Clint on Fear
/It’s what people know about themselves inside is what makes them afraid.– Clint Eastwood in “High Plains Drifter”
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
I am Loved!
/We’ve heard a thousand times that God loves us. But one day the meaning hit us. WE ARE LOVED. Really loved! Not just for what we can do, or what we have, tor what we have to offer. Not out of pity or obligation.
People love like that. They love what they think we are. We all know that about each other. We play games to keep it that way.
We try to always show the side of ourselves that we think people love us for. And we have learned form harsh experience that if we don’t, we lose! (People can change their minds about loving us.)
Sometimes we play our games very well. Sometimes we fool everyone except ourselves, and deep inside we say, “You love me… But if you really knew, you wouldn’t.”
I think some of us have a hard time even liking ourselves. We think we don’t have enough to offer, and that makes it hard to love anyone else! Giving is then conditional, tentative. There is a wall of protection… that tough shell of “I’m not going to let you hurt me.”
We all know folks who aren’t very easy to work with because they don’t feel loved. They’re defensive and wary, often depressed and pessimistic.
But if we could all really see that God – the perfect, great omnipotent creator and orginal cause of the whole universe – really, loves us.. that “the One who knows us best, loves us most,” it would change our lives! God, whom we have wronged the most, loves us - and has found a way to come to where we are… and forgive us! No person, no power, no circumstance, no situation,, no station in life, nobody’s opinion – nothing- can ever make us fell unloved again. We are of value. WE have been redeemed. We are totally, unreservedly, forever LOVED!
We can dare to love back! We can risk hurt or rejection. We can try again, and even if we fail, we can win. We are loved by the only person whose opinion ultimately matters. We can LOVE. We can love even those who haven’t “earned” it. Even those who reject it. Even those who don’t need it. (Who’s that?!) We are loved!
Bill Gaither, songwriter
The Limits of Science
/The Ten Commandments of the Old Testament and the two great commandments (to love God, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself), according to Freud, come from human experience, not from revelation. The scientific method, he writes, is our only source of knowledge.
(CS) Lewis strongly disagrees. The scientific method is simply cannot answer all questions, cannot possibly be the source of all knowledge. He says the job of science- a very important and necessary job – is to experiment and observe and report how things behave or react. He writes, “But why anything comes to be there at all and whether there is anything behind the things science observes.. this is not a scientific question.”
Armand Nicholi, The Question of God
Articles of Interest about Religion - Oct 18
/***RELIGION
Company sells out of $1,425 'Jesus shoes' that feature holy water so you can 'walk on water'
Religious Walking Tour Maps Out The History Of Muslims In New York City
The Perilous Power of the Preacher’s Wife
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/opinion/sunday/evangelical-preachers-pastors.html
As Christianity's popularity declines, more Americans identify as religiously unaffiliated, study finds
https://www.newsweek.com/christianity-decline-americans-religion-unaffiliated-pew-study-1466035
Share of Christians in America dropping sharply
https://thehill.com/homenews/news/466287-share-of-christians-in-america-dropping-sharply
Kenyans see ‘hand of God’ in under two-hour record-breaking marathon run
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Generational Split Among Evangelicals Threatens Support For Trump
Religious Groups Condemn Governor's 'Infuriating' Decision to Sign Bill Forcing Universities to Offer Abortion Pill
Why Christian music's biggest stars refuse to change their tune for the Trump era
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/15/us/christian-music-ccm-trump-blake/index.html
Mike Pompeo Lauds the Trump Administration’s Foreign Policies To Christian Counselors
***RELIGION & THE LAW
Oxford professor accused of selling ancient Bible fragments to Hobby Lobby
Judge Rules Doctors Can Decline To Perform Transgender Surgery On Religious Grounds
***RELIGION & FILM
Faith-Based Show ‘Vindication’ Displays Realities of Sexual Abuse
Shopping for Happiness
/What we’ve been seeing in my lab, over and over again, is that people have an inability to predict what will make us happy — or unhappy. The truth is, bad things don’t affect us as profoundly as we expect them to. That’s true of good things, too.
So the good news is that going blind is not going to make you as unhappy as you think it will. The bad news is that winning the lottery will not make you as happy as you expect.
We know that the best predictor of human happiness is human relationships and the amount of time that people spend with family and friends.
The interesting thing is that people will sacrifice social relationships to get other things that won’t make them as happy — money. That’s what I mean when I say people should do “wise shopping” for happiness.
People think a car will last and that’s why it will bring you happiness. But it doesn’t. It gets old and decays. But experiences don’t. You’ll “always have Paris” — and that’s exactly what Bogart meant when he said it to Ingrid Bergman. But will you always have a washing machine? No.
