{"id":7540,"date":"2024-11-08T19:07:35","date_gmt":"2024-11-09T03:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7540"},"modified":"2024-11-08T19:07:35","modified_gmt":"2024-11-09T03:07:35","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-477","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2024\/11\/08\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-477","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 477"},"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=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li>Some post-election analysis, with the reminder that I do not endorse everything I share. I share them because they made me&nbsp;think.&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Amazing quote from the Stanford Review: <a href=\"https:\/\/stanfordreview.org\/its-time-for-stanford-to-accept-president-donald-trump-again\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">It\u2019s Time For Stanford to Accept President Donald Trump (Again)<\/a> (Editorial, Stanford Review): \u201cStanford students often forget to consider that the world around them votes too\u2014and that the world does not have the same concerns. As one peer remarked, \u2018I found out some of the dining hall staff voted for Trump and lowkey forgot they got to vote&nbsp;too.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.konstantinkisin.com\/p\/10-reasons-you-didnt-see-this-coming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10 Reasons You Didn\u2019t See This Coming<\/a> (Konstantin Kisin, Substack): \u201cAmericans are extremely practical people. They care about what works, not what sounds good. In Europe, we produce great writers and intellectuals. In America they produce (and attract) great engineers, businessmen and investors. Because of this, they care less about Trump\u2019s rhetoric than you do and more about his policies than you&nbsp;do.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kisin is a Russian-born immigrant to Britain. Interesting to see how at least one foreigner perceives the results US election.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aaronrenn.com\/p\/trump-post-christian-president\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump Is the President for Post-Christian America<\/a> (Aaron Renn, Substack): \u201cIt\u2019s hard to complain that he\u2019s crude when we live in a crude society and people like that way \u2014 except when it comes to him. In fact, compared to the rest of the country, Trump is a retro model of rectitude when it comes to not drinking or doing drugs, having a relentless work ethic, wearing suits, etc.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/democrats-picked-the-wrong-womens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrats Picked the Wrong Women\u2019s Rights Issue<\/a> (Madeleine Kearns, The Free Press): \u201cDemocrats bet big on \u2018reproductive rights\u2019 this election cycle, even offering free abortions at their national convention. But the strategy didn\u2019t pay off. Not only was abortion a flop with the electorate, it was Republicans\u2014not Democrats\u2014who pushed the winning women\u2019s\u2011rights issue: fighting the encroachment of biological men into women\u2019s spaces and sports.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spectator.co.uk\/article\/how-a-latino-wave-carried-trump-to-victory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How a Latino wave carried Trump to victory<\/a> (Daniel McCarthy, The Spectator): \u201cThe fact is that left-wing cultural attitudes in America, and in the West as a whole, are themselves very \u2018European\u2019 and seem often irrelevant or repugnant to people of other cultures and racial backgrounds. White progressive Americans think of their views as being universal, but they are really very specific to their own group. White liberals believe, for example, that masculinity is \u2018toxic\u2019 and the world needs more female leaders. They also believe that \u2018anti-racism\u2019 requires \u2018affirmative action\u2019 or racial quotes to give blacks in particular more representation in positions of power and prestige. White liberalism is the reason Kamala Harris was named as Joe Biden\u2019s running mate in 2020. She wasn\u2019t a popular politician \u2013 and as this election proved, she still isn\u2019t. But she was the right sex and colour to satisfy the requirements of white liberals. Latinos are not white liberals.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/elections\/election-2024-voters-demographics-votecast-survey-5a21c604?mod=politics_lead_pos1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How Different Groups Voted in the 2024 Election<\/a> (Brian McGill, Anthony DeBarros and Caitlin Ostroff, Wall Street Journal): \u201cHere are the results of a survey of over 120,000 registered voters, compiled by the Associated Press, which offer a look at voting patterns and trends among various groups in the electorate and what issues were the most important to voters heading into Election Day. Numbers will update as responses are added and the survey\u2019s weighting adjusts.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A LOT of graphs. One detail fascinating detail: people who voted for Trump were MORE concerned that Kamala Harris would lead America in an authoritarian direction than the people who voted for Harris were concerned about Trump doing the same. It was tight, but the greater fear was of a Harris administration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/07\/opinion\/trump-abortion-election-harris.