{"id":7667,"date":"2025-05-02T17:46:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T00:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7667"},"modified":"2025-05-02T17:46:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T00:46:24","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-502-political-faith-sexual-mores-young-adulthood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/05\/02\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-502-political-faith-sexual-mores-young-adulthood","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 502: political faith, sexual mores, young adulthood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><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 Fri\u00addays I share articles\/resources about broad cul\u00adtur\u00adal, soci\u00adetal and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues. Be sure to see the expla\u00adna\u00adtion and dis\u00adclaimers at the bot\u00adtom. I wel\u00adcome your sug\u00adges\u00adtions. If you read some\u00adthing fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading please pass it my 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><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/01\/opinion\/trump-evangelicals-republicans.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EU8.SBp0.11szGK-jUUOE&amp;smid=url-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Chris\u00adt\u00adian Right Is Going Extinct<\/a> (David French, New York Times): \u201cThe Chris\u00adt\u00adian right is dead, but the reli\u00adgious right is stronger than it\u2019s ever been. Anoth\u00ader way of putting it is that the reli\u00adgious right has divorced itself from his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal Chris\u00adt\u00adian the\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy but still holds its par\u00adti\u00adsan beliefs with reli\u00adgious inten\u00adsi\u00adty. The reli\u00adgious fer\u00advor is there. Chris\u00adt\u00adian virtues are not.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Unlocked. This arti\u00adcle gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded more dis\u00adcus\u00adsion when shared with my stu\u00addents this week than any oth\u00ader.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegospelcoalition.org\/blogs\/trevin-wax\/gods-guidelines-sex-arent-arbitrary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">God\u2019s Guide\u00adlines for Sex Aren\u2019t Arbi\u00adtrary<\/a> (Trevin Wax, The Gospel Coali\u00adtion): \u201cJust as sin is like lep\u00adrosy that dead\u00adens our abil\u00adi\u00adty to feel, so also with pornog\u00adra\u00adphy there fol\u00adlows a dead\u00aden\u00ading of the sens\u00ades and the sear\u00ading of the con\u00adscience. What once was sex\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly stir\u00adring no longer holds any pow\u00ader. That\u2019s not because the per\u00adson watch\u00ading porn has become more alive but because they\u2019ve become more dead. Could there be a bet\u00adter exam\u00adple of the wages of sin being death?\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I wish he had cho\u00adsen a dif\u00adfer\u00adent top\u00adic for his sec\u00adond exam\u00adple (per\u00adhaps promis\u00adcu\u00adity), because the con\u00adtentious\u00adness around his sec\u00adond exam\u00adple will lim\u00adit his arti\u00adcle\u2019s over\u00adall appeal. I com\u00admend him for stat\u00ading his views forth\u00adright\u00adly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/30\/well\/mind\/happiness-flourishing-young-adult-study.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A Glob\u00adal Flour\u00adish\u00ading Study Finds That Young Adults, Well, Aren\u2019t<\/a> (Christi\u00adna Caron, New York Times): \u201cYoung adult\u00adhood has long been con\u00adsid\u00adered a care\u00adfree time, a peri\u00adod of lim\u00adit\u00adless oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty and few oblig\u00ada\u00adtions. But data from the flour\u00adish\u00ading study and else\u00adwhere sug\u00adgests that for many peo\u00adple, this notion is more fan\u00adta\u00adsy than real\u00adi\u00adty. A 2023 report from the Har\u00advard Grad\u00adu\u00adate School of Edu\u00adca\u00adtion, for exam\u00adple, found that young adults ages 18\u201325 in the Unit\u00aded States report\u00aded dou\u00adble the rates of anx\u00adi\u00adety and depres\u00adsion as teens. On top of that, per\u00adfec\u00adtion\u00adism has sky\u00adrock\u00adet\u00aded among col\u00adlege stu\u00addents, who often report feel\u00ading pres\u00adsure to meet unre\u00adal\u00adis\u00adtic expec\u00adta\u00adtions. Par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpa\u00adtion in com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtions, clubs and reli\u00adgious groups has declined, and lone\u00adli\u00adness is now becom\u00ading as preva\u00adlent among young adults as it is among old\u00ader adults.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thedispatch.com\/article\/great-books-self-learning-gen-z-loneliness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Don\u2019t Wait for Your Teacher<\/a> (Aliza J. Fas\u00adsett, The Dis\u00adpatch): \u201cBy the end of my first week of work, three peo\u00adple told me <em>Mid\u00addle\u00admarch <\/em>was their favorite book. I had nev\u00ader heard of it.