{"id":5972,"date":"2020-04-24T16:03:28","date_gmt":"2020-04-25T00:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=5972"},"modified":"2020-04-24T16:03:38","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T00:03:38","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-247","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2020\/04\/24\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-247","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 247"},"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\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/slatestarcodex.com\/2020\/04\/20\/the-amish-health-care-system\/\">The Amish Health Care System<\/a> (Scott Alexander, Slate Star Codex): \u201cI\u2019m fascinated by how many of today\u2019s biggest economic problems just mysteriously failed to exist in the past. Our grandparents easily paid for college with summer jobs, raised three or four kids on a single income, and bought houses in their 20s or 30s and never worried about rent or eviction again. And yes, they got medical care without health insurance, and avoided the kind of medical bankruptcies we see too frequently today. How did this work so well? Are there ways to make it work&nbsp;today?\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li> I would say unexpectedly fascinating except nearly everything on Slate Star Codex is fascinating; in fact, the more esoteric the topic the better.<\/li>\n<li>Follow-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/slatestarcodex.com\/2020\/04\/24\/employer-provided-health-insurance-delenda-est\/\">Employer Provided Health Insurance Delenda Est<\/a> (Scott Alexander, Slate Star Codex): \u201cMost of my patients have insurance; most of them are well-off; most of them are intelligent enough that they should be able to navigate the bureaucracy. Listen to the usual debate around insurance, and you would expect them to be the winners of our system; the rich people who can turn their financial advantage into better care. And yet barely a day goes by without a reminder that it doesn\u2019t work this&nbsp;way.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>General Coronavirus News and Commentary&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/18\/world\/asia\/hong-kong-arrests.html\">Amid Pandemic, Hong Kong Arrests Major Pro-Democracy Figures<\/a> (Elaine Yu and Austin Ramzy, NY Times): \u201cThe virus has halted protests around the world, forcing people to stay home and giving the authorities new laws for limiting public gatherings and detaining people with less fear of public blowback while many residents remained under lockdowns or observing limits on their movement. But the arrests on Saturday in Hong Kong, along with a renewed push for national security legislation in the city, could anger protesters and reinvigorate mass demonstrations that had tapered off.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\/2020\/04\/62572\/\">Lockdowns Don\u2019t Work<\/a> (Lyman Stone, The Public Discourse): \u201cLockdowns don\u2019t work. These other policies\u2014travel restrictions, large-assembly limits, centralized quarantine, mask requirements, and school cancellations\u2014do work. Because COVID is an extremely severe disease that, if left unchecked, will kill hundreds of thousands of Americans, it is vitally important that policymakers focus their efforts on policies that do work (masks, central quarantines, travel restrictions, school cancellations, large-assembly limits), and avoid implementing draconian, unpopular policies that don\u2019t work (lockdowns).\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.arnoldkling.com\/blog\/lockdown-socialism-will-collapse\/\">Lockdown Socialism will collapse<\/a> (Arnold Kling, personal blog): \u201cyou can stay in your residence, but paying rent or paying your mortgage is optional\u2026. you can obtain groceries and shop on line, but having a job is optional\u2026. if you own a small business, you don\u2019t need revenue, because the government will keep sending checks.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2020\/04\/andrew-sullivan-we-cant-go-on-like-this-much-longer.html\">We Can\u2019t Go on Like This Much Longer<\/a> (Andrew Sullivan, New York Magazine): \u201c\u2026protests against our total shutdown, while puny now, will doubtless grow. The psychological damage \u2014 not counting the physical toll \u2014 caused by this deeply unnatural way of life is going to intensify. We remain human beings, a quintessentially social mammal, and we orient ourselves in time, looking forward to the future. When that future has been suspended, humans come undone.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2020\/04\/17\/how-not-say-wrong-thing-health-care-workers\/?utm_campaign=wp_week_in_ideas&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;wpisrc=nl_ideas\">How not to say the wrong thing to health-care workers<\/a> (Dorothy R. Novick, Washington Post): \u201c\u2026a person in any given circle should send love and compassion inward, to those in smaller circles, and process personal grief outward, to those in larger circles\u2026. Comfort in, grief&nbsp;out.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/a16z.com\/2020\/04\/18\/its-time-to-build\/\">It\u2019s Time To Build<\/a> (Marc Andreesen, blog): \u201cThe things we build in huge quantities, like computers and TVs, drop rapidly in price. The things we don\u2019t, like housing, schools, and hospitals, skyrocket in price. What\u2019s the American dream? The opportunity to have a home of your own, and a family you can provide for. We need to break the rapidly escalating price curves for housing, education, and healthcare, to make sure that every American can realize the dream, and the only way to do that is to&nbsp;build.