You couldn’t pay me $100,000 to miss a play date with my granddaughters. And that’s not because I’m rich. That’s because I know that a hundred grand won’t make me as happy as nurturing my relationship with my granddaughters will.”
Daniel Gilbert
Harvard social psychologist and
author of Stumbling into Happiness
the blessings of old friends
/It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Articles of Interest about Higher Ed - Oct 16
/***HIGHER ED
A major shift to 'DIY' Education
https://www.pearson.com/corporate/news/global-learner-survey.html
Repairing an Institutional Reputation Tarnished by Fraudulent Publishing
6 Ways to Fortify Your Campus Against Phishing Attacks
How college admissions offices rank prospects before they apply
Higher ed shrinks: number of colleges falls to the lowest point in two decades
University may lose Superman papers over Liz Cheney comments
https://apnews.com/fd25b9c5d72a4d1e85f8c9802d99d608
House Democrats Have a Plan for Higher Ed. Here’s What’s in It.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/House-Democrats-Have-a-Plan/247349
***HIGHER ED & FREE SPEECH
'They could not guarantee my safety': Author's speech canceled after Georgia students burn book
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/crucet-cancels-speech-book-burning-1.5319443
To Protect Free Speech, U. of Wisconsin Is Poised to Double Down on Punishing Disruptive Protesters
https://www.chronicle.com/article/To-Protect-Free-Speech-U-of/247328
***HIGHER ED & FINANCES
Real estate developer, wife donate $100M to University of Virginia to help first-generation students
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Living/real-estate-developer-wife-donate-100m-university-virginia/story
For Some Colleges, the Best Move Is to Merge
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/education/learning/colleges-mergers.html
***HIGHER ED IN COURT
Judge Threatens Betsy DeVos With Jail In Student Loan Case
U.S. Supreme Court snubs University of Wisconsin appeal in patent fight with Apple
***TEACHING
A teacher says he was fired for refusing to use male pronouns for a transgender student
Study Finds Professors Must ‘Entertain’ Students To Keep Them Off YouTube
Preparing for the Students You Actually Have in Class—Without the Assumptions
***ACADEMIC LIFE
When Professors Plagiarize
https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2019/10/01/when-professors-plagiarize/
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Loyola University Maryland uses modern themes and music to draw college students to church and nurture their spiritual lives on campus.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/10/11/biggest-student-hub-late-night-sunday-mass
Cost of college went up for all students at Arizona Christian University
***LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Congressmen take aim at Betsy Devos over censorship at evangelical Liberty University
https://www.newsweek.com/betsy-devos-libertyuniversity-censors-freespeech-1464478
Jerry Falwell Jr. settles lawsuit over Florida real estate venture
***RESEARCH
Little attention has been devoted to the validity of inferences based on the findings of the research caught in the replication crisis
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2515245919869583
Pirate website Sci-Hub is making the world’s academic research free to all
Basic Statistical Errors Are Common in Canadian Psychology Journals But the Computer Programs That Detect Them Are Far From Perfect
https://www.apa.org/pubs/highlights/spotlight/issue-156
***STUDENT LIFE
YouTube Surpasses Netflix as Top Video Choice for U.S. Teens, New Survey Finds
https://www.thewrap.com/youtube-netflix-survey-teens-top-video-source
The students disappearing fastest from American campuses? Middle-class ones
Can Video Games Replace the Outdoors?
https://www.outsideonline.com/2403017/video-games-outdoors-addiction-rehab
Esports Coaches Share Lessons Learned on the Path to Building a New Program
***STUDENTS & MENTAL HEALTH
Stressed-out college students are sleeping less than ever. Meditation apps claim to help
It Can Take Weeks for College Students to Get the Mental Health Help They Ask For. That’s a Seriously Dangerous Delay.
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a29211906/college-mental-health-clinic-long-wait-times/
Half of the millennials and 75% of Gen Zers have left their job for mental health reasons
***STUDENTS & FINANCE
Do University Stores Rip Off Students?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardvedder/2019/10/07/do-universities-rip-off-their-students/
***SEXUAL HARRASSMENT & ASSAULT
College survey finds a surprisingly high number of sexual assaults reported on campus
https://abc7.com/college-survey-finds-high-number-of-sexual-assaults-on-campus/5621775/
#MeToo movement’s next step? Colleges’ approach to sexual assault
https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/10/10/20885824/me-too-movement-sexual-assault-college-campus
Top Universities Release Sexual Assault Reports
the chaos
/You must carry the chaos within you in order to give birth to the dancing star. -Nieetzsche (born Oct. 15, 1844)
It's easy
/It's easy to give time to the harmless and inconsequential over the significant and enduring.
