{"id":5474,"date":"2019-06-21T14:46:32","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T22:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=5474"},"modified":"2019-06-21T14:46:33","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T22:46:33","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-208","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2019\/06\/21\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-208","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 208"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<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>\n\n    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\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"simple-list wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2019\/june-web-only\/i-pray-for-refugees-because-i-was-one-and-god-was-faithful.html\">I Pray for Refugees Because I Was One. And God Was Faithful.<\/a> (Sunday Htoo, Christianity Today): \u201cWhen I was in the jungle and running for my life, I felt that I would be safe. I felt that someone I did not know was praying for me. Someone is running for their life right now in Burma, or another country torn by war. Please pray for him, for her, for the children, for the elderly, and for a woman who may be pregnant. Your prayer is full of meaning.\u201d If you ignore every other article to which I link this week, read&nbsp;this.<ul>\n<li>Relevant: <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/46da2dbe04f54adbb875cfbc06bbc615\">Migrant children describe neglect at Texas border facility<\/a> (Cedar Attanasio, Garance Burke and Martha Mendoza, AP News): \u201c\u2018In my 22 years of doing visits with children in detention I have never heard of this level of inhumanity,\u2019 said Holly Cooper, who co-directs University of California, Davis\u2019 Immigration Law Clinic and represents detained youth\u2026. the Border Patrol is holding 15,000 people, and the agency considers 4,000 to be at capacity.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2019\/06\/16\/scott-warren-tucson-trial-deepens-religious-freedom-divides-column\/1435497001\/\">Is it Christian or illegal to aid migrants? A hung Tucson jury, a fork in the road of faith<\/a> (Brian McLaren, USA Today): \u201creligious liberty means the freedom to save refugees in the desert.\u201d I met McLaren once and had a nice conversation with him. There is zero chance he remembers me. There are parts of this op-ed with which I strenuously disagree, recommended nonetheless.<\/li>\n  <\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2019\/06\/ahmari-french-orban\/591697\/\">The Illiberal Right Throws a Tantrum<\/a> (Adam Serwer, The Atlantic): \u201cThe American creed has no more devoted adherents than those who have been historically denied its promises, and no more fair-weather friends than those who have taken them for granted.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>In response: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/18\/opinion\/religion-race-liberalism.html\">Is The Religious Right Privileged?<\/a> (Ross Douthat, New York Times): \u201cPolitically, liberalism has imposed via the judiciary, the least democratic branch, a constitutional right to abortion, a form of lethal violence that the church opposes for the same reasons it opposes infanticide \u2014 and after 50 years of small\u2011d democratic activism by pro-lifers, the pro-choice side seems to be hardening into a view that such activism is as un-American as racism. Legally, elite liberalism is increasingly embracing arguments that would make it difficult or impossible for the church to operate hospitals and adoption agencies today, and perhaps colleges and grammar schools tomorrow. And in its internal life, beneath the post-Protestant tendency I\u2019ve just described, progressive politics is also nurturing a fashionable occultism, whose rituals may be practiced somewhat ironically or performatively but whose anti-Catholicism seems quite sincere.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2019\/06\/two-painful-truths-of-americas-religious-culture-war\/\">Two Painful Truths of America\u2019s Religious Culture War<\/a> (David French, National Review): \u201cHere are two painful truths: Secular government is breaking its promise of liberty, and the American church is breaking its promise of virtue.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2019\/07\/mh370-malaysia-airlines\/590653\/?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&amp;utm_content=20190617&amp;silverid-ref=MzQzMTE1ODcwNzI1S0\">What Really Happened to Malaysia\u2019s Missing Airplane<\/a> (William Langewiesche, The Atlantic): \u201cThe idea that a sophisticated machine, with its modern instruments and redundant communications, could simply vanish seems beyond the realm of possibility. It is hard to permanently delete an email, and living off the grid is nearly unachievable even when the attempt is deliberate. A Boeing 777 is meant to be electronically accessible at all times\u2026. All sorts of theorists have made claims, amplified by social media, that ignore the satellite data, and in some cases also the radar tracks, the aircraft systems, the air-traffic-control record, the physics of flight, and the basic contours of planetary geography. \u201d Recommended by a student (and, it seems, half the internet \u2014 this is widely considered a must-read article). The author is a professional pilot and a veteran journalist<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/shanghaiist.com\/2019\/06\/16\/sing-hallelujah-to-the-lord-has-become-the-unofficial-anthem-of-the-anti-extradition-protest-movement\/\">\u2018Sing Hallelujah to the Lord\u2019 has become the unofficial anthem of the anti-extradition protest movement<\/a> (Kenneth Tan, Shanghaiist): \u201cAlarmed by reports of police brutality, many church groups galvanized to participate in peace protests, calling on the authorities to stop the violence. Their presence on the front lines of the protests were helpful in making the demonstrations look more like an outdoor worship service rather than the \u2018organized riots\u2019 the government said it had to crack down on to bring back law and&nbsp;order.