{"id":4776,"date":"2017-11-24T21:17:11","date_gmt":"2017-11-25T05:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=4776"},"modified":"2017-11-24T21:17:11","modified_gmt":"2017-11-25T05:17:11","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-128","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2017\/11\/24\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-128","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 128"},"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><\/p>\n<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.<\/p>\n<p>Since this is issue 128 and that\u2019s an important number in base 2 and I\u2019m a nerd, I\u2019m going to tweak this issue slightly by giving my actual opinion (or at least the brief version of it) after each article.<\/p>\n<p>Also, I am sad that so much of this week\u2019s email is about sexual harassment. There\u2019s a lot of stuff I would gladly link to if I saw it. To give a few examples: I\u2019d love to see thoughtful articles about what\u2019s happening in Zimbabwe, some insights about the amazing tumult in Saudi Arabia, something more comprehensive about Richard Spencer\u2019s visit to campus (ideally something that deals with the way he treated students, with the accuracy of his core claims about Islam, and with the administration\u2019s decision to bar the doors once people left considered in light of the heckler\u2019s veto), and a piece about how India is developing compared with China. But nope \u2014 this week there\u2019s a ton of stuff about men being jerks sprinkled with a handful of other observations.<\/p>\n<p>If you find more edifying fare, please send it my&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n<h3>Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n<ol class=\"simple-list\">\n<li>There are so many sexual assault stories in the news right now. It\u2019s overwhelming. The one I find most interesting at the moment is the story of Republican state legislator Wes Goodman, who made vulgar and unwelcome sexual advances to many young men. Rod Dreher has a strong series of posts about&nbsp;it.&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/dreher\/wes-goodman-religious-conservatism-inc-tony-perkins\/\">Wes Goodman And Religious Conservatism, Inc.<\/a> (Rod Dreher, The American Conservative): \u201cTurns out that Ohio State Rep. Wes Goodman,&nbsp;has been leading a secret promiscuous gay life, despite being married and opposing LGBT rights in his career as a conservative activist and legislator. The story is lurid, including allegations (with screenshots) that he propositioned college students who were political activists, inviting them to join him (and sometimes him and his wife) for&nbsp;sex.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/dreher\/wes-goodman-fallout-tony-perkins\/\">More Wes Goodman Fallout<\/a> (Rod Dreher, The American Conservative): \u201c You cannot judge an entire religion \u2014 <i>any <\/i>religion \u2014 <b>entirely <\/b>by the worst behavior of its adherents, any more than you can judge it <b>entirely <\/b>by the best behavior of its adherents. Nevertheless, it\u2019s a dodge when Christian leaders say, \u2018Oh, Billy Graham is who Evangelicals are, not Wes Goodman,\u2019 or \u2018St. Teresa of Calcutta is who Catholics are, not Father Geoghan.\u2019 All of us are the best and the worst of our communions. <i>You<\/i>, with all your sins and all your virtues, are who Catholics\/Orthodox\/Protestants are, or who Jews are, or Muslims, and so forth. We are both our ideals and our failure to live up to those ideals.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/dreher\/one-of-wes-goodman-marks-speaks\/\">One Of Wes Goodman\u2019s Marks Speaks<\/a> (Rod Dreher, The American Conservative): \u201cBut I hope that Wes is, like me, a sinner with a future. And this is the second reason that I have not de-friended him yet. Now is the time for him to heartily repent of his sins, believe in Jesus Christ and sincerely and honestly intend by the help of God and the Holy Spirit henceforth to amend his life. Often, the journey in sackcloth and ashes is a lonesome one and one fraught with depression. I have been there. But I hope that if Wes intends to make it, he realizes he doesn\u2019t have to do so&nbsp;alone.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/dreher\/how-washington-dc-predators-target-interns\/\">How Washington, DC Predators Target Interns<\/a> (Rod Dreher, The American Conservative): \u201cTo answer the second question\u2014how sexual predators operate\u2014I want to begin by talking a bit about the kind of place Washington was when I lived there in the early 2010s. Washington is a city that turns over a large sector of its workforce every four months. Roughly corresponding with the academic year, thousands of interns \u2014 for the branches of government, for the non-profits, for the consulting firms, for the startups \u2014 arrive, sometimes by plane with a single suitcase and sometimes in their parents\u2019 SUVs with the back seats covered with cardboard boxes.