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>In response: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2020\/4\/22\/21228469\/marc-andreessen-build-government-coronavirus\">Why We Can\u2019t Build<\/a> (Ezra Klein, Vox): \u201cThe institutions through which Americans build have become biased against action rather than toward it. They\u2019ve become, in political scientist Francis Fukuyama\u2019s term, \u2018vetocracies,\u2019 in which too many actors have veto rights over what gets built. That\u2019s true in the federal government. It\u2019s true in state and local governments. It\u2019s even true in the private sector.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2020\/04\/civil-libertarians-coronavirus\/610624\/\">How to Protect Civil Liberties in a Pandemic<\/a> (Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic): \u201cIn emergencies, [the executive director of the ACLU] reflected in an interview earlier this month, government officials justify new powers by pointing to the extraordinary challenges of the moment. Yet long after the emergency passes, they tend to assert those very same powers as if they are the new normal\u2026. \u2018We are still litigating powers in 2020 that were adopted in&nbsp;2001.\u2019\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li>Christian Coronavirus News &amp; Commentary&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2020\/april-web-only\/covid-19-is-not-gods-judgment.html\">COVID-19 Is Not God\u2019s Judgment<\/a> (Jim Denison, Christianity Today): \u201c\u2026biblical judgments through disease are supernatural in origin. When God sent \u2018boils\u2019 on Egypt, they broke out instantly \u2018on man and beast\u2019 throughout the land. The \u2018pestilence\u2019 of Revelation will come by one of the \u2018four horsemen of the apocalypse,\u2019 not a wet market in Wuhan. Everything scientists can tell us about COVID-19 is that the virus evolved from other viruses. It is natural, not supernatural.\u201d&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/21\/opinion\/first-amendment-church-coronavirus.html?smid=tw-share\">If Liquor Stores Are Essential, Why Isn\u2019t Church?<\/a> (Michael McConnel &amp; Max Raskin, NY Times): \u201cIt is not for government officials to decide whether religious worship is essential; the First Amendment already decided that. The question is whether, and how, it may be conducted without undue risk to public health.\u201d McConnell is a Stanford law&nbsp;prof.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dbts.edu\/2020\/04\/17\/pandemic-evangelism-spreading-the-gospel-not-the-virus-step-one\/\">Pandemic Evangelism: Spreading the Gospel, not the Virus<\/a> (Peter Cushman, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary): \u201cStep 1: Fervently Pray for the Lost\u2026 Step 2: Tell the Lost You\u2019re Praying for Them\u2026 Step 3a: Tell the Lost about Christ: Recognizing Opportunities.\u201d This is a series of blog posts which is not yet finished. The individual posts so far \u2192 <a href=\"https:\/\/dbts.edu\/2020\/04\/17\/pandemic-evangelism-spreading-the-gospel-not-the-virus-step-one\/\">step one<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/dbts.edu\/2020\/04\/20\/pandemic-evangelism-spreading-the-gospel-not-the-virus-step-two\/\">step two<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/dbts.edu\/2020\/04\/23\/pandemic-evangelism-step-three-a\/\">step 3a<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/religion\/2020\/04\/19\/church-of-god-in-christ-pentecostal-coronavirus-kills-bishops\/\">Covid-19 has killed multiple bishops and pastors within the nation\u2019s largest black Pentecostal denomination<\/a> (Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post): \u201cThe Church of God in Christ, the country\u2019s biggest African American Pentecostal denomination, has taken a deep and painful leadership hit with reports of at least a dozen to up to 30 bishops and prominent clergy dying of covid-19\u2026\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2020\/04\/21\/under-fire-from-many-this-new-yorker-is-a-stalwart-champion-of-samaritans-purse\/\">Under fire from many, Samaritan\u2019s Purse finds an unlikely champion<\/a> (Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service): \u201cIn the course of the past four weeks, Tilson, who is not religious and had never heard of Franklin Graham, the conservative Christian leader of Samaritan\u2019s Purse, has become one of the field hospital\u2019s most dedicated volunteers and champions.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/providencemag.com\/2020\/04\/world-ignoring-christian-genocide-nigeria\/\">Is the World Ignoring a Christian Genocide in Nigeria?<\/a> (Lela Gilbert, Providence): \u201cThose of us who track religious freedom violations and Christian persecution agree with those who increasingly speak of another genocide. Murderous incidents are acted out with accelerating frequency, perpetrated primarily by two terror groups\u2014Boko Haram and Fulani jihadis. Tens of thousands of Nigerians have been slaughtered in the last decade. But their stories rarely appear in mainstream Western news reports.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Four articles more partisan than those I often&nbsp;share:&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>On the right: <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmind.org\/essays\/end-the-globalization-gravy-train\/\">End the Globalization Gravy Train<\/a> (J.D Vance, The American Mind): \u201cWestern Civilization was, in fact, built by figures\u2014one in particular whose resurrection we just celebrated\u2014who recognized that material consumption, while necessary and important, was hardly the only good worth pursuing.