{"id":7790,"date":"2025-09-12T16:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T23:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7790"},"modified":"2025-09-12T16:30:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T23:30:26","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-521","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/09\/12\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-521","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 521: mostly Charlie Kirk"},"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<\/p><p>You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Interesting<\/p>\n\n\n\n<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.<\/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 lot of articles about the murder of Charlie Kirk. Even people who barely knew who Kirk was seem to have been deeply moved by his assassination.&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefire.org\/news\/student-acceptance-violence-response-speech-hits-record-high\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Student acceptance of violence in response to speech hits a record high<\/a> (Ryne Weiss &amp; Chapin Lenthall-Cleary, FIRE): \u201cAccording to FIRE\u2019s annual College Free Speech Rankings survey, in 2020, the national average showed about 1 in 5 students said it was ever acceptable to use violence to stop a speaker. That number has since risen to a disturbing 1 in 3 students.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalliturgies.net\/p\/how-great-the-chasm-that-lay-between\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How Great the Chasm That Lay Between Us<\/a> (Samuel D. James, Substack): \u201cWhere to begin? The murder of Charlie Kirk feels different.\u2026 Charlie Kirk was not an elected official, but a private citizen. He was a commentator and media personality. Because of that, this killing feels wider in symbolism. Tonight, a lot of Americans feel like someone died on <em>their<\/em> behalf. And there\u2019s some truth in&nbsp;that.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/11\/opinion\/charlie-kirk-assassination-fear-politics.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way<\/a> (Ezra Klein, New York Times): \u201cYou can dislike much of what Kirk believed and the following statement is still true: Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way. He was showing up to campuses and talking with anyone who would talk to him. He was one of the era\u2019s most effective practitioners of persuasion.\u2026 In the inaugural episode of his podcast, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California hosted Kirk, admitting that his son was a huge fan. What a testament to Kirk\u2019s project.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/12\/us\/politics\/charlie-kirk-voters-politics-violence.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">After Kirk Killing, Americans Agree on One Thing: Something Is Seriously Wrong<\/a> (Shawn Hubler, Edgar Sandoval and Audra D. S. Burch, New York Times): \u201cNo matter their politics, people said they were deeply unsettled after the killing of Mr. Kirk\u2026 Mr. Kirk\u2019s death at 31 symbolized for many the collapse of what they thought was a basic, common-sense, need-not-be-debated American value: that people expressing a political opinion should not be shot for&nbsp;it.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.furtherup.net\/p\/je-suis-charlie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Je Suis Charlie<\/a> (Bethel McGrew, Substack): \u201cIt is uniquely, viscerally horrifying: the political assassination of a young husband and father who held no political office, nor was he campaigning for one. He was a political figure, true, but still a private citizen. A private citizen who, to his killer, for the great crime of existing while vocally middle-of-the-road conservative, deserved to die. And not just in the eyes of his killer, as we quickly learned.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>McGrew is a Christian essayist\/journalist with a Ph.D. in math and I when I run across her content I usually find it helpful.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/11\/us\/charlie-kirk-martyr-conservative-christians.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Conservative Christians Mourn Kirk as a Martyr<\/a> (Elizabeth Dias and Ruth Graham, New York Times): \u201c\u2018I\u2019m racking my brain trying to think of another political figure that had a similar impact and following who was assassinated, and the only person I can think of is Martin Luther King Jr.,\u2019 Mr. Schilling said.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/11\/opinion\/charlie-kirk-assassination-debate.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">If We Keep This Up, Charlie Kirk Will Not Be the Last to Die<\/a> (David French, New York Times): \u201cThat\u2019s one thing I respected about Charlie \u2014 and it\u2019s worth emphasizing because the assassin attacked him as he spoke on campus \u2014 he wasn\u2019t afraid of a debate. He was willing to talk to anyone. And when he was shot in the middle of a debate, the assassin didn\u2019t just take aim at a precious human being, created in the image of God, he took aim at the American experiment itself.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/andrewsullivan.substack.com\/p\/hitting-the-jugular-of-liberal-democracy-92c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hitting The Jugular Of Liberal Democracy<\/a> (Andrew Sullivan, Substack): \u201c\u2026I [do not] think it is wrong to \u2018politicize\u2019 his own horrible assassination. Because it was an expressly political act. It was political because it struck Kirk in the core act of liberal democracy: debating his opponents. We don\u2019t know the precise motive behind the murder right now, but that\u2019s irrelevant. This was aimed literally and figuratively at the jugular of a free society.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>One of our military alumni liked the \u201chonesty tax\u201d article I shared last week and sent me this monograph about the same dynamic in the military: <a href=\"https:\/\/press.armywarcollege.edu\/monographs\/466\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lying to Ourselves: Dishonesty in the Army Profession<\/a> (Leonard Wong &amp; Stephen J. Gerras, US Army War College): \u201cFor example, one colonel described how his brigade commander needed to turn in his situation report on Friday, forcing the battalions to do theirs on Thursday, and therefore the companies submitted their data on Wednesday\u2014necessitating the companies to describe events that had not even occurred yet. The end result was that, while the companies gave it their best shot, everyone including the battalion commander knew that the company reports were not accurate.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This fact was striking: \u201cIn the rush by higher headquarters to incorporate every good idea into training, the total number of training days required by all mandatory training directives literally exceeds the number of training days available to company commanders. Company commanders somehow have to fit 297 days of mandatory requirements into 256 available training days.