{"id":4004,"date":"2016-04-22T15:55:01","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T23:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=4004"},"modified":"2016-06-10T13:39:17","modified_gmt":"2016-06-10T21:39:17","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-46","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2016\/04\/22\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-46","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 46"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Fridays I share articles\/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Danger Of A Single Story<\/span><\/a> (David Brooks, NY Times): \u201cstories have become identity markers. This is a phenomenon borrowed from campus political correctness. In order to express your solidarity with the virtuous team, you have to embrace the socially approved story. If you differ from the official story.\u2026 it is a sign that you have false allegiances. You must embrace the approved story to show you are not complicit in a system of oppression.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. How To Fix Politics<\/a> (David Brooks, NY Times): \u201cPeople put politics at the center of their psychological, emotional and even spiritual life. This is asking too much of politics. Once politics becomes your ethnic and moral identity, it becomes impossible to compromise, because compromise becomes dishonor.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. Ohio State Turns The Concept of \u2018Safe Space\u2019 Against Student Protesters<\/span><\/a> (Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic): \u201cspeech codes implemented in the late 1980s and early 90s with the intention of protecting black students were ultimately used to charge and punish more black students than white students. Insofar as campus concepts like safe spaces, microaggressions, and claims of trauma over minor altercations spread from activist culture to campus culture, the powerful will inevitably make use of them.\u201d See his follow-up <\/span>The Tools Of Campus Activists Are Being Turned Against Them<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Fired For Preaching: Georgia Dumps Doctor Over Church Sermons<\/span><\/a> (Todd Starnes, Fox News): \u201cFirst, they silenced the sheep \u2013 and now they are trying to silence the shepherds.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. More From Michael McConnell On The Supplementary Briefing In \u2018Zubik vs Burwell\u2019<\/span><\/a> (Eugene Volokh, Washington Post): the title is a little snore inducing, but the content is quite stimulating. It\u2019s a Stanford law professor\u2019s thoughts on the nuns suing the government.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Brazil\u2019s Evangelicals Flex Political Power In Impeachment Drama<\/span><\/a> (Catherine Osborne, NPR): I recommend listening to the audio rather than merely reading the transcript.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Harriet Tubman: The \u201cMoses\u201d Of Her People<\/span><\/a> (Christianity Today): \u201cIf a slave wanted to quit in the midst of a rescue, Tubman would hold a revolver to his head and ask him to reconsider.\u201d Note that this article is not a response to Tubman appearing on the $20 bill, this is from an old series called 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (FYI \u2014 the related articles are quite interesting). For something more recent, check out the GetReligion post Honoring Harriet Tubman, a Methodist, Republican, Evangelical Woman For the Ages<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. The Absurd Primacy of the Car in American Life<\/a> (Edward Humes, The Atlantic): \u201cIf U.S. roads were a war zone, they would be the most dangerous battlefield the American military has ever encountered.\u201d<\/li>\n
  9. Trust Us: Politicians Keep Most Of Their Promises<\/a> (Timothy Hill, FiveThirtyEight): Interesting article, although I note that \u201cmost\u201d is a very key word. A friend who keeps \u2154 of the promises they make to you keeps most of their promises \u2014 but would you call that friend trustworthy?<\/li>\n
  10. Amusing:<\/span>\n