Weekend Roundup 7/10

“Dismantling the Facade of Authentic Vulnerability ,” Chris Martin

I went to a small Christian liberal arts school, so in the dorms or in school-established small groups, it seemed spiritually cool if you talked about “authenticity,” “vulnerability,” and a host of other such “-ity” words. Maybe you experienced something like this in college—you definitely did if you attended a Christian one.

At my school, “intentional community” was as important as academics, so naturally, there was plenty of talk like this.

The problem was, nobody really meant it.

“The Value of Disagreement,” Alan Jacobs.

So no society tolerates every imaginable form of speech; there are always boundaries. What’s disorienting about American society today is how quickly the boundaries are shifting. Beliefs that were almost universal less than 20 years ago—and are held by around 40 percent of the American people now—are deemed utterly beyond the pale. It’s hard not to suspect that some of the people most devoted to policing those boundaries are pouncing prosecutorially on views that they themselves held not that long ago. (The convert’s zeal.)  

 “American Anti-Intellectualism and the Evangelical Left ,” John Mark N. Reynolds

 And so it is with some shock that I find that the Evangelical left, at least much of it, has abandoned reason. Arguments consist of special pleading, history is ignored, and exegesis is embarrassingly bad. I am always dubious when people today read the Greek of the New Testament better than, or in “new ways,” that the generation after the apostles missed.

“Opportunities and Education After Obergefell, ” Andrew Walker.

 Most people are not scholars, or activists, or lawyers. The individuals most affected by Justice Kennedy’s frankly embarrassing decision to redefine marriage are everyday people. They’re teachers, plumbers, and business people. They’re moms and dads who would rather spend time with their children than familiarize themselves with the fallout of a bad Supreme Court decision. Most people avoid contentious debate, much of the time for good reason—they simply want to live their lives in peace. They don’t spend their days digging into philosophical arguments about marriage.

So, we start with the most elemental truths. Marriage is one institution that sees a man and woman come together as husband and wife to be father and mother to any children their union produces. Marriage is complementary, permanent, and exclusive. It is based on the anthropological truth that men and women are different. It is based on the biological reality that only a man and woman can create new life. It is based on the social reality that children need a mom and dad.

“More Than Two Million People Still Pay For AOL Dial-Up “

 Not all AOL dial-up subscribers actually pay for it. Some have been induced to stay by freebies when they threatened to leave. There are, though, some who are on a free trial. Now. Yes, they’re actually joining as if, for them, Kurt Cobain is still alive.

However odd it might be to conceive, for some people AOL dial-up is still synonymous with the Internet. Why, only the other week, a California man received a $24,000 AT&T bill(later rescinded) that appeared to be for his AOL dial-up use.