{"id":4572,"date":"2017-07-17T05:53:10","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T13:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=4572"},"modified":"2017-07-17T05:53:10","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T13:53:10","slug":"to-change-the-world-week-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2017\/07\/17\/to-change-the-world-week-four","title":{"rendered":"To Change The World, Week Four"},"content":{"rendered":"
Blog read\u00aders: Chi Alpha @ Stan\u00adford is engag\u00ading in our annu\u00adal sum\u00admer read\u00ading project. As we read through To Change The World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty in the Late Mod\u00adern World <\/a>by James Davi\u00adson Hunter, I\u2019ll post my thoughts here (which will large\u00adly con\u00adsist of excerpts I found insight\u00adful). They are all tagged sum\u00admer-read\u00ading-project-2017<\/a>. The read\u00ading sched\u00adule is online at https:\/\/xastanford.org\/sum\u00admer-read\u00ading<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The first part of this week\u2019s read\u00ading<\/span> is a straight\u00adfor\u00adward exten\u00adsion of Hunter\u2019s thought so far, per\u00adhaps best summed up by this obser\u00adva\u00adtion:<\/div>\n
\n
Against the pre\u00advail\u00ading view, the main rea\u00adson why Chris\u00adt\u00adian believ\u00aders today (from var\u00adi\u00adous com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties) have not had the influ\u00adence in the cul\u00adture to which they have aspired is not that they don\u2019t believe enough, or try hard enough, or care enough, or think Chris\u00adtian\u00adly enough, or have the right world\u00adview, but rather because they have been absent from the are\u00adnas in which the great\u00adest influ\u00adence in the cul\u00adture is exert\u00aded<\/i>. (page 89, empha\u00adsis in orig\u00adi\u00adnal)<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
A book he men\u00adtions in the foot\u00adnotes, Faith In The Halls Of Pow\u00ader<\/i> by D. Michael Lind\u00adsay, is def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly worth read\u00ading<\/span> in con\u00adjunc\u00adtion with this one. The book is avail\u00adable online through the Stan\u00adford library<\/a>. I post\u00aded some excerpts from it a few years ago: Notes from Faith in the Halls of Pow\u00ader<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What I was most pleased by in this week\u2019s read\u00adings were Hunter\u2019s reflec\u00adtions about the per\u00adils of elit\u00adism.<\/div>\n
\n
The sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcance of every per\u00adson before God irre\u00adspec\u00adtive of world\u00adly stature or accom\u00adplish\u00adment and the care for the least are the eth\u00adi\u00adcal hall\u00admarks of Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty.\u2026 This is why elitism\u2014a dis\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adtion and rela\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty of supe\u00adri\u00ador\u00adi\u00adty, con\u00adde\u00adscen\u00adsion, and enti\u00adtle\u00adment by social elites\u2014is so abhor\u00adrent for the Chris\u00adt\u00adian. Its foun\u00adda\u00adtion is exclu\u00adsion on the implic\u00adit (and some\u00adtimes explic\u00adit) view that peo\u00adple are not equal in love and dig\u00adni\u00adty before God. Thus, by its very nature, elit\u00adism is exploita\u00adtive. So far as I can tell, elit\u00adism for believ\u00aders is despi\u00adca\u00adble and utter\u00adly anath\u00ade\u00adma to the gospel they cher\u00adish. (page 94)<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
What\u00adev\u00ader its larg\u00ader influ\u00adence in the world may be, a cul\u00adture that is gen\u00aduine\u00adly alter\u00adna\u00adtive can\u00adnot emerge with\u00adout faith\u00adful pres\u00adence in all areas of life. This will include net\u00adworks (and more, com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties) of counter-lead\u00aders oper\u00adat\u00ading with\u00adin the upper ech\u00ade\u00adlons of cul\u00adtur\u00adal pro\u00adduc\u00adtion and social life gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly. These are realms of per\u00adfor\u00admance and dis\u00adtinc\u00adtion that may be rare and inac\u00adces\u00adsi\u00adble to the aver\u00adage per\u00adson, but they are still crit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly impor\u00adtant to both the renew\u00adal of the church and its engage\u00adment with the cul\u00adture. (page 