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><b>Glen\u2019s take: <\/b>I know some of you are considering a life in public service. Keep Numbers 32:23&nbsp; \u2014 \u201cyour sin will find you out\u201d \u2014 close to your heart. The reckoning is coming not only for the state legislator in question but also for those who covered up for&nbsp;him.<\/li>\n<li>Related:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/acts-of-faith\/wp\/2017\/11\/17\/the-absurd-arguments-we-make-to-defend-roy-moore-and-al-franken-are-getting-dangerous\/?utm_term=.b84ec9ff79ea\">The absurd arguments we make to defend Roy Moore and Al Franken are getting dangerous<\/a> (Russell Moore, Washington Post): \u201cOnce the next generation comes to see that progressives don\u2019t really care about \u2018social justice\u2019 or that conservatives don\u2019t really care about \u2018family values\u2019 except as rhetorical tools, they will walk away, toward something else. Note the collapsing trust in institutions, seen in virtually every survey of younger Americans. Many factors account for this, but one driving factor is cynicism, the idea that institutions are just about keeping power for those who already have&nbsp;it.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Also related: <a href=\"http:\/\/nymag.com\/daily\/intelligencer\/2017\/11\/the-danger-of-knowing-youre-on-the-right-side-of-history.html\">The Danger of Knowing You\u2019re on the \u2018Right Side of History\u2019<\/a> (Andrew Sullivan, NY Mag): \u201cThere is a moment here. No party is immune from evil; no tribe has a monopoly of good. If these bipartisan sex-abuse revelations can begin to undermine the tribalism that so poisons our public life, to reveal that beneath the tribes, we are all flawed and human, they may not only be a long-overdue turning point for women. They may be a watershed for all of&nbsp;us.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2017\/11\/20\/art-monstrous-men\/\">What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?<\/a> (Claire Dederer, The Paris Review): \u201cThey did or said something awful, and made something great. The awful thing disrupts the great work; we can\u2019t watch or listen to or read the great work without remembering the awful thing. Flooded with knowledge of the maker\u2019s monstrousness, we turn away, overcome by disgust. Or \u2026 we don\u2019t. We continue watching, separating or trying to separate the artist from the art.\u201d The language in this piece is vulgar.&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><strong>Glen\u2019s take:<\/strong> From a Christian perspective, someone like Bill Cosby or Woody Allen is only a extreme example of a larger issue. Most Hollywood products were made by people who sleep around or watch porn or otherwise violate basic Biblical norms. If wickedness in the creator taints all their creative products then there\u2019s very little for a Christian to read, to listen to, or to watch. Creative works stand or fall on their own apart from the moral virtue of the creator. 1 Corinthian 5:9\u201313 has relevance for how we relate to culture at&nbsp;large.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/web-exclusives\/2017\/11\/apple-sabotages-itself\">Apple Sabotages Itself<\/a> (Justin Lee, First Things): \u201cA definition of speech narrow enough to exclude decorative arts will almost certainly exclude source code as well. The FBI could easily use such a precedent in court to compel Apple to write code capable of breaching their iPhone users\u2019 privacy.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><strong>Glen\u2019s take:<\/strong> I am 100% on the side of Masterpiece Cakeshop. Jack Phillips is right and his critics are dangerously wrong. If he loses his case, unintended consequences will abound. This article highlights one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.getreligion.org\/getreligion\/2017\/11\/20\/reporting-on-paula-white-and-the-white-house-trying-to-tell-her-side-of-the-story\">Reporting on Paula White and the White House<\/a> (Julia Duin, GetReligion): this is a follow-up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/lifestyle\/magazine\/she-led-trump-to-christ-the-rise-of-the-televangelist-who-advises-the-white-house\/2017\/11\/13\/1dc3a830-bb1a-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html\">the profile of White<\/a> I shared last week and it contains more fascinating anecdotes. \u201cMuch of what she told me about 2007, her year from hell when she got divorced, her church was losing members and she was investigated by a U.S. Senate committee didn\u2019t make it into the final draft but she lost 20 pounds during that time. \u2018I had my first glass of wine in 2007,\u2019 she said. \u2018I asked God permission to cuss. I used every word except His in vain. I searched for what door I\u2019d left open for all this to go&nbsp;wrong.\u2019\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><strong>Glen\u2019s take:<\/strong> Reading these articles makes me think I would like Paula White. Then again, I\u2019m partial to Paulas.