Epstein, Brian Ross, ABC News): a powerful and disturbing story. Doctors Without Borders comes off badly.
  3. How USA Today unraveled Ryan Lochte’s Rio drama (Kristen Hare, Poynter): An insightful window into journalism and why we should trust news coverage a little less than we think. Lochte still doesn’t come out looking awesome, but neither does he look like the outrageous villain many assumed (and seemed delighted to see him as). Proverbs 18:17 wins again.
  4. Sex on campus isn’t what you think: what 101 student journals taught me (Lisa Wade, The Guardian): “Hookup culture prevails, even though it serves only a minority of students, because cultures don’t reflect what is, but a specific group’s vision of what should be….  [it] isn’t what the majority of students want, it’s the privileging of the sexual lifestyle most strongly endorsed by those with the most power on campus, the same people we see privileged in every other part of American life.”
  5. On David Gushee’s Dishonesty (Jake Meador, Mere Orthodoxy): this is a fascinating essay with surprising insights about the role of grammar in political argumentation. Really.
  6. Evangelicals For Trump: In Power or Persecuted (S.D. Kelly, Christ and Pop Culture): “Not only do most evangelicals not believe they are the center of power, they consider themselves to be one wedding cake away from jail time.” 
  7. Given the perpetual Bay Area housing crisis, I found these articles stimulating: Laissez-Faire in Tokyo Land Use and the follow-up The Japanese Zoning System (both by George Mason University econ professor Alex Tabarrok): “Japan’s zoning laws are more rational, more efficient and fairer than those used in the United States.”

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 63

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 Can I Learn To Receive — And Give — Criticism In Light Of The Cross? (Justin Taylor, Gospel Coalition): “A believer is one who identifies with all that God affirms and condemns in Christ’s crucifixion. In other words, in Christ’s cross I agree with God’s judgment of me; and in Christ’s cross I agree with God’s justification of me. Both have a radical impact on how we take and give criticism.” This is based on a longer article (4 page PDF).
  2. The Watchmen (Alan Jacobs, Harpers): this essay takes a while to get going, but once it does it is quite good. And this response piece by Jake Meador is even better: Francis Schaeffer and Christian Intellectualism.
  3. Report: Average Christian’s Strategy To Fight Sin Comprised Of Binge-Watching Netflix Shows (Babylon Bee): Babylon Bee is, of course, humor. This one was so real I decided to put it under the news section. On a related note, see America’s Lost Boys.
  4. The End of the Liberal Tradition? (Mark L. Movsesian, First Things) and Trump’s Good Political Timing: Younger Americans Are Shunning Democracy (Catherine Rampbell, Washington Post): this is, frankly, terrifying. Probably also an inevitable consequence of our culture abandoning the Christian belief in depravity.
  5. What The Hell Is Wrong With The National Media? (Rod Dreher, The American Conservative): I was in Louisiana when the rains came. It was shocking how much water fell in a short time. The scope of the disaster is staggering, and it is surprising that it took media organizations so long to notice it. Sean Illing at Salon has a similar article up: Louisiana’s Quiet Crisis: Cable News and the Folly of Disaster Porn Coverage. Articles like this are beginning to multiply, but attention is still scant (although it seems to be slowly turning around). For an even saltier read, consider Dreher’s more recent column. I include these links in part because they are a useful reminder that what appears in the media is not what is happening, but rather what media personnel are (a) aware is happening and (b) deem important.
  6. Prostitution Is Not Sex Work (Kat Banyard, Aeon): “Men who pay for sex are not helplessly reacting to uncontainable sexual urges. Nor does the prostitution trade represent ‘a place of last resort’ for them. A study of 6,000 UK men by University College London in 2014 revealed that those most likely to have paid for sex were young professionals with high numbers of sexual partners.”
  7. In defense of Rudyard Kipling and ‘The Jungle Books’ (Michael Dirda, Washington Post): this is a good piece.

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.

If you have a non-Stanford friend who might be interested in these emails, they can sign up at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/subscribe, and if you want to view the archives they are at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 62

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, with a preference for content from academics and influential voices. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

A Quote That Grabbed Glen’s Attention

“I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least” — Dorothy Day

Things Glen Found Interesting

  1. California Lawmaker Drops Controversial Proposal to Regulate Religious Colleges (Sarah Zylstra, Christianity Today): this was a goofy bill and I’m happily surprised it has been substantially amended. For one influential take on it, see www.sb1146discriminates.org
  2. Every Place Has Detractors. Consider Where They’re Coming From. (Megan McCardle, Bloomerg View): “There is grave danger in judging a neighborhood, or a culture, by the accounts of those who chose to leave it. Those people are least likely to appreciate the good things about where they came from, and the most likely to dwell on its less attractive qualities.” Bear this in mind when listening to conversion testimonies (both secular and religious).
  3. In Defense Of The Gun Emoji (John Brownlee, Fast Co Design): “They’re sending a symbolic message about gun control through emoji. The problem, though, is that messing with the way that people communicate with one another isn’t symbolic. It’s deeply literal.”
  4. What’s Missing From The Conversation About Transgender Kids (Jesse Singal, New York Magazine): this one is an important read — the pro-LGBT author is concerned with the way science is being ignored when trying to help kids who think they were born the wrong gender. I shared a related article by the same author back in volume 50.
  5. It’s O.K., Liberal Parents, You Can Freak Out About Porn (Judith Shulevitz, NY Times): “Left-leaning parents shy away from a cause they identify with right-wing culture warriors, but I challenge any parent to affirm that it’s O.K. for her kids to become digital porn consumers at 11, the average age of a child’s first encounter.”

Something Glen Found Amusing

  • What I Love About The Olympics (Ultra Spiritual Life): this is a video. 3.5 minutes of brutal commentary. “Race walking. Now this is a sport that makes sense. Who can go the fastest at not going their fastest? It’s like who can be the best at mediocrity. So paradoxical. I love it.”

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.

If you have a non-Stanford friend who might be interested in these emails, they can sign up at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/subscribe, and if you want to view the archives they are at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links.