{"id":7734,"date":"2025-07-11T18:41:59","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T01:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7734"},"modified":"2025-07-11T18:41:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T01:41:59","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-512-denominations-are-good-and-smart-people-are-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/07\/11\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-512-denominations-are-good-and-smart-people-are-bad","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 512: denominations are good and smart people are&nbsp;bad"},"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><a href=\"https:\/\/mereorthodoxy.com\/why-denominations-are-good-actually\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why Denominations Are Good, Actually<\/a> (Eric Tonjes, Mere Orthodoxy): \u201cI often hear nondenominational brothers and sisters talk about denominations as if they are the source of divisions in the church. Certainly, the church is divided, in both tragic and unavoidable ways. Some divisions are the product of sin and selfishness. Others are temporary but necessary because of disagreements about Scripture and practice. While the church still shares a spiritual unity, it is institutionally split, and we should rightly long to see it more unified than it is. The thing that puzzles me is the way many people think that by leaving any larger denomination or affiliation group they are somehow helping to increase the unity of the church. If your family is divided, disowning everybody isn\u2019t going to make it more united.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psypost.org\/people-with-higher-cognitive-ability-have-weaker-moral-foundations-new-study-finds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">People with higher cognitive ability have weaker moral foundations, new study finds<\/a> (Eric W. Dolan, PsyPost): \u201cPeople with higher cognitive ability tend to endorse moral values less strongly across the board, according to new research published in the journal <em>Intelligence<\/em>. The pattern held across two independent studies and did not differ by gender. These findings challenge popular assumptions that smarter people hold stronger or more \u2018enlightened\u2019 moral values.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I actually began to chuckle at the article\u2019s repeated insistence that \u201cmost people assume smarter people are more moral.\u201d Fact check: false. Smart people assume smarter people are more moral, sure. But most people? It\u2019s hard not to notice that clever people are really good at talking themselves into whatever they need to talk themselves into. And that means they\u2019re good at rationalizing selfish and bad behavior.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/dan-crenshaw-heartbreak-and-heroism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Heartbreak and Heroism in Hill Country, Texas<\/a> (Dan Crenshaw, The Free Pres): \u201cThe Guadalupe River that snakes through downtown Kerrville averages a depth of just 1.65 feet. But between 5:15 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. that day, it surged from two feet to 34 feet, becoming a literal wall of water that swept through Kerr County communities.\u2026 One never knows if they will be a hero when the time comes. Only a test of tragedy will be the judge. Many think they will act with courage, but fail. Many think they will lack the courage, but instead become the hero we need. Neighbors saved neighbors. Ordinary people became heroes. That is the spirit of Texas. No flood can ever wash it&nbsp;away.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>That\u2019s the same Dan Crenshaw who serves as a congressman. Many amazing and heartbreaking anecdotes in this brief article.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.derekthompson.org\/p\/the-death-of-partying-in-the-usaand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Death of Partying in the U.S.A.\u2014and Why It Matters<\/a> (Derek Thompson, Substack): \u201cBetween 2003 and 2024, the amount of time that Americans spent attending or hosting a social event declined by 50 percent. Almost every age group cut their party time in half in the last two decades. For young people, the decline was even worse. Last year, Americans aged 15-to-24 spent <em>70 percent less time<\/em> attending or hosting parties than they did in&nbsp;2003.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.palladiummag.com\/2025\/06\/30\/economic-nihilism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Economic Nihilism<\/a> (Julia Steinberg, Palladium Magazine): \u201cEconomic nihilism is then the ideology of the young, aspirant class, willing to put in two years\u2014but only two years\u2014at whatever firm is prestigious upon graduation. Economic nihilism is the ideology that celebrates taking shortcuts. The economy itself is abstracted away, what\u2019s left is a salary or its equivalent in crypto payouts.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/2025\/07\/have-mercy-on-me-a-zynner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Have Mercy on Me, a Zynner<\/a> (Luke Simon, Christianity Today): \u201cYour soul no longer pants for living water (Ps. 42:1) because the buzz has numbed its thirst. We\u2019re trading spiritual dependence for a chemical calm, and we\u2019re left with faith without hunger, worship without depth, and spirituality without surrender. We become what Jesus warned against\u2014not whitewashed tombs but white-pouched ones.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/robkhenderson\/status\/1942697401116156189\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cWhen people argue against free will, you often see them smuggle in some intriguing moral assumptions.\u201d<\/a> (Rob Henderson, Twitter)&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The post has both text and a two-minute video of the author saying the same thing (taken from a longer video). The text is a good summary of the video, but the video gets a lil\u2019 spicy at the end in a way the written text does&nbsp;not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\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 Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email? In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/07\/11\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-512-denominations-are-good-and-smart-people-are-bad\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 512: denominations are good and smart people are&nbsp;bad\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":[201,240,341,162],"class_list":["post-7734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-drugs","tag-elite-colleges","tag-free-will","tag-theology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-20K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7734","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=7734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7735,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7734\/revisions\/7735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}