\u201d It is literally impossible for them to fulfill the requirements they have to affirm they fulfilled!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/the-serial-killers-apologist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Serial Killer\u2019s Apologist<\/a> (Zac Bissonnette, The Free Press): \u201cHe then led police to the bodies of young men he and Corll had murdered with the help of another accomplice, David Brooks. In all, 27 men and boys had been killed; Henley was tried and convicted on six counts of murder with malice.\u2026 Ramsland\u2019s treatment of Henley represents therapy culture taken to its logical extreme. There is no villain so odious that he can\u2019t be recast through the lens of a trauma framework\u2014and a sympathetic explanation can always be found through extensive talking.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2025\/09\/10\/life-on-mars-rocks-mudstones-rover\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NASA discovers \u2018clearest sign of life that we\u2019ve ever found on Mars\u2019<\/a> (Kasha Patel, Washington Post): \u201cBut the colorful speckles on the rocks pose an even more alluring mystery. These features are two well-known minerals made of iron, phosphorus and sulfur. One called vivianite \u2014 also sometimes referred to as corpse crystals \u2014 forms during the decay of organic material and is blue-green. The other, called greigite, shows up as a dull brown. But when these two minerals are found together in sediments on Earth, Hurowitz said, it\u2019s usually a result of microbial metabolisms.\u2026 The authors acknowledge that these minerals could have formed without microbes \u2014 with the involvement of heat, for instance. But the new study determined the Martian rocks don\u2019t appear to have been heated.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.plough.com\/en\/topics\/faith\/supernatural\/strange-gifts-of-the-spirit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Strange Gifts of the Spirit<\/a> (Sarah Killam Crosby, Plough): \u201cIrenaeus, the great second-century bishop of Lyons, wrote that true disciples of Christ received and exercised spiritual gifts granted them through the grace of God. \u2018Some really and truly drive out demons, \u2026 some have foreknowledge of the future, and visions and prophetic speech, and others lay their hands on the sick and make them well, and as we said, even the dead have been raised and have remained with us for many years.\u2019 Origen likewise claimed that miraculous signs and wonders were still performed, though with greater scarcity, in the churches of his day, and Augustine\u2019s <em>City of God<\/em> recounts several miracles, including healings and exorcisms. For these and other patristic theologians, it was clear that supernatural gifts of the Spirit were still present in the life of the church. These texts show that healings, prophecies, and other phenomena were viewed as part of the pattern which had been initiated at Pentecost.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegospelcoalition.org\/article\/experiences-shape-beliefs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Experiences Shape Beliefs. They Shouldn\u2019t Determine Them.<\/a> (Samuel James, Gospel Coalition): \u201cWhen someone talks about why they\u2019ve changed their convictions about something, they increasingly refer to negative experiences more often than persuasive arguments.\u2026 It\u2019s not so much about losing faith in a creed, but losing faith in <em>somebody<\/em>. There\u2019s a growing tendency to then identify the person in whom we have lost faith as the sum total of their beliefs, and change our thinking accordingly. \u2018Because X person did Y bad thing, this must mean X person was wrong about Z&nbsp;idea.\u2019\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2025\/09\/08\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-war-drones-tanks-military.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tanks Were Just Tanks, Until Drones Made Them Change<\/a> (Marco Hernandez &amp; Thomas Gibbons-Neff, New York Times): \u201c\u2026Russia\u2019s and Ukraine\u2019s Soviet-era tanks rumble across the battlefield covered in anti-drone nets and spikes, dangling chains and unwieldy cages. The exterior transformations of these hulking vehicles are a testament to how quickly drones have changed the war in Ukraine in just over three&nbsp;years.\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:\/\/www.fox4now.com\/cape-coral\/not-all-heroes-wear-capes-man-in-batman-pjs-helps-cape-coral-police-make-arrest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES: Man in Batman PJs helps Cape Coral police make arrest<\/a> (Austin Schargorodski, Fox News): \u201cIt wasn\u2019t Gotham City, but on a dark night in Cape Coral, police say a man in Batman pajamas took down a burglar in his neighbor\u2019s garage.\u2026 \u2018I\u2019m really glad I had my Batman pajamas on because that gave me the extra confidence I needed,\u2019 he&nbsp;said.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Brought to my attention by an alumnus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/nonsequitur\/2025\/09\/10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Congressmen<\/a> (Non Sequitur)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/suffering-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Suffering<\/a> (SMBC): inaccurate but amusing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/dad-teaches-son-importance-of-doing-your-own-oil-changes-so-it-will-take-longer-and-cost-more\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dad Teaches Son Importance Of Doing Your Own Oil Changes So It Will Take Longer And Cost More<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/06\/fashion\/weddings\/wedding-matchmaking-dating-single-friends.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The D.I.Y. Dating Scene Powered by Your Married Friends<\/a> (Sara Radin, New York Times): \u201cWhen Melissa Clark and Dominic Morales tied the knot in Sayulita, Mexico, in the spring of 2025, their celebration was about more than just their own love story. They hoped to kindle a few others as well. To help their single guests connect, the couple created what they called a \u2018singles face sheet\u2019 \u2014 a real-life Tinder board, complete with LinkedIn photos, Instagram snapshots, and short&nbsp;bios.\u201d<\/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>You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Interesting 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 \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/09\/12\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-521\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 521: mostly Charlie Kirk\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":[216,120,160,323,207],"class_list":["post-7790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-crime","tag-famous-christians","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-mars","tag-military"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-21E","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790","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=7790"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7797,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790\/revisions\/7797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}