{"id":6165,"date":"2020-07-17T17:20:35","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T01:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=6165"},"modified":"2020-07-17T17:20:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T01:20:37","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-259","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2020\/07\/17\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-259","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 259"},"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.bbc.com\/news\/health-53409521\">Fertility rate: \u2018Jaw-dropping\u2019 global crash in children being born<\/a> (James Gallagher, BBC): \u201cChina, currently the most populous nation in the world, is expected to peak at 1.4 billion in four years\u2019 time before nearly halving to 732 million by 2100. India will take its place.\u201d From a long-term perspective, this is possibly the most significant news you will read this year. Some of you will still be alive when China\u2019s population is half what it is now. And it\u2019s not just China \u2014 many nations are on the same path (with only a few sizable ones headed in the opposite direction).<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/158058\/coronavirus-conservative-experts-scientific-counterrevolution\">The Coronavirus and the Right\u2019s Scientific Counterrevolution<\/a> (Ari Schulman, The New Republic): \u201cThat so many views tut-tutted as the irrational defiance of expert consensus actually <em>became<\/em> the expert consensus in the span of just a few weeks vividly suggests that we need to reexamine just how our culture talks about expertise. The problem is not mainly that the experts were wrong\u2014that is to be expected. It is, rather, that our lead institutions and public information outlets continually treated the assurances of experts as neutral interpretations of settled science when they plainly were not.\u201d Interesting throughout. This will likely enter my rotation of classics that I repost from time to&nbsp;time.&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/arena-man.blogspot.com\/2020\/07\/an-open-letter-to-my-fellow-christians.html\">An Open Letter To My Fellow Christians<\/a> (David Carreon, personal blog): \u201cLarge gatherings are dangerous with a spreading virus regardless of the reason for the assembly. Some resist the straightforward response to this out of idolatry of church attendance and the church building. Any good thing can become an idol. Gold is good but can be shaped into a golden calf (Exo 32:4). Sex is good but can we can also pervert it through fornication (1 Cor 6:9). A church building or even physical attendance at church can be mistaken for the Church itself. This, too, is idolatry.\u201d David is a Stanford psychiatrist (and a friend of&nbsp;mine)<\/li>\n<li>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/edstetzer\/2020\/july\/decision-not-to-gather-physically-on-sundays-until-2021-int.html\">Andy Stanley Explains Why His Megachurch Won\u2019t Gather on Sundays Until 2021<\/a> (Ed Stetzer, Christianity Today): \u201cHere is where I think the church needs to think about this: As a local church, we have limited time, limited staff, and limited resources; it makes no sense to focus our staff time and resources on creating a subpar environment on Sunday morning for a nine and 11 o\u2019clock service that only 20% of the people may attend. We decided to focus on the 100% of all of our church folks and their friends and the rest of the world that may show up&nbsp;later.\u201c<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2020\/07\/david-shor-cancel-culture-2020-election-theory-polls.html\">David Shor\u2019s Unified Theory of the 2020 Election<\/a> (Eric Levitz, New York Magazine): \u201cCampaigns do want to win. But the people who work in campaigns tend to be highly ideologically motivated and thus, super-prone to convincing themselves to do things that are strategically dumb.\u201d Super interesting \u2014 well worth reading.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/10\/06\/asia\/china-xinjiang-video-intl-hnk\/index.html\">Disturbing video shows hundreds of blindfolded prisoners in Xinjiang<\/a> (Matt Rivers, Max Foster and James Griffiths, CNN): \u201cThe video \u2014 which was posted online anonymously last week \u2014 shows hundreds of men, most of whom are dressed in purple and orange vests with the words \u2018Kashgar Detention Center\u2019 printed on them, seated in rows on the ground of what appears to be a large courtyard outside a train station. Their heads are shaved and their hands bound behind their backs. All of the men are wearing black blindfolds over their eyes and they are being watched over by dozens of police officers in SWAT uniforms.