1. Let me ask you this: which religions-that-aren’t-called-religions do you think are the most popular, and which do you predict will become even more popular? Those are two questions I got in nearly every interview for Seculosity, so for the paperback–out Aug 25th!–I took the opportunity to put a few thoughts down on paper. Needless to […]
Another Week Ends: Tom Holland, White Fragility, Religious Fandom, J.I. Packer, and Cancel-Culture Fear
1. High Profiles this week featured a fascinating in-depth interview with history writer Tom Holland about his intellectual journey, personal beliefs, Islam, secular liberalism, contemporary news, and Christianity more broadly. I think I am naturally conservative. I think I’m more moved by things that have been than things that might be. I feel the power of what’s […]
Another Week Ends: Cognitive Dissonance, Habit Formation, Transparent Influencers, Aging Album Covers, and a Love That Casts Out All Fear
1a. It’s been a big week for the social scientists among us. Two of our favorites, Elliot Aronson and Carol Tavris, had a hit article over at the Atlantic this week. We’ve been following the duo since 2011, when they published Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me). The authors are experts in describing how […]
Another Week Ends: UK Football, Mental Health, Passionate Rituals, Fundamentalist Politics, the Pure History Myth, and Jesus Working from Home
1. This week’s first link comes from the Athletic. As a young player, UK footballer Michael Johnson was a natural talent who appeared to be “in supreme control of his destiny.” He played professionally for only a few years before announcing his retirement in January 2013, when he was just 24, saying “he wished to […]
Another Week Ends: Jim Carrey’s Revelation, COVID Judgment, a New PZ Interview, Political Idolatry, the Curated Authenticity of Rachel Hollis, and the Great Awokening in Fiction
1. If you’ve ever seen an interview with Jim Carrey, you quickly realize that he is incredibly weird and awkwardly introspective. At times he seems to either be the lunatic of The Mask or a shaman-mystic, or both at the same time. Carrey is always fascinating, and judging from this LA Times article, his upcoming […]
Another Week Ends: Unreliable Interpreters, Radical Acceptance, Strange Rites, White Guilt, Parental Burnout, Doomscrolling, and Gritty Hope
Before we get going, time for our semi-annual update-and-appeal video: Click here to take us up on the invitation. And as always, THANK YOU! 1. Not sure how I missed this first one. Tim Kreider penned “A Pandemic Commencement” for Medium a few weeks ago and one paragraph in particular warrants embroidery (on a very […]
Another Week Ends: Sad Americans, Orphan Attachment, Fear of Failure, Wack-a-Mole Preaching, and the Greatest Weapon of the State
1. Any time the Resurrection breaks into the New York Times, it’s generally a thing to celebrate. But when Esau McCaulley offers the Resurrection as the balm for the trauma and rage of our times, it’s more than a celebration — it’s proclamation, which is even rarer. I’m tempted to share the whole op-ed, but […]
Another Week Ends: Hospital Housekeepers, the Resurrection, Systemic Racism, “Amazing Grace,” David Hume, and Ramy’s Performance of Religion (and Ours)
1. We’ll begin this weekend’s round-up with a truly lovely story of grace. Reported by Daniel Burke at CNN, it’s about a hospital housekeeper, Rosaura Quinteros, whose job was to mop floors, pull trash, and clean surfaces in the rooms of COVID-19 patients. In one particular room, the patient’s last rites had been administered; via […]
Another Week Ends: Martin Luther on COVID-19, Tara Isabella Burton, Christ and Calamity, Generational Sin, and Faithful Doubt
1. Mere Orthodoxy has published an excerpt from an excellent book, Christ and Calamity: Grace and Gratitude in the Darkest Valley, by Harold Senkbeil. I’ve noted some highlights below and if you like what you read, the e-book is free this month: Just what does it mean to deny yourself and take up your cross? […]
Another Week Ends: Productivity Hawks, the Useless God, Goodnight Zoom, Picky Eating, Wine Moms, Political Warfare, and George Floyd
1. This week’s first article might give you déjà vu — it’s just the newest in an ever fattening file on the cult of productivity. With the force of an altogether wilder God, this pandemic has slammed the idol of work. For Vox, Sam Blum interviews a series of people who have found unexpected liberation […]
Another Week Ends: Downward Ascents, Prayerology, Endless Dishes, Middle Earth SSRIs, and the Church of QAnon
Slightly truncated weekender today, as we’ve been up to our ears prepping our big Spring newsletter/appeal, which just went to the post office. Needless to say, we need your help more than ever (and hope you’ve appreciated our stepped-up efforts during these past few months!). If you’d like to receive a copy of the letter, […]
Another Week Ends: Social Scolding, Middle School Compassion, Pivoting Foodies, Coronavirus Calvin Ball, and an Ethical Relationship With Your Past Self
1. Every public thinker’s new past-time during quarantine has been hypothesizing the demise of certain cultural institutions. My newsfeed is full of these articles: “The Coming Commercial Real-Estate Apocalypse,” “The End of University Education As We Know It,” “No More Handshaking,” and the like. Of all the ones I’ve come across, the one that strikes […]
