{"id":4624,"date":"2017-08-11T14:09:36","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T22:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=4624"},"modified":"2017-08-11T14:09:36","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T22:09:36","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-113","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2017\/08\/11\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-113","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 113"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4396\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=1680&amp;ssl=1 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\"><\/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&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n<h3>Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n<ol class=\"simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.thegospelcoalition.org\/kevindeyoung\/2017\/08\/08\/i-dont-understand-christians-watching-game-of-thrones\/\">I Don\u2019t Understand Christians Watching Game of Thrones<\/a> (Kevin DeYoung, Gospel Coalition): \u201cDoes anyone really think that when Jesus warned against looking at a woman lustfully (Matt. 5:27), or when Paul told us to avoid every hint of sexual immorality and not even to speak of the things the world does in secret (Eph. 4:3\u201312), that somehow this meant, go ahead and watch naked men and women have (or pretend to have) sex?\u201d I don\u2019t always agree with everything I share here, but for the record I am 100% in agreement with the author. Softcore porn doesn\u2019t cease to be softcore porn just because it has gripping dialog and cool special effects. For another (unpersuasive to me) perspective, read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/acts-of-faith\/wp\/2017\/08\/08\/seriously-game-of-thrones-made-me-a-better-bible-reader\/?utm_term=.571a209ee9ef\">Seriously, \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019 made me a better Bible reader<\/a> (Caryn Rivadeneira, Washington Post).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/marginalrevolution.com\/marginalrevolution\/2017\/07\/newsworthy-deaths.html\">Newsworthy Deaths<\/a> (Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution): just a reminder that the view we have of &nbsp;what\u2019s happening in the world is always a distorted one.<\/li>\n<li>You\u2019ve no doubt heard about the Google memo suggesting new ways to pursue gender diversity in tech which got the author fired. There has been a TON of fascinating commentary. Here are a few pieces that stood out to&nbsp;me.&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Here\u2019s the memo itself: <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/3914586\/Googles-Ideological-Echo-Chamber.pdf\">Google\u2019s Ideological Echo Chamber<\/a> (James Damore). It\u2019s short and easy to read. Definitely skim it if you\u2019ve only heard other people describe it.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/09\/opinion\/google-women-memo.html?_r=0\">Google\u2019s War Over The Sexes<\/a> (Ross Douthat, New York Times): \u201cI strongly suspect that more than a few Silicon Valley higher-ups agreed with the broad themes of Damore\u2019s memo. But just as tech titans accept some censorship and oppression as the price of doing business in China, they accept performative progressivism as the price of having nice campuses in the most liberal state in the union and recruiting their employees from its most elite and liberal schools.\u201d If you only read one thing this week, read this one. The last six or so paragraphs in particular are quite&nbsp;good.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/the-big-idea\/2017\/8\/11\/16130452\/google-memo-women-tech-biology-sexism\">I\u2019m a woman in computer science. Let me ladysplain the Google memo to you.<\/a> (Cynthia Lee, Vox): \u201cAt the outset, it must be conceded that, despite what some of the commentary has implied, the manifesto is not an unhinged rant. Its quasi-professional tone is a big part of what makes it so beguiling (to some) and also so dangerous.\u201d The author is a CS lecturer at Stanford.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/view\/articles\/2017-08-09\/as-a-woman-in-tech-i-realized-these-are-not-my-people\">As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People<\/a> (Megan McArdle, Bloomberg View): \u201cJames Damore, an engineer at Google, wrote a memo suggesting that maybe there weren\u2019t so many women at Google because women are less interested in sitting around and staring at code all day. The internet erupted. James Damore is no longer working at Google. As a woman working in the brotastic atmosphere of IT, I ultimately came to a conclusion similar to&nbsp;his.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ifstudies.org\/blog\/what-the-google-engineers-manifesto-missed-about-discrimination-at-work\">What the Google Engineer\u2019s Manifesto Missed About Discrimination at Work<\/a> (Paula England, Institute For Family Studies blog): \u201cDamore\u2019s memo missed one huge thing: Abundant and rigorous scientific studies\u2014by sociologists, psychologists, and economists\u2014have demonstrated that gender and race biases adversely affect women and people of color in the workplace.\u201d The author is a sociology professor at&nbsp;NYU.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/quillette.com\/2017\/08\/07\/google-memo-four-scientists-respond\/\">The Google Memo: Four Scientists Respond<\/a> (Quillette Magazine): four scholars with relevant expertise largely back up the memo author\u2019s claims about gender differences.&nbsp;<ol>\n<li>Lee Jussim, professor of social psychology at Rutgers: \u201cThe author of the Google essay on issues related to diversity gets nearly all of the science and its implications exactly right.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>David Schmitt, who has a Ph.D. in personality psychology: \u201cIn the case of personality traits, evidence that men and women may have different average levels of certain traits is rather strong.\u2026 But it is not clear to me how such sex differences are relevant to the Google workplace.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Geoffrey Miller, professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of New Mexico: \u201cGraded fairly, his memo would get at least an A- in any masters\u2019 level psychology course.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Debra W Soh, who has a Ph.D. in sexual neuroscience: \u201cWithin the field of neuroscience, sex differences between women and men\u2014when it comes to brain structure and function and associated differences in personality and occupational preferences\u2014are understood to be true, because the evidence for them (thousands of studies) is strong.