\u201d\u2019&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c\">China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization<\/a> (Associated Press): \u201cWhile individual women have spoken out before about forced birth control, the practice is far more widespread and systematic than previously known, according to an AP investigation based on government statistics, state documents and interviews with 30 ex-detainees, family members and a former detention camp instructor. The campaign over the past four years in the far west region of Xinjiang is leading to what some experts are calling a form of \u2018demographic genocide.\u2019\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/family\/archive\/2020\/06\/dont-push-away-your-negative-emotions\/613180\/?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=masthead-newsletter&amp;utm_content=20200711&amp;silverid-ref=NTQxNDc4NTE0NzY0S0\">Sit With Negative Emotions, Don\u2019t Push Them Away<\/a> (Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic): \u201cIn sum, if we want a life full of deep meaning, true love, and emotional strength, it\u2019s going to involve the risk (and often the reality) of discomfort, conflict, and loss. This means there will be sadness, fear, anger, and disgust. If we eliminate negative emotions and experiences from our lives, we will be poorer and weaker for having done so.\u201d The author is a professor at Harvard, recommended by a friend.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/07\/14\/opinion\/cancel-culture-.html?action=click&amp;module=Opinion&amp;pgtype=Homepage\">10 Theses About Cancel Culture<\/a> (Ross Douthat, New York Times): \u201cThe point of cancellation is ultimately to establish norms for the majority, not to bring the stars back down to earth\u2026. The goal isn\u2019t to punish everyone, or even very many someones; it\u2019s to shame or scare just enough people to make the rest conform.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/158346\/willful-blindness-reactionary-liberalism\">The Willful Blindness of Reactionary Liberalism<\/a> (Osita Nwanevu, The New Republic): \u201cThe tensions we\u2019ve seen lately have been internal to liberalism for ages: between those who take the associative nature of liberal society seriously and those who are determined not to. It is the former group, the defenders of progressive identity politics, who in fact are protecting\u2014indeed expanding\u2014the bounds of liberalism. And it is the latter group, the reactionaries, who are most guilty of the illiberalism they claim has overtaken the American Left.\u201d Written before the letter I shared last week, this is one of the best defenses of cancel culture.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/scholars-stage.blogspot.com\/2020\/07\/the-world-that-twitter-made.html\">The World That Twitter Made<\/a> (Tanner Greer, personal blog): \u201cI suspect an entire class of pundits has internalized the idea that [Twitter debate] is what public discussion <em>is<\/em>. Of course they don\u2019t believe in free expression, civil debate, the spirit of liberalism, and all of that jazz. To this generation those things are just words. The public sphere they have known has always been a bare-knuckle brawl.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bariweiss.com\/resignation-letter\">Resignation Letter<\/a> (Bari Weiss, personal website): \u201cWhat rules that remain at The Times are applied with extreme selectivity. If a person\u2019s ideology is in keeping with the new orthodoxy, they and their work remain unscrutinized. Everyone else lives in fear of the digital thunderdome.\u201d Recommended by a student.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2020\/07\/andrew-sullivan-see-you-next-friday.html\">See You Next Friday<\/a> (Andrew Sullivan, New York Magazine): \u201cWhat has happened, I think, is relatively simple: A critical mass of the staff and management at <em>New York<\/em> Magazine and Vox Media no longer want to associate with me, and, in a time of ever tightening budgets, I\u2019m a luxury item they don\u2019t want to afford. And that\u2019s entirely their prerogative.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/dailynous.com\/2020\/07\/09\/illusion-agreement-debate-intolerance\/\">Illusion and Agreement in the Debate over Intolerance<\/a> (Justin Weinberg, Daily Nous): \u201cIn short, I don\u2019t think society has gotten more intolerant, but technology has facilitated, among other things, the expression of intolerance.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/theobjective.substack.com\/p\/14203152-3a83-4068-b6b2-a5007b0e2f5b\">A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate<\/a> (many authors, The Objective): \u201cIn truth, Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ people \u2014 particularly Black and trans people \u2014 can now critique elites publicly and hold them accountable socially; this seems to be the letter\u2019s greatest concern. What\u2019s perhaps even more grating to many of the signatories is that a critique of their long held views is persuasive.