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/world\/asia\/la-fg-hong-kong-youth-activism-decentralized-protests-20190614-story.html\">A new kind of Hong Kong activism emerges as protesters mobilize without any leaders<\/a> (Alice Su, LA Times): \u201cThis time around, protesters are deliberately leaderless, Leung said. \u2018It looks quite organized and well-disciplined. But I\u2019m quite sure you cannot find anyone managing the whole thing,\u2019 Leung said, adding that the protesters\u2019 logistical practices \u2014 bringing supplies, setting up medical stations, rapid mass communication \u2014 were \u2018in-built\u2019 from the last few years of practice. \u2018It\u2019s just like a machine or a self-learning AI that can run by themselves,\u2019 he&nbsp;said.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Related: check out this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PCyrJTmUpNQ\">drone footage of the protests<\/a> (3 minutes, YouTube).<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li><li>Reparations came up in the House of Representatives on Juneteenth. Here are two testimonies that caught a lot of attention:&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2019\/06\/ta-nehisi-coates-testimony-house-reparations-hr-40\/592042\/\">Read Ta-Nehisi Coates\u2019s Testimony on Reparations<\/a> (Olivia Paschal &amp; Madeleine Carlisle, The Atlantic): \u201cThe typical black family in this country has one-tenth the wealth of the typical white family. Black women die in childbirth at four times the rate of white women. And there is, of course, the shame of this land of the free boasting the largest prison population on the planet, of which the descendants of the enslaved make up the largest share. The matter of reparations is one of making amends and direct redress, but it is also a question of citizenship.\u201d (or watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kcCnQ3iRkys\">the five minute video on YouTube<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/quillette.com\/2019\/06\/20\/my-testimony-to-congress-on-reparations\/\">My Testimony On Reparations<\/a> (Coleman Hughes, Quillette): \u201cBut the people who were owed for slavery are no longer here, and we\u2019re not entitled to collect on their debts. Reparations, by definition, are only given to victims. So the moment you give me reparations, you\u2019ve made me into a victim without my consent. Not just that: you\u2019ve made one-third of black Americans\u2014who consistently poll against reparations\u2014into victims without their consent, and black Americans have fought too long for the right to define themselves to be spoken for in such a condescending manner.\u201d (or watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QAaiqFUUPBo&amp;t=29s\">the six minute video on YouTube<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Somewhat, kinda related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/interactives\/2019-06-17-loury?key=mi0Bff1vaLHL09_no2Emg763kABYwcI4qI50iF6Ind1oVqktW864PH9Jw9W5DR_EdW5PenlmOTV0R1VScTNDRUJsS2dOOUlXQ21rRDJpQkhiOVlSUTBBbGd5VQ&amp;fbclid=IwAR2O4Dfl5_SqF0Jbo8if8kg_KyqfKiIiMBCiFNwsbP_MgsTWPLVzaFl5vKs\">\u2018Affirmative Action Is Not About Equality. It\u2019s About Covering Ass.\u2019<\/a> (Evan Goldstein,Chronicle Review): \u201cWhat happened is that I went through a trauma. I was accused of assaulting a woman with whom I was having an extramarital affair. I was publicly humiliated. I had to withdraw an appointment as undersecretary of education in the last years of Reagan\u2019s second term. I was a crack-cocaine addict; it almost killed me. My wife at the time, God bless her, stayed with me, and we subsequently had two fine sons. But at the time, I was dying. I found Jesus. I got my life together. They stuck with me at the Kennedy School, but I just couldn\u2019t bear the feeling of condescension.\u201d This is an interview with Glenn Loury, who was the first black tenured econ professor at Harvard. He is now an economist at&nbsp;Brown.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/quillette.com\/2019\/06\/20\/ideology-and-facts-collide-at-oberlin-college\/\">Ideology and Facts Collide at Oberlin College<\/a> (Daniel McGraw, Quillette): \u201cIt slowly became evident that this case was not about free expression and assembly or racial injustice and civil rights. It was about something more banal. A cowardly college administration picked on a small and vulnerable business in an attempt to fend off accusations of racism it was facing from its own students.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Honestly, this <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LegInsurrection\/status\/1139886390706130944\">Twitter thread about it<\/a> is even better. Jaw-dropping details. Read it first and then the above article if you want a more well-rounded narrative.