\u201d&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>On the left: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/studying-fascist-propaganda-by-day-watching-trumps-coronavirus-updates-by-night\">Studying Fascist Propaganda by Day, Watching Trump\u2019s Coronavirus Updates by Night<\/a> (Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker): \u201c[Yale professor Jason] Stanley isn\u2019t, or isn\u2019t mainly, a scholar of public policy; he is a philosopher of language. When he insinuates that Trump is a fascist\u2014and you don\u2019t have to be a philosopher of language to catch the insinuation\u2014he means that Trump talks like a fascist, not necessarily that he governs like one.\u201d Sent my way by a concerned alumnus.<\/li>\n<li>On the right: <a href=\"https:\/\/providencemag.com\/2020\/04\/evangelicals-need-more-pragmatism-less-moralism-al-mohler\/\">Evangelicals Need More Pragmatism and Less Moralism<\/a> (Daniel Strand, Providence): \u201cMany evangelicals have expressed their disillusion at both political parties because neither seems to line up with their beliefs. Democrats seem antagonistic to Christian convictions, and Republicans rally to defend and support a president whose character would not exactly line up with Christian standards, let alone those of used car salesman\u2014my apologies to used car salesmen. To all this, I say good.\u201d The author is a professor of ethics at the USAF Air War College.<\/li>\n<li>On the left: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2020\/06\/underlying-conditions\/610261\/\">We Are Living In A Failed State<\/a> (George Packer, The Atlantic): \u201cWhen the virus came here, it found a country with serious underlying conditions, and it exploited them ruthlessly. Chronic ills\u2014a corrupt political class, a sclerotic bureaucracy, a heartless economy, a divided and distracted public\u2014had gone untreated for years. We had learned to live, uncomfortably, with the symptoms. It took the scale and intimacy of a pandemic to expose their severity\u2014to shock Americans with the recognition that we are in the high-risk category.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/web-exclusives\/2020\/04\/the-decline-of-the-jury\">The Decline of the Jury<\/a> (Peter Hitchens, First Things): \u201cFor without a jury, any trial is simply a process by which the state reassures itself that it has got the right man. A group of state employees, none of them especially distinguished, are asked to confirm the views of other state employees. With a jury, the government cannot know the outcome and must prove its case. And so the faint, phantasmal ideal of the presumption of innocence takes on actual flesh and bones and stands in the path of&nbsp;power.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/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:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ObS6AKwMpwU\">Father and Son Magicians James and Dylan Piper<\/a> (Britain\u2019s Got Talent, YouTube): five minutes<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/coronavirus-passes-ninjas-as-top-invisible-enemy\">Coronavirus Overtakes Ninjas As Top Invisible Enemy<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/theoatmeal.com\/comics\/plunge\">Books<\/a> (The Oatmeal)&nbsp;<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/stanfordflipside.com\/2020\/04\/oh-no-27th-consecutive-housing-email-this-week-actually-contained-information-necessary-for-you-to-graduate\/\">Oh No! 27th Consecutive Housing Email This Week Actually Contained Information Necessary for You to Graduate<\/a> (Stanford Flipside)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/nonsequitur\/2020\/04\/19\">Pandemic Commerce<\/a> (Non Sequitur)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2020\/04\/20\">Realistic Goals<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/sodomy-2\">Sodomy<\/a> (SMBC)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/study-finds-chick-fil-a-sauce-kills-100-of-germs\">Study Finds Chick-Fil\u2011A Sauce Kills 100% Of Germs<\/a> (Babylon Bee) \u2014 checkmate, atheists.<\/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 For an eye-opening (and dismaying) experience, read<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2014\/11\/how-the-media-makes-the-israel-story\/383262\/\"> What The Media Gets Wrong About Israel<\/a> (Mattie Friedman, The Atlantic). (first shared back in <a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2015\/06\/26\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-5\">volume 5<\/a>): \u201cone of the most important aspects of the media-saturated conflict between Jews and Arabs is also the least covered: the press itself. The Western press has become less an observer of this conflict than an actor in it, a role with consequences for the millions of people trying to comprehend current events, including policymakers who depend on journalistic accounts to understand a region where they consistently seek, and fail, to productively intervene.\u201d<\/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>Articles ranging from how to share your faith during the pandemic to Amish healthcare policies to the limitations of lockdowns. Enjoy!<\/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":"Articles ranging from how to share your faith during the pandemic to Amish healthcare policies to the limitations of lockdowns. 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":[266,125,276,235,160,190,275,117,116,138,162],"class_list":["post-5972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-africa","tag-china","tag-cogic","tag-evangelism","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-nigeria","tag-pandemic","tag-politics","tag-race","tag-religious-freedom","tag-theology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1yk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972","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=5972"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5983,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972\/revisions\/5983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}