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/unherd.com\/thepost\/liked-tweets-nearly-cost-me-my-university-job\/\">Liked tweets nearly cost me my university job<\/a> (Mike McCulloch, Unherd): \u201cTo think that I could have lost my career to a single complaint about my liked tweets shows just how hysterical the present social mood is. Now more than ever, it is vital that we \u2014 and in particular the universities \u2014 stand up for enlightenment principles and replace fear with reason and fact.\u201d The author is a math lecturer (similar to an assistant professor in the US) at the University of Plymouth.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/quillette.com\/2020\/07\/08\/a-declaration-of-independence-by-a-princeton-professor\/\">A Declaration of Independence by a Princeton Professor<\/a> (Joshua T. Katz, Quillette): \u201cI am friends with many people who signed the Princeton letter, which requests and in some places demands a dizzying array of changes, and I support their right to speak as they see fit. But I am embarrassed for&nbsp;them.\u201d&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/dreher\/attempted-putsch-at-princeton\/\">Attempted Putsch At Princeton<\/a> (Rod Dreher, The American Conservative): \u201cI am a Princeton professor who signed the letter that you wrote about today. I am also a devout Christian and a daily reader of your blog.\u201d Contains a letter from a Princeton prof with a different view than the one above, worth contrasting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/article\/2020\/08\/my-time-in-prison\">My Time in Prison<\/a> (George Cardinal Pell, First Things): \u201cThere is a lot of goodness in prisons. At times, I am sure, prisons may be hell on earth. I was fortunate to be kept safe and treated well. I was impressed by the professionalism of the warders, the faith of the prisoners, and the existence of a moral sense even in the darkest places.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Did you know that \u201cCardinal\u201d as a title is often used as a middle name? <a href=\"https:\/\/aleteia.org\/2019\/07\/26\/why-do-cardinals-put-their-title-in-the-middle-of-their-name\/\">Why do cardinals put their title in the middle of their name?<\/a> (Philip Kosloski, Aletia)&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/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:\/\/dilbert.com\/strip\/2020-07-13\">Boss Is White Supremacist<\/a> (Dilbert)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dilbert.com\/strip\/2020-07-14%5C\">Boss Follows Racists On Twitter<\/a> (Dilbert)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dilbert.com\/strip\/2020-07-15?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DilbertDailyStrip+%28Dilbert+Daily+Strip%29\">Boss Fired For Being White Supremacist<\/a> (Dilbert)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/imgur.com\/gallery\/JJg7IqN\">Bride gives her soon to be husband the gift of color for their wedding<\/a> (Imgur) \u2014 this is one of the most uplifting things you will see&nbsp;today<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/xkcd.com\/2333\/\">COVID Risk Chart<\/a> (xkcd)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/the-arrow-of-time\">The Arrow of Time<\/a> (SMBC)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2020\/07\/17\">Local Papers<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/imgur.com\/gallery\/pvuBvlW\">In Honor of Fred Weasely<\/a> (Imgur)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/imgur.com\/gallery\/fCeIE01\">On Voting<\/a> (Imgur) \u2014 actually serious, but so brief I didn\u2019t want to put it up&nbsp;above<\/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:\/\/www.9marks.org\/article\/how-the-state-serves-both-salvation-and-religious-freedom\/?utm_source=eml-article&amp;utm_medium=eml-article&amp;utm_campaign=eml-article\">How the State Serves Both Salvation and Religious Freedom<\/a> (Jonathan Leeman, 9 Marks): \u201cTwo basic kinds of governments, then, show up in the Bible: those that shelter God\u2019s people, and those that destroy them. Abimelech sheltered; Pharoah destroyed. The Assyrians destroyed; the Babylonians and Persians, ultimately, sheltered. Pilate destroyed; Festus sheltered. And depending on how you read Revelation, the history of government will culminate in a beastly slaughter of saintly blood. Romans 13 calls governments servants; Psalm 2 calls them imposters. Most governments contain both. But some are better than others.\u201d First shared in <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2018\/08\/17\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-165\">volume 165<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/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>This week contains some of the most fascinating articles I ever have passed along. Definitely worth skimming!<\/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 covering everything from the true dynamics of American politics to theological reflections on responding to COVID to global horrors unfolding in front of us. 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