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How Could Trump and Abortion Rights Both Win<\/a>? (Jill Filipovic, New York Times): \u201cHow could significant numbers of voters cast their ballots for legal abortion and also for the man who helped make it possible to criminalize abortion in the first place? Mr. Trump boasted about overturning Roe v. Wade and being the most pro-life president in American history, while Kamala Harris pledged to use her presidential power to protect and expand a broad range of reproductive freedoms. Yet, according to the vote tallies released so far, in every state where abortion was up for a vote, more voters cast those ballots for abortion rights than for Ms. Harris.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recommended by a student.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/marginalrevolution.com\/marginalrevolution\/2024\/11\/prediction-markets-for-the-win.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Prediction Markets for the Win<\/a> (Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution): \u201cThe prediction markets predicted the election outcome more accurately and more quickly than polls or other forecasting methods, just as expected from decades of research.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.astralcodexten.com\/p\/congrats-to-polymarket-but-i-still\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Congrats To Polymarket, But I Still Think They Were Mispriced<\/a> (Scott Alexander, Astral Codex Ten): \u201cWhy [do I think the market was mispriced]? In order for an American to use Polymarket, you have to get a VPN, a Coinbase account, and a Metamask wallet, use the VPN, get crypto on the Coinbase account, transfer it to the Metamask wallet, connect the Metamask wallet to Polymarket, and buy the shares you want. Ability to do this rules out 99% of the US population.\u2026 I think prediction markets are among our single best sources of truth, but that (as with every source of truth) we need to think critically about them and notice the rare times when they fail. If you can\u2019t think critically, you\u2019re going to have a hard time, but in that case I would <em>still<\/em> trust prediction markets over any other source (except Metaculus, which is so similar to a prediction market that it belongs in the same category anyway).\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Interesting contrarian take on the prediction market\u2019s success in the election.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegospelcoalition.org\/article\/women-pornography-church-help\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why Women Use Pornography and How the Church Can Help<\/a> (Helen Thorne-Allenson, The Gospel Coalition): \u201cThe biggest driver of pornography use among the women I\u2019ve met with is anxiety. Life feels overwhelming at times; pornography brings some relief\u2026 Maybe unsurprisingly, another big driver among the women I\u2019ve walked alongside (particularly younger women) is a desire to know what sex is like.\u2026 The driver we probably miss most often in the church is that of managing pain.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mereorthodoxy.com\/be-perfect\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Be Perfect<\/a> (Ross Byrd, Mere Orthodoxy): \u201cIn the Bible, the word \u2018perfect\u2019 doesn\u2019t mean what we tend to mean by it today. For the writers of Scripture, perfection has more to do with <em>finished-ness <\/em>than flawlessness. A thing is called \u2018perfect\u2019 when it is brought to its full maturity, when it becomes everything it is meant to be. Now, if we apply this definition to the Garden of Eden, we are forced to conclude that <strong>Eden was not, in fact, perfect.<\/strong> Eden was good, as Genesis tells us over and over. He created this and that, and it was good. He created human beings, and it was very good. But it doesn\u2019t say perfect. In a very important sense, it was not yet perfect, because it was not yet complete. Eden was the beginning. The garden was, among other things, a place of potential.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Emphasis in original. I like the core insight in this essay a&nbsp;lot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.plough.com\/en\/topics\/justice\/politics\/religious-liberty\/why-were-still-atheists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why We\u2019re Still Atheists<\/a> (Katja Hoyer, Plough): \u201cI, on the other hand, often wondered even as a child what the point of life was if all you did is grow up, work, die, and be erased. When I lost relatives, friends, and pets, I knew I had lost them forever, while others held out for some form of reunion in another life or at least the idea that souls continued to exist somewhere. On an abstract level, I began to understand why most of humanity finds comfort, surety, and purpose in religion. But by the time I worked this out, it was entirely an intellectual mind game to me. I had grown up in a world that made sense without God and nothing could change that&nbsp;now.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A very interesting essay about why East Germany is so atheist, written by an atheist reflecting on&nbsp;it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphsaboutreligion.com\/p\/are-religious-people-more-fearful\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Are Religious People More Fearful?