&nbsp;\ud83d\ude42<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/science-and-health\/2017\/11\/17\/16585982\/psychology-memory-polls-trump\">Republicans\u2019 beliefs are bending to Trump. Here\u2019s why they might not even notice.<\/a> (Brian Resnick, Vox): \u201c\u2026when people change their mind on a subject, they have a hard time recalling that they ever felt another way. It\u2019s an intriguing finding in part because it affirms that people think their beliefs are more stable than they actually are.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><strong>Glen\u2019s take:<\/strong> As a pastor I observe this all the time. We are all less rational than we believe. \u201cWhoever trusts in his own mind is a fool\u201d (Proverbs 28:26a, ESV).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/news\/special-report\/21731497-marriage-it-turns-out-still-best-place-children-why-would-be-parents-should\">Why would-be parents should choose to get married<\/a> (The Economist): \u201cYou could make enough confetti for a summer of weddings with all the academic papers that show how much children gain from being brought up in stable, loving families, and how much they suffer when those families break down\u2026. And one strong claim that can be made for marriage is that it appears to glue parents together more tightly than any other arrangement.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><strong>Glen\u2019s take:<\/strong> It\u2019s enough to make you think God\u2019s plan is wise. Shocking. Also, in case you\u2019ve ever wondered: the Economist doesn\u2019t identify which authors wrote which articles. It\u2019s a philosophy of theirs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecut.com\/2017\/11\/rebecca-traister-ross-douthat-post-weinstein-lessons.html\">What Are the Lessons of the Post-Weinstein Moment?<\/a> (Rebecca Traister and Ross Douthat, The Cut): \u201cI do think porn has had some sort of weird effect on the male imagination. And that masturbation plus a morality of consent convinces some men to think, <i>Okay, I accept that the rules say, I can\u2019t actually rape you but under the rules of consent, I\u2019m just standing over here, you know, doing my own thing.<\/i>\u201d\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Glen\u2019s take: <\/strong>Wow. A civil and intelligent conversation between two very different people who find common ground amidst their differences (where they differ I largely agree with Douthat). A hundred million more conversations like this and our culture might get healthier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Things Glen Found Amusing<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/facebook-can-now-translate-your-friends-intentionally-vague-status-updates\/\">Facebook Can Now Translate Your Friends\u2019 Intentionally Vague Status Updates<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/blackmagicfuckery\/comments\/7dcby5\/i_thought_my_eyes_were_good\/\">An optical illusion \u2014 it hurts me that I can be so mistaken<\/a> (reddit)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gfycat.com\/LightheartedDefiniteIndianringneckparakeet\">A crazy orange carving<\/a> (gfycat)<\/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 the hilarious <a href=\"http:\/\/the-toast.net\/2016\/05\/05\/everything-thats-wrong-of-raccoons\/\">Everything That\u2019s Wrong Of Raccoons<\/a> (Mallory Ortberg, The Toast): \u201cOnce when my dog died a passel of raccoons showed up in the backyard as if to say \u2018Now that he\u2019s gone, we own the night,\u2019 and they didn\u2019t flinch when I yelled at them, and I found it disrespectful to 1) me personally and 2) the entire flow of the food chain. Don\u2019t disrespect me if you can\u2019t eat me, you false-night-dogs.\u201d (first shared in <a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2017\/04\/21\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-97\">volume 97<\/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. Since this is issue 128 and that\u2019s an important number in base 2 and I\u2019m a nerd, I\u2019m going to tweak this issue slightly by giving my actual opinion (or at least \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2017\/11\/24\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-128\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 128\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":"","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":[112,117,138,147],"class_list":["post-4776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-marriage","tag-politics","tag-religious-freedom","tag-sexual-assault"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1f2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4776","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=4776"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4782,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4776\/revisions\/4782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}