96)<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Here is my chal\u00adlenge to you,<\/b> some\u00adone who is being con\u00addi\u00adtioned by Stan\u00adford to serve in elite roles. What\u00adev\u00ader you wind up doing, learn to love what you do with\u00adout dis\u00addain\u00ading less elite believ\u00aders. This is hard\u00ader than you think it will be. A part of elite cul\u00adture you must remain vig\u00adi\u00adlant against is osten\u00adta\u00adtious\u00adly despis\u00ading peo\u00adple who rel\u00adish pop\u00adu\u00adlar cul\u00adture. One key mark\u00ader will be whether you tru\u00adly view believ\u00aders who have nev\u00ader heard the word inter\u00adsec\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty and who view Den\u00adny\u2019s as the pin\u00adna\u00adcle of cui\u00adsine as broth\u00aders and sis\u00adters wor\u00adthy of cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00ading and defend\u00ading. In oth\u00ader words, be elite with\u00adout being elit\u00adist<\/b>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Worth read\u00ading<\/span> in this regard is the recent David Brooks New York Times col\u00adumn and its fren\u00adzied respons\u00ades.<\/div>\n
\n
How We Are Ruin\u00ading Amer\u00adi\u00adca<\/a> (David Brooks, NYT): \u201cTo feel at home in oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty-rich areas, you\u2019ve got to under\u00adstand the right barre tech\u00adniques, sport the right baby car\u00adri\u00ader, have the right pod\u00adcast, food truck, tea, wine and Pilates tastes, not to men\u00adtion pos\u00adsess the right atti\u00adtudes about David Fos\u00adter Wal\u00adlace, child-rear\u00ading, gen\u00adder norms and inter\u00adsec\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty.\u201d This col\u00adumn spawned much deri\u00adsion on social media, but I strong\u00adly agree with Brooks. Here are two sym\u00adpa\u00adthet\u00adic reac\u00adtions from Fred\u00addie deBoer on the left<\/a> and from Rod Dreher on the right<\/a>. Dan Drezn\u00ader takes it in a dif\u00adfer\u00adent direc\u00adtion<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The above snip\u00adpet will be fea\u00adtured in today\u2019s Fri\u00adday email.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Giv\u00aden our sum\u00admer<\/span> read\u00ading<\/span>, I sup\u00adposed I should high\u00adlight that this is from a New York Times colum\u00adnist. I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve noticed this, but I delib\u00ader\u00adate\u00adly choose arti\u00adcles from high-sta\u00adtus insti\u00adtu\u00adtions and indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adals that are either direct\u00adly rel\u00ade\u00advant to the Chris\u00adt\u00adian life or are ger\u00admane to a Chris\u00adt\u00adian view of human flour\u00adish\u00ading. I don\u2019t hold to this rigid\u00adly, but it\u2019s some\u00adthing I am very aware of when com\u00adpos\u00ading each Fri\u00adday email. It\u2019s one small step towards help\u00ading our com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty inter\u00adact with the most influ\u00aden\u00adtial parts of cul\u00adture.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Inci\u00adden\u00adtal\u00adly, if you don\u2019t get those Fri\u00adday emails and are inter\u00adest\u00aded in them, you can sign up at http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/subscribe<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blog read\u00aders: Chi Alpha @ Stan\u00adford is engag\u00ading in our annu\u00adal sum\u00admer read\u00ading project. As we read through To Change The World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty in the Late Mod\u00adern World by James Davi\u00adson Hunter, I\u2019ll post my thoughts here (which will large\u00adly con\u00adsist of excerpts I found insight\u00adful). They are all tagged sum\u00admer-read\u00ad\u00ading-project-2017. The \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading \u201cTo Change The World, Week Four\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Some reflections on the perils of elitism from To Change The World.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[209,210],"class_list":["post-4572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resources-reviews","tag-summer-reading-project-2017","tag-to-change-the-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1bK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4573,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4572\/revisions\/4573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}