<\/a> (Ryan Burge, Substack): \u201cI am really surprised at how few of these factors actually \u2018pop\u2019 in this analysis. That was true for things like income, age, marital status, view of the Bible, and religious importance. None of those had a measurable impact on the fear index. Also, I didn\u2019t find a single factor that clearly led to higher levels of expressed fear. However, there were four variables in this analysis that predicted a lower score on the fear index. They were: being white, being male, having a higher level of education, and increased church attendance.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Emphasis removed for readability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/europeanconservative.com\/articles\/essay\/st-junipero-serra-an-unjustly-controversial-figure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">St. Junipero Serra: An Unjustly Controversial Figure<\/a> (Brian Gabriel, The European Conservative): \u201cIn present-day discourse, the actions of the missionaries and the Spanish soldiers are often conflated, but the missionaries\u2019 paternalistic attitude toward the tribes actually often led them to protect the tribes from the more rapacious and unsavory behavior of the soldiers. It\u2019s true enough that the tribes were sometimes forced to labor in the fields, and their freedom of movement was restricted once they converted to Catholicism. The missions themselves were often built in part, at least, by the tribesmen, sometimes under duress. But the harsh treatment, while striking the modern observer as cruel and tortuous, was seen by the missionaries as essential to the natives\u2019 spiritual salvation. Today, many of their descendants remain Catholic. The value of the missionaries\u2019 actions can never be recognized by a modern world that doesn\u2019t allow for spiritual effects.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I have long believed, even as a very Protestant person, that Junipero Serra has gotten a bum rap in California (and at Stanford).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecut.com\/article\/rodney-alcala-the-dating-game-killer-survivor-true-story.html?itm_medium=site&amp;itm_source=order-form&amp;_gl=1*lbkp6*FPAU*MTY3NjYwMTc4OS4xNzMwODMyMDE5*_ga*MTU1NDA4Mjk1NS4xNzMwODMyMDE3*_ga_DNE38RK1HX*MTczMDgzMjAxNi4xLjEuMTczMDgzMjE3OS4wLjAuMzA0MDUzMzAx*_fplc*eVY4MlhxRkZST2RsaUZlYk5QOFJvZEtjJTJCQlJRU2oyOUZ4Znk2TDlaYzZ1d0FtYk5MMFBoVXo3WmFJVDdib29WQUd1cmoxYjM1Nlc4JTJGS1Y3bHBrTTZmNlE1TTRwRExMblk2dGhXZ1luUld4ekNZJTJGQVRLU09MaE9Jb1BjOWZRJTNEJTNE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rodney Alcala Didn\u2019t Kill Me. Forty Years Later, I Asked Him Why<\/a> (Alice Feiring, New York Magazine): \u201cFour-decades-plus later, I learned his real name when it flashed across a television screen beneath his familiar face and orange jumpsuit: \u2018Rodney Alcala, <em>The Dating Game<\/em> Serial Killer, Sentenced to Death.\u2019 It couldn\u2019t be the same man, I\u2019d thought to myself. But after hours of Googling I had to accept the truth: Jon Burger was an alias; he was the winning bachelor on <em>The Dating Game<\/em> nine years after I met him; and he is believed to have been one of the most prolific of serial killers, officially responsible for at least seven murders with authorities estimating his real body count at about&nbsp;130.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recommended by a student who says, \u201cVery well written, chilling story. The author is lucky to be&nbsp;alive.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/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=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How to Do Action Comedy<\/a> (Every Frame a Painting, YouTube): nine minutes about what makes Jackie Chan so great, and why his foreign films are better than his American films in important ways.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=v6QF-sRdU9g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Harvey Epstein for New York City Council<\/a> (Saturday Night Live, YouTube): two and a half minutes I found absolutely hilarious. What\u2019s even funnier is that it\u2019s about a real politician.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/textsfromsuperheroes.com\/post\/766085146582630400\/vote\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vote<\/a> (Texts From Superheroes)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2024\/11\/03\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Diet<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine) \u2014 actually, though<\/li>\n<\/ul>\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:\/\/theglendavis.substack.com\/\">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 Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email? In the time \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2024\/11\/08\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-477\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 477\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":"","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":[204,120,117,136,162],"class_list":["post-7540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-atheism","tag-famous-christians","tag-politics","tag-pornography","tag-theology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1XC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7540","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=7540"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7545,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7540\/revisions\/7545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}