{"id":5854,"date":"2020-02-07T09:09:32","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T17:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=5854"},"modified":"2020-02-07T09:09:33","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T17:09:33","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-237","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2020\/02\/07\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-237","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 237"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/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 way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  1. \u201cMy Gang Is Jesus\u201d<\/a> (Alex Cuadros, Harpers Magazine): \u201cA year ago, I flew to Rio and followed Martins around for a few weeks as he preached. I hoped to reconcile two competing narratives of the evangelical church\u2019s role in the favelas. For the country\u2019s poor, all but neglected by the state, churches serve not only as a source of spiritual salvation but as a haven of last resort\u2014a place to find community, job tips, and counseling, or simply to gather and sing without fear of violence. Yet stories of crooked pastors abound in the new Brazil; in recent years, several have been caught transporting weapons for the drug trade. While many gang members find in Jesus the courage to quit this life, others seem to have internalized a skewed set of biblical lessons, even committing acts of violence in Jesus\u2019 name.\u201d<\/li>
  2. Religious Liberty: Not Just for Social Conservatives<\/a> (David French, The Dispatch): \u201cThe beauty of civil liberties case law is that each lawful exercise of liberty reinforces another. So it is with this case. Progressives will likely cheer that these four activists will escape punishment for saving immigrant lives. And which cases helped them win? One of them was Hobby Lobby<\/em>\u2014an assertion of religious freedom by Christian conservatives against the Obama administration\u2019s contraception mandate, a cause that many progressives despised.\u201d<\/li>
  3. Loving to Know<\/a> (N.T. Wright, First Things): \u201cThe scientist may be fascinated by the way a cancer cell grows, but that fascination will increase his determination to stop it in its tracks. The historian may be intrigued by the causes of the First World War, but she may well hope that her investigation of the complex tangle of motivations will help us spot future warning signs. And the parent who enjoys watching the child climbing a tree will, as a matter of love, simultaneously affirm the child\u2019s freedom and seek to mitigate any clear danger. Love is always on the lookout.\u201d This article is a little uneven but very insightful at places.<\/li>
  4. Educated Fools<\/a> (Thomas Geoghegan, The New Republic): \u201cMeritocracy has its own deep state\u2014with secrets unknown even to those of us who are part of it. And the worst thing is the way it can taunt the working class with the ideals of the Enlightenment, when it is we meritocratic liberals who have the greatest interest in limiting its spread. We think we\u2019re acting in such good faith in pushing for college and even community college education. But real salvation can be offered only to a few, on a retail, not a wholesale, basis: Instead of raising people up collectively, we\u2019re being careful to do it one diploma at a time. \u201d