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/15\/opinion\/sunday\/sex-christian.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&amp;smtyp=cur\">How Should Christians Have Sex?<\/a> (Katelyn Beaty, New York Times): \u201cI long for more robust categories of right and wrong besides consent \u2014 a baseline, but only that \u2014 and more than a general reminder not to be a jerk. I can get that from Dan Savage, but I also want to know what Jesus thinks.\u201d<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"simple-list wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.spectator.co.uk\/2019\/06\/my-boris-story\/\">My Boris Johnson Story<\/a> (Jeremy Vine, Spectator): \u201cBrilliant. The whole room is hooting and cheering. It no longer matters that Boris has no script, no plan, no idea of what event he is attending, and that he seems to be taking the whole thing off the top of his head. I realise that I am in the presence of genius.\u201d Amazing and hilarious. You have to read to the&nbsp;end.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MsqZP4blAGs\">GIANCARLO BERNINI on FOOL US \u2014 THE TIME MACHINE!<\/a> (Penn &amp; Teller Fool Us, YouTube): 10 minutes. I was particularly interested by the fact that the performer is both a Christian and a university student.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TrKoMO0DdZg\">Penn and Teller Fool Us Ondrej Psenicka<\/a> (Penn &amp; Teller Fool Us, YouTube): 10 minutes.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3_X61FEvmLI\">Penn &amp; Teller Fool Us Jan Reinder<\/a> (Penn &amp; Teller Fool Us, YouTube): 9 minutes<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/jesus-reminds-nation-he-will-one-day-burn-all-the-american-flags-and-also-everything-else\">Jesus Reminds Nation He Will One Day Burn All The American Flags And Also Everything Else<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/harvard-teaches-incoming-students-valuable-life-lesson-that-people-can-never-change\">Harvard Teaches Incoming Students Valuable Life Lesson That People Can Never Change<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/people-who-tweet-in-support-of-foreign-wars-to-be-automatically-enlisted-in-armed-forces\">Report: Internet Users Who Call For Attacking Other Countries Will Now Be Enlisted In The Military Automatically<\/a> (Babylon Bee): this reminds me of Starship Troopers (the&nbsp;book).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting A While&nbsp;Ago<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Every week I\u2019ll highlight an older link still worth your consideration. This week we have  <a href=\"https:\/\/marginalrevolution.com\/marginalrevolution\/2018\/05\/one-parameter-equation-can-exactly-fit-scatter-plot.html\">A One Parameter Equation That Can Exactly Fit Any Scatter Plot<\/a> (Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution): \u201cOverfitting is possible with just one parameter and so models with fewer parameters are not necessarily preferable even if they fit the data as well or better than models with more parameters.\u201d Researchers take note. The underlying mathematics paper is well\u2010written and interesting: <a href=\"https:\/\/colala.bcs.rochester.edu\/papers\/piantadosi2018one.pdf\">One Parameter Is Always Enough<\/a> (Steven T. Piantadosi) \u2014 among other things, it points out that you can smuggle in arbitrarily large amounts of data into an equation through a single parameter because a number can have infinite digits. Obvious once stated, but I don\u2019t know that it ever would have occurred to me. First shared in <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2018\/06\/01\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-154\">volume 154<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\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\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\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). And to the extent you can discern my opinions, please understand that they are my own and not necessarily those of Chi Alpha or any other organization I may be perceived to represent.\n\nAlso, 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 it.\n\nIf this was forwarded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/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 Pray for Refugees Because I Was One. And God Was Faithful. (Sunday Htoo, Christianity \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2019\/06\/21\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-208\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 208\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":"Some pretty amazing articles this week. Enjoy!","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":[131,125,161,262,160,117,116,138,163],"class_list":["post-5474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-academia","tag-china","tag-global-christianity","tag-hong-kong","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-politics","tag-race","tag-religious-freedom","tag-sex"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1qi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5474","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=5474"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5479,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5474\/revisions\/5479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}