{"id":6551,"date":"2021-04-16T19:06:05","date_gmt":"2021-04-17T03:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=6551"},"modified":"2021-04-16T19:08:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-17T03:08:17","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-297","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2021\/04\/16\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-297","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 297"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" 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 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>     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<p>This is volume 297, which is known as a <a href=\"https:\/\/mathworld.wolfram.com\/KaprekarNumber.html\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/mathworld.wolfram.com\/KaprekarNumber.html\">Kaprekar Number<\/a>. It\u2019s such a weird thing I can barely believe it has a name. To simplify a bit, if you square the number and split the digits in half and they add back up to the original number, it\u2019s a Kaprekar number. Since 297<sup>2<\/sup>&nbsp;= 88,209 and 297 = 88 + 209, that means 297 is one of these odd numerical entities.<\/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>About police shootings: I\u2019m really sad and I also don\u2019t have any articles because I haven\u2019t read anything interesting about them in relation to the most recent episodes. If you find something \u2014 especially something written from a thoughtful Christian perspective \u2014 please do let me&nbsp;know.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/04\/10\/opinion\/sunday\/religion-meritocracy-god.html?action=click&amp;module=Opinion&amp;pgtype=Homepage\">Can the Meritocracy Find God?<\/a> (Ross Douthat, New York Times): \u201cTo be dropped into [a world like this] and not be persistently open to religious possibilities seems much more like prejudice than rationality.\u201d<ul><li>Related: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jecs.substack.com\/p\/another-obstacle-to-elite-religion\">Another Obstacle to Elite Religion<\/a> (Audrey Pollnow, Substack): \u201cOne friend\u2014a very admirable person who has devoted their life to learning and service rather than to acquiring money or prestige\u2014told me that they could never become a Christian because the inability to be \u2018good enough\u2019 in the achievement department would make them depressed.\u201d<\/li><li>Related: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/createsend.com\/t\/r-6C1451630A966B6D2540EF23F30FEDED\">Why the Church Is Losing the Next Generation<\/a> (Russell Moore, newsletter): \u201cIf people reject the church because they reject Jesus and the gospel, we should be saddened but not surprised.&nbsp; But what happens when people reject the church because they think <em>we<\/em> reject Jesus and the gospel?\u201d<\/li><li>Related: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/04\/12\/985036148\/can-americas-civil-religion-still-unite-the-country\">Can America\u2019s \u2018Civil Religion\u2019 Still Unite The Country?<\/a> (Tom Gjelten, NPR): \u201cAmericans are expected to hold their hands over their hearts when they recite the Pledge of Allegiance or stand for the national anthem. Young people are taught to regard the country\u2019s founders almost as saints. The \u2018self-evident\u2019 truths listed in the Declaration of Independence and the key provisions of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights have acquired the status of scripture in the U.S. consciousness.\u201d The scare quotes around \u2018self-evident\u2019 are&nbsp;weird.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.athwart.org\/on-loving-mortals-curtis-yarvin\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.athwart.org\/on-loving-mortals-curtis-yarvin\/\">On Loving Mortals<\/a> (Curtis Yarvin, Athwart): \u201cHere\u2019s a catch-22, or a Meno\u2019s Paradox of sorts: why should these young men live well without a family for whom to do it, and why should young women tolerate (much less <em><\/em><em>love<\/em>) men who don\u2019t live well? Loving a mortal saved me, and countless other men I know, from the Achillean fate, but in most cases it seems something like a miracle.\u201d Recommended by a student, who called it enthralling.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/createsend.com\/t\/r-6C1451630A966B6D2540EF23F30FEDED\">Stanford activists \u2018Disturbed the War\u2019 in the 1960s and 1970s<\/a> (Lenny Siegel, Stanford Daily): \u201cAfter watching the play, \u2018Alice in ROTC-Land,\u2019 thousands of demonstrators poured out of Frost Amphitheater to confront police. Incidentally, that performance launched the acting career of Sigourney Weaver, who played the title role.\u201d Interesting and also very weird. The author seems to want Stanford to be a democracy as though it were a government. Full of fascinating anecdotes.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2021\/april-web-only\/splintering-of-evangelical-soul.html?visit_source=twitter\">The Splintering of the Evangelical Soul<\/a> (Timothy Dalrymple, Christianity Today): \u201cThis [collapse of media integrity] presents an extraordinary challenge for Christian discipleship. Media consumption has been climbing for years, and it soared amid the pandemic. Members of our congregations may spend a few hours a week in the Word of God (which should always be the Christian\u2019s most important source of information and authority) but 40 hours or more mainlining the animosities of the day.\u201d The author is a Stanford grad.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thegospelcoalition.org\/article\/theology-free-speech\/\">A Theology of Free Speech<\/a> (Brad Littlejohn, Gospel Coalition): \u201cThus, as Christians, we must clearly affirm that freedom of speech can be a great good. But it is an <em>instrumental <\/em>good, a means to the end of proclaiming truth and encouraging righteousness. It is not an end in itself, as if the mere freedom to open our mouths were sacrosanct. We have a moral right to speak truth in due season. We have no moral right to slander, deceive, curse, or insult. In order to secure our moral right to speak truth, however, we generally need to defend a legal right that includes a right to speak falsehood.\u201d This is quite&nbsp;good.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/161912\/joe-biden-religion-barber-warnock-massimo-faggioli\">Whither the Religious Left?<\/a> (Matthew Sitman, The New Republic): \u201cUnlike the bland conformity of civic religion, the prophetic calls of particularistic faiths rarely line up with the needs of political parties. This cuts both ways: The religious left, in all its diversity, will never be a reliable ally of the Democratic Party, nor will the Democratic Party always be a comfortable home for the religious left.\u2026 That means the religious left faces similar dilemmas as the socialist left: discerning how far and how fast to push, how to relate high ideals to the realities of mainstream parties.\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 rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XZps0fR5TE4\">Star Trek With Recent College Grads<\/a> (Saturday Night, YouTube): four minutes, recommended by a colleague<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Oj77Pz1r718\">How People Think You Stop Bigotry<\/a> (Ryan Long, YouTube): three minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2021\/04\/14\">Inappropriate Therapist<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine): this is actually sometimes the correct response, though<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/agi\">AI Ethics<\/a> (SMBC)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fKVcfbIsJtA\">Fear Factor in 2021<\/a> (John Crist, YouTube): six and a half minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uarBtleZ3Ck\">Balloon Magic<\/a> (Penn &amp; Teller Fool Us, YouTube): seven and a half minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jedszlUund8\">Book Magic<\/a> (Penn &amp; Teller Fool Us, YouTube): ten minutes. Of extra interest, the magician has a master\u2019s from MIT and works at Google.<\/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.insidehighered.com\/news\/2016\/01\/06\/new-book-reveals-how-elite-phd-admissions-committees-review-candidates\">Inside Graduate Admissions<\/a> (Inside Higher Ed, Scott Jaschick): if you plan to apply to grad school, read this. There is one revealing anecdote about how an admissions committee treated an application from a Christian college student. My takeaway: the professors tried to be fair but found it hard to do, and their stated concerns were mostly about the quality of the institution rather than the faith of the applicant. Troubling nonetheless. (first shared in <a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2016\/01\/15\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-32\">volume 32<\/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>slightly weirder articles than the usual (and more fun videos)<\/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":"Slightly weirder articles than the usual collection this week - and more fun videos.","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":[235,152,160,112,135],"class_list":["post-6551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-evangelism","tag-free-speech","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-marriage","tag-stanford"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1HF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6551","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=6551"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6555,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6551\/revisions\/6555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}