&nbsp; It would have been easy to shake my fist and curse the course crafters for the sor\u00adry state of my lit\u00ader\u00adary reper\u00adtoire, but nobody had actu\u00adal\u00adly <em>stopped<\/em> me from read\u00ading the great works. In oth\u00ader words, it was at least part\u00adly my own damn fault\u2014and it would be my own job to fix the prob\u00adlem. So, I com\u00admit\u00adted to read\u00ading what I per\u00adceived to be the most ref\u00ader\u00adenced works of literature\u2014commonly referred to as the \u2018great books.\u2019 And once I start\u00aded, I gained access to what felt like a whole new method of under\u00adstand\u00ading the human expe\u00adri\u00adence.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ifstudies.org\/blog\/marry-early-and-flourish-together\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mar\u00adry Ear\u00adly and Flour\u00adish Togeth\u00ader<\/a> (Kasen Stephensen, Insti\u00adtute for Fam\u00adi\u00adly Stud\u00adies): \u201cDur\u00ading my junior year at Stan\u00adford, I remem\u00adber an assign\u00adment where we filled out a five-year plan with a pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal and per\u00adson\u00adal goal for each year. I planned to mar\u00adry my then-fianc\u00e9e that year, so my per\u00adson\u00adal goals were straight\u00adfor\u00adward: have a wed\u00adding and start hav\u00ading kids over the fol\u00adlow\u00ading years. I knew my sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion in life rel\u00ada\u00adtive to my class\u00admates was unusu\u00adal, but I didn\u2019t real\u00adize how dif\u00adfer\u00adent my approach was until I shared my plan in a small group set\u00adting.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I do not believe I ever met Kasen while he was a stu\u00addent. I had absolute\u00adly zero influ\u00adence on this guy: he has arrived at his con\u00adclu\u00adsions inde\u00adpen\u00addent\u00adly. I encour\u00adage all young peo\u00adple to read this data-dri\u00adven arti\u00adcle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.noahpinion.blog\/p\/how-to-have-friends-past-age-30\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How to have friends past age 30<\/a> (Noah Smith, Sub\u00adstack): \u201c\u2026make new friends by <em>invit\u00ading them to join an exist\u00ading friend group<\/em>.&nbsp; Basi\u00adcal\u00adly, instead of \u2018Hey, want to come hang out with me?\u2019, it\u2019s eas\u00adi\u00ader to ask a new acquain\u00adtance \u2018Hey, want to come hang out with me and my friends?\u2019. The first is a big\u00adger ask \u2014 it\u2019s basi\u00adcal\u00adly like a friend date (and might some\u00adtimes get mis\u00adtak\u00aden for an actu\u00adal date). The lat\u00adter is much low\u00ader stakes. Your friend group also serves as a source of \u2018social proof\u2019 \u2014 basi\u00adcal\u00adly, a new friend can see that peo\u00adple like you, which makes them less afraid of becom\u00ading your friend.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The arti\u00adcle is full of good advice for soon-to-be-grads<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.astralcodexten.com\/p\/testing-ais-geoguessr-genius\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Test\u00ading AI\u2019s GeoGuessr Genius<\/a> (Scott Alexan\u00adder, Astral Codex Ten): \u201cWhen I was younger, I liked to hike moun\u00adtains. The high\u00adest I ever got was 18,000 feet, on Kala Pat\u00adtar, a few miles north of Gorak Shep in Nepal. To com\u00admem\u00ado\u00adrate the occa\u00adsion, I plant\u00aded the flag of the imag\u00adi\u00adnary coun\u00adtry sim\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion that I par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00aded in at the time (just long enough to take this pic\u00adture \u2014 then I unplant\u00aded it). I chose this pic\u00adture because it denies o3 the two things that worked for it before \u2014 veg\u00ade\u00adta\u00adtion and sky \u2014 in favor of ran\u00addom rocks. And because I thought the flag of a nonex\u00adis\u00adtent coun\u00adtry would at least give it pause. o3 guessed: \u2018<em>Nepal, just north-east of Gorak Shep, \u00b18 km<\/em>\u2019 This is <em>exact\u00adly <\/em>right. I swear I screen\u00adshot-copy-past\u00aded this so there\u2019s no way it can be in the meta\u00adda\u00adta, and I\u2019ve nev\u00ader giv\u00aden o3 any rea\u00adson to think I\u2019ve been to Nepal.\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=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/interestingengineering.com\/innovation\/world-first-t-rex-leather-handbag\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mil\u00adlions of years-old dinosaur DNA to help build world-first T\u2011Rex leather hand\u00adbag<\/a> (Mri\u00adgak\u00adshi Dixit,Interesting Engi\u00adneer\u00ading): \u201cWhile it was pre\u00advi\u00adous\u00adly believed that dinosaur DNA wouldn\u2019t sur\u00advive for mil\u00adlions of years, recent dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00adies have found col\u00adla\u00adgen pre\u00adserved in var\u00adi\u00adous dinosaur fos\u00adsils, includ\u00ading an 80-mil\u00adlion-year-old T Rex. Last year, MIT researchers decod\u00aded how the dinosaur col\u00adla\u00adgen sur\u00advived for so long. Inter\u00adest\u00ading\u00adly, they dis\u00adcov\u00adered a spe\u00adcif\u00adic atom\u00adic mech\u00ada\u00adnism that shields col\u00adla\u00adgen from water\u2019s dam\u00adag\u00ading effects.