{"id":4619,"date":"2017-08-04T16:13:43","date_gmt":"2017-08-05T00:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=4619"},"modified":"2017-08-04T16:13:43","modified_gmt":"2017-08-05T00:13:43","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-112","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2017\/08\/04\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-112","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 112"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my way.<\/p>\n

Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n
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  1. \u2018God\u2019s ACLU\u2019 Seeks Freedom For The Faithful<\/a> (Tunku Varadarajan, Wall Street Journal): \u201cThe progressive or liberal approach is to equate free exercise of religion with the freedom to worship <\/i>and to deny that it has anything to do with how a person organizes his life. The Becket Fund and others assert that most religions have complete codes governing not only worship but other aspects of conduct. This comprehensive Way of Life\u2014which leads a devoutly Christian baker to decline to decorate a cake for a same-sex wedding, for instance\u2014commands much more from believers than progressives will allow.\u201d Becket is Chi Alpha\u2019s pro bono legal team. The author is a fellow at Stanford\u2019s Hoover Institution.<\/li>\n
  2. For Culturally Illiterate Science Reporters, Canaanite DNA Yields Occasion to Slap Bible Around<\/span><\/a> (David Klinghoffer, Evolution News): Did you see all those headlines suggesting that a DNA study proved the Biblical accounts wrong? Yeah\u2026 don\u2019t lose any sleep over that. When someone tells you that the Bible is wrong, don\u2019t assume they actually know what the Bible says. See also a longer and more reflective post from an OT scholar <\/span>Breaking News: Science Disproves The Bible<\/span><\/a> (but I really like the short and punchy one that\u2019s the main link). <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The \u2018Prophets\u2019 and \u2018Apostles\u2019 Leading the Quiet Revolution in American Religion<\/span><\/a> (Bob Smietana, Christianity Today): \u201cIt\u2019s very spontaneous. We went to a conference where a number of apostles were speaking and Bill Johnson was doing a Bible teaching. He had probably talked 20 or 30 minutes, and you could feel the restlessness in the room. He said, \u2018I know you are just waiting for me to stop preaching because you want the power. But just hang with me here.\u2019 People weren\u2019t there to listen to him. What they wanted was for him to lay hands on them.<\/span>\u201d Interesting read that is not entirely fair but also fairly insightful. <\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Venezuela\u2019s Unprecedented Collapse<\/a> (Ricardo Hausmann, Project Syndicate). \u201cMeasured in the cheapest available calorie, the minimum wage declined from 52,854 calories per day to just 7,005 during the same period, a decline of 86.7% and insufficient to feed a family of five, assuming that all the income is spent to buy the cheapest calorie.\u201d The author is a Harvard professor and former Venezuelan official.<\/li>\n
  5. Why The Scariest Nuclear Threat May Be Coming From Inside The White House<\/span><\/a> (Michael Lewis, Vanity Fair<\/span>): \u201cThe United States government might be the most complicated organization on the face of the earth. Two million federal employees take orders from 4,000 political appointees. Dysfunction is baked into the structure of the thing: the subordinates know that their bosses will be replaced every four or eight years, and that the direction of their enterprises might change overnight\u2014with an election or a war or some other political event.\u201d Fascinating and frightening, even once you factor in the author\u2019s hostility to the Trump administration.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Marriage Matters<\/a> (W. Bradford Willcox, City Journal): \u201c\u2026young adults who follow three steps\u2014getting at least a high school degree, then working full-time, and then marrying before having any children, in that order\u2014are very unlikely to become poor.\u201d The author is a sociologist at UVA.<\/li>\n
  7. From the Enlightenment to the Dark Ages: How \u201cnew atheism\u201d slid into the alt-right<\/a> (Phil Torres, Salon): \u201cAs a philosopher \u2014 someone who cares deeply about intellectual honesty, verifiable evidence, critical thinking and moral thoughtfulness \u2014 I now find myself in direct opposition with many new atheist leaders. That is, I see my own advocacy for science, critical thought and basic morality as standing in direct opposition to their positions.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Things Glen Found Amusing<\/h3>\n