{"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 bad"},"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:\/\/mereorthodoxy.com\/why-denominations-are-good-actually\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why Denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions Are Good, Actu\u00adal\u00adly<\/a> (Eric Ton\u00adjes, Mere Ortho\u00addoxy): \u201cI often hear non\u00adde\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal broth\u00aders and sis\u00adters talk about denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions as if they are the source of divi\u00adsions in the church. Cer\u00adtain\u00adly, the church is divid\u00aded, in both trag\u00adic and unavoid\u00adable ways. Some divi\u00adsions are the prod\u00aduct of sin and self\u00adish\u00adness. Oth\u00aders are tem\u00adpo\u00adrary but nec\u00ades\u00adsary because of dis\u00adagree\u00adments about Scrip\u00adture and prac\u00adtice. While the church still shares a spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal uni\u00adty, it is insti\u00adtu\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly split, and we should right\u00adly long to see it more uni\u00adfied than it is. The thing that puz\u00adzles me is the way many peo\u00adple think that by leav\u00ading any larg\u00ader denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion or affil\u00adi\u00ada\u00adtion group they are some\u00adhow help\u00ading to increase the uni\u00adty of the church. If your fam\u00adi\u00adly is divid\u00aded, dis\u00adown\u00ading every\u00adbody isn\u2019t going to make it more unit\u00aded.\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\">Peo\u00adple with high\u00ader cog\u00adni\u00adtive abil\u00adi\u00adty have weak\u00ader moral foun\u00adda\u00adtions, new study finds<\/a> (Eric W. Dolan, Psy\u00adPost): \u201cPeo\u00adple with high\u00ader cog\u00adni\u00adtive abil\u00adi\u00adty tend to endorse moral val\u00adues less strong\u00adly across the board, accord\u00ading to new research pub\u00adlished in the jour\u00adnal <em>Intel\u00adli\u00adgence<\/em>. The pat\u00adtern held across two inde\u00adpen\u00addent stud\u00adies and did not dif\u00adfer by gen\u00adder. These find\u00adings chal\u00adlenge pop\u00adu\u00adlar assump\u00adtions that smarter peo\u00adple hold stronger or more \u2018enlight\u00adened\u2019 moral val\u00adues.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I actu\u00adal\u00adly began to chuck\u00adle at the arti\u00adcle\u2019s repeat\u00aded insis\u00adtence that \u201cmost peo\u00adple assume smarter peo\u00adple are more moral.\u201d Fact check: false. Smart peo\u00adple assume smarter peo\u00adple are more moral, sure. But most peo\u00adple? It\u2019s hard not to notice that clever peo\u00adple are real\u00adly good at talk\u00ading them\u00adselves into what\u00adev\u00ader they need to talk them\u00adselves into. And that means they\u2019re good at ratio\u00adnal\u00adiz\u00ading self\u00adish and bad behav\u00adior.<\/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\">Heart\u00adbreak and Hero\u00adism in Hill Coun\u00adtry, Texas<\/a> (Dan Cren\u00adshaw, The Free Pres): \u201cThe Guadalupe Riv\u00ader that snakes through down\u00adtown Ker\u00adrville aver\u00adages 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, becom\u00ading a lit\u00ader\u00adal wall of water that swept through Kerr Coun\u00adty com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties.\u2026 One nev\u00ader 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. Neigh\u00adbors saved neigh\u00adbors. Ordi\u00adnary peo\u00adple became heroes. That is the spir\u00adit of Texas. No flood can ever wash it away.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>That\u2019s the same Dan Cren\u00adshaw who serves as a con\u00adgress\u00adman. Many amaz\u00ading and heart\u00adbreak\u00ading anec\u00addotes in this brief arti\u00adcle.<\/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 Par\u00adty\u00ading in the U.S.A.\u2014and Why It Mat\u00adters<\/a> (Derek Thomp\u00adson, Sub\u00adstack): \u201cBetween 2003 and 2024, the amount of time that Amer\u00adi\u00adcans spent attend\u00ading or host\u00ading a social event declined by 50 per\u00adcent. Almost every age group cut their par\u00adty time in half in the last two decades. For young peo\u00adple, the decline was even worse. Last year, Amer\u00adi\u00adcans aged 15-to-24 spent <em>70 per\u00adcent less time<\/em> attend\u00ading or host\u00ading par\u00adties than they did in 2003.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.palladiummag.com\/2025\/06\/30\/economic-nihilism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eco\u00adnom\u00adic Nihilism<\/a> (Julia Stein\u00adberg, Pal\u00adla\u00addi\u00adum Mag\u00ada\u00adzine): \u201cEco\u00adnom\u00adic nihilism is then the ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy of the young, aspi\u00adrant class, will\u00ading to put in two years\u2014but only two years\u2014at what\u00adev\u00ader firm is pres\u00adti\u00adgious upon grad\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion. Eco\u00adnom\u00adic nihilism is the ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy that cel\u00ade\u00adbrates tak\u00ading short\u00adcuts. The econ\u00ado\u00admy itself is abstract\u00aded away, what\u2019s left is a salary or its equiv\u00ada\u00adlent in cryp\u00adto pay\u00adouts.\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 Mer\u00adcy on Me, a Zyn\u00adner<\/a> (Luke Simon, Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty Today): \u201cYour soul no longer pants for liv\u00ading water (Ps. 42:1) because the buzz has numbed its thirst. We\u2019re trad\u00ading spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal depen\u00addence for a chem\u00adi\u00adcal calm, and we\u2019re left with faith with\u00adout hunger, wor\u00adship with\u00adout depth, and spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty with\u00adout sur\u00adren\u00adder. We become what Jesus warned against\u2014not white\u00adwashed 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 peo\u00adple argue against free will, you often see them smug\u00adgle in some intrigu\u00ading moral assump\u00adtions.\u201d<\/a> (Rob Hen\u00adder\u00adson, Twit\u00adter)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The post has both text and a two-minute video of the author say\u00ading the same thing (tak\u00aden from a longer video). The text is a good sum\u00adma\u00adry of the video, but the video gets a lil\u2019 spicy at the end in a way the writ\u00adten text does not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\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 Why Do You Send This Email? In the time of King David, the tribe \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\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading, Vol\u00adume 512: denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions are good and smart peo\u00adple are 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_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":[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}]}}