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I am not con\u00advinced this is real. But I want it to be!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/wife-beginning-to-suspect-husbands-thoughtful-relevant-responses-to-her-texts-might-be-ai-generated\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wife Begin\u00adning To Sus\u00adpect Hus\u00adband\u2019s Thought\u00adful, Rel\u00ade\u00advant Respons\u00ades To Her Texts Might Be A.I. Gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded<\/a> (Baby\u00adlon Bee)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2025\/05\/02\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Polit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly Divid\u00aded<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I saw some\u00adone call this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DH4l3rAvNmy\/?igsh=MXB2ZWRjOGV6dm4xYg%3D%3D\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DH4l3rAvNmy\/?igsh=MXB2ZWRjOGV6dm4xYg%3D%3D\">AI gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded coun\u00adtry song<\/a> \u201cthe most Amer\u00adi\u00adcan thing ever\u201d (Insta\u00adgram). It is not Chris\u00adt\u00adian and many of the lyrics give me pause. But it is fun\u00adny.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar pro\u00adduced shrewd war\u00adriors \u201cwho under\u00adstood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (1 Chron 12:32). In a sim\u00adi\u00adlar way, we need to become wise peo\u00adple whose faith inter\u00adacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may con\u00adtin\u00adue the tra\u00addi\u00adtion of Issachar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chi Alpha is not a par\u00adti\u00adsan orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion. To para\u00adphrase anoth\u00ader min\u00adis\u00adter: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agen\u00adda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agen\u00adda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agen\u00adda. Hav\u00ading said that, I read wide\u00adly (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal Tur\u00ading test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fair\u00adly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI dis\u00adagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI under\u00adstand\u201d) and may at times share arti\u00adcles that have a strong par\u00adti\u00adsan bias sim\u00adply because I find the arti\u00adcle stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with every\u00adthing an author says in an arti\u00adcle I men\u00adtion, much less things the author has said in oth\u00ader arti\u00adcles (although if I strong\u00adly dis\u00adagree with some\u00adthing in the arti\u00adcle I\u2019ll usu\u00adal\u00adly men\u00adtion it). And to the extent you can dis\u00adcern my opin\u00adions, please under\u00adstand that they are my own and not nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly those of Chi Alpha or any oth\u00ader orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion I may be per\u00adceived to rep\u00adre\u00adsent.\n\nAlso, remem\u00adber that I\u2019m not report\u00ading news \u2014 I\u2019m giv\u00ading you a selec\u00adtion of things I found inter\u00adest\u00ading. There\u2019s a lot hap\u00adpen\u00ading in the world that\u2019s not mak\u00ading an appear\u00adance here because I haven\u2019t found stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading arti\u00adcles writ\u00adten about it.\n\nIf this was for\u00adward\u00aded 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 Fri\u00addays I share articles\/resources about broad cul\u00adtur\u00adal, soci\u00adetal and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues. Be sure to see the expla\u00adna\u00adtion and dis\u00adclaimers at the bot\u00adtom. I wel\u00adcome your sug\u00adges\u00adtions. If you read some\u00adthing fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading please pass it my way. Things Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading Less Seri\u00adous Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen Why Do You Send This Email? In \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/05\/02\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-502-political-faith-sexual-mores-young-adulthood\" class=\"more-link\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading, Vol\u00adume 502: polit\u00adi\u00adcal faith, sex\u00adu\u00adal mores, young adult\u00adhood\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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[219,151,160,112,117,163,247],"class_list":["post-7667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-friendship","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-marriage","tag-politics","tag-sex","tag-wisdom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1ZF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7667","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=7667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7668,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7667\/revisions\/7668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}