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/heterodoxacademy.org\/2017\/08\/10\/the-google-memo-what-does-the-research-say-about-gender-differences\/\">The Google Memo: What Does the Research Say About Gender Differences?<\/a> (Sean Stevens and Jonathan Haidt, Heterodox Academy): A summary of meta-analyses on the subject of gender differences. \u201cGender differences in math\/science <i>ability, achievement, and performance<\/i> are small or nil.\u2026 Gender differences in <i>interest and enjoyment<\/i> of math, coding, and highly \u2018systemizing\u2019 activities are&nbsp;large.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/web-exclusives\/2017\/08\/googling-moral-purity\">Googling Moral Purity<\/a> (R.R. Reno, First Things): &nbsp;\u201cOur ruling class relies on \u2018diversity\u2019 and \u2018inclusion\u2019 to legitimate its supereminence. This makes the attendant ideology sacrosanct. Any public dissent becomes explosive, because it threatens the legitimacy of our current social system, which is characterized by an increasing concentration of wealth and power among just a few at the tippy-top.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Quote of the week goes to Rod Dreher: \u201cGender non-essentialists are the young earth creationists of the Left.\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/dreher\/damore-has-science-on-his-side\/\">source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Related in a weird way: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vulture.com\/2017\/08\/the-toxic-drama-of-ya-twitter.html?utm_source=tw&amp;utm_medium=s3&amp;utm_campaign=sharebutton-t\">The Toxic Drama on YA Twitter<\/a> (Kat Rosenfield, Vulture): \u201cOne author and former diversity advocate described why she no longer takes part: \u2018I have never seen social interaction this [messed] up,\u2019 she wrote in an email. \u2018And I\u2019ve been in prison.\u2019\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2017\/08\/new-religions\/533745\/\">Why Are There No New Major Religions?<\/a> (Joe Emont, The Atlantic): \u201cState persecution, aided by religious authorities, is in fact a major reason why new faiths fail in parts of the world where government polices religious doctrine.\u201d The author fails to acknowledge the potent new religion in North America that is a brew of environmentalism and sexual autonomy with New Age superstition thrown in. Also, he doesn\u2019t really consider that maybe some religions are legitimized by miracles\/divine sanction. Interesting stuff nonetheless.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/hypepriests-pastors-who-dress-like-justin-bieber\">Hypepriests: The Grail-Wearing Pastors Who Dress Like Justin Bieber<\/a> (Sam Schube, GQ): \u201cI wish Justin Bieber the best. \u2018Love Yourself\u2019 is among the finest pop songs of this short century, and I find his Instagram account deeply charming in its utter lack of guile. But even if he weren\u2019t Justin Bieber, he\u2019d deserve the guidance, spiritual or otherwise, he\u2019s seeking. We all deserve that. All I mean to say is this: It is rather remarkable that the men Justin Bieber has entrusted to deliver that guidance have decided to dress like Justin Bieber.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Things Glen Found Amusing<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/dreher\/lessons-from-seatbelts-that-work-gay-sex-marriage\/\">Lessons From Seatbelts That Work<\/a> (Rod Dreher, The American Conservative): this is pretty hilarious, actually.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/new-google-technology-autocorrects-users-thoughts\/\">New Google Technology Autocorrects Users\u2019 Thoughts<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/google-unveils-new-slogan\/\">Google Unveils New Slogan<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Things Glen Found Interesting A While&nbsp;Ago<\/h3>\n<p>Every week I\u2019ll highlight an older link still worth your consideration. This week we have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2016\/01\/06\/new-book-reveals-how-elite-phd-admissions-committees-review-candidates\">Inside Graduate Admissions<\/a> (Inside Higher Ed, Scott Jaschick): if you plan to apply to grad school, read this. There is one revealing anecdote about how an admissions committee treated an application from a Christian college student. My takeaway: the professors tried to be fair but found it hard to do, and their stated concerns were mostly about the quality of the institution rather than the faith of the applicant. Troubling nonetheless. (first shared in <a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2016\/01\/15\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-32\">volume 32<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h3><b>Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors \u201cwho understood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (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.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agenda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agenda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ideological Turing test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI disagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI understand\u201d) 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\u2019ll usually mention it).<\/p>\n<p>Also, remember that I\u2019m not reporting news \u2014 I\u2019m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There\u2019s a lot happening in the world that\u2019s not making an appearance here because I haven\u2019t found stimulating articles written about&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n<p>Archives at <a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&nbsp;way. Things Glen Found Interesting I Don\u2019t Understand Christians Watching Game of Thrones (Kevin DeYoung, Gospel Coalition): \u201cDoes anyone really \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2017\/08\/11\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-113\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 113\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_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"That Google memo, tho...  (plus pastors who dress like Justin Bieber)","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[195,160,113,177,137],"class_list":["post-4624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-gender","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-lgbtq","tag-media","tag-thinking-clearly"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1cA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4624","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=4624"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4636,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4624\/revisions\/4636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}