Articles of Interest about Religion - Oct 11
/***RELIGION
For a Lot of American Teens, Religion Is a Regular Part of the Public School Day
The strictures—and allure—of the Hasidic Jewish life: a novels explore a closed world from the inside
https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2019/09/26/the-strictures-and-allure-of-ultra-orthodox-life
Christians debate damnation in the play ‘The Christians,’ performed in Seattle churches
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Ethiopia’s Evangelical Prime Minister Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Trump is claiming that his fight with the Democrats and the media has inspired a revival in Christianity
https://www.indy100.com/article/trump-christianity-revival-democrats-media-watch-video-9143991
***RELIGION & THE LAW
Actor fired over ‘homophobic’ comments plans to sue for religious discrimination
https://www.newsweek.com/actress-suing-fired-homophobic-facebook-1462142
Woman claims Nazarene church defamed her over breastfeeding
Citing his devout Christian faith a Virginia teacher is suing after he was fired for refusing to use a student's preferred pronouns
***CATHOLIC
73 Catholic schools in Washington end religious vaccine exemptions
https://abcnews.go.com/US/73-catholic-schools-washington-end-religious-vaccine-exemptions/story
Why ending the secrecy of ‘confession’ is so controversial for the Catholic Church
The future
/The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. –Eleanor Roosevelt (Born: Oct. 11, 1884)
Articles of Interest about Literature, Journalism, Writing & Languages – Oct 9
/***WRITING & READING
Hundreds of thousands of people read novels on Instagram
https://www.fastcompany.com/90392917/the-next-big-reading-platform-may-be-instagram
The 100 best books of the 21st century
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/best-books-of-the-21st-century
How Scientists Were Able To Design A Font Proven To Actually Make You Read Faster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIm8arSogvY
Who doesn’t read books in America?
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/26/who-doesnt-read-books-in-america/
Translation Plagiarism in Philosophy
www.dailynous.com/2019/10/01/translation-plagiarism-philosophy/
***GRAMMAR
‘Grammarians’ a captivating novel about word-obsessed twins
***JOURNALISM
7 key takeaways on information disorder from #Online News Association 19
https://firstdraftnews.org/7-key-takeaways-on-information-disorder-from-ona19/
We’ve tracked newspaper layoffs, buyouts, and closures by state over the last few years
https://savejournalism.org/2019/09/26/the-grim-reaper-of-journalism-big-tech
Americans Are Wary of the Role Social Media Sites Play in Delivering the News
U.S. Border Agent Harasses Journalist at U.S. Customs—Again
https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-border-agent-harasses-journalist-at-us-customsagain?via=rss
Charlottesville man sues newspaper for reporting on family’s slave-owning past
Press groups urge SCOTUS to provide live audio of oral arguments in six upcoming cases
https://www.rcfp.org/scotus-live-audio-letter/
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
This company opens up the black box of what print newspaper subscribers are actually reading
The Books and Movies That Made Us Better Journalists
https://www.propublica.org/article/ask-propublica-illinois-recommended-journalism-books-movies
Starbucks Offers Customers Free Digital Access To Newspapers, Special Subscription Offers
Supermarkets are ditching their newspaper and magazine racks (and publishers aren’t happy)
More U.S. journalists are being named as collaboration managers; here’s a peek at their job descriptions
***STUDENT MEDIA
After 110 years in print, University of Maryland student newspaper will become online only
https://dbknews.com/2019/09/30/diamondback-ending-print-edition-online-only-digital-media/
***SOCIAL MEDIA
People Are Typing on Their Smartphones Almost as Fast as on Keyboards Now
TikTok’s Ban on Political Ads
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/03/tiktok-explains-its-ban-on-political-advertising/
China Masters Political Propaganda for the Instagram Age
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/05/technology/china-propaganda-patriotism.html
***LANGUAGE
USC student wants ASL to fulfill foreign language requirement
Language Evolves and that’s okay (O.K.?)
The polarisation of politics has led to a new lexicon of insults
African languages are fastest growing in the United States
https://qz.com/africa/1723269/african-languages-are-fastest-growing-in-the-united-states/
What Language Am I Speaking?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgWPWEs63DA
***LITERATURE
She was shot dead by the Nazis in 1942. Her secret diary is to be published after 70 years in a bank vault
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/12/europe/polish-anne-frank-published-intl-scli/index.html
Understanding the importance of language among Latinx consumers
MacTrump’ turns Donald Trump’s first two years as president into a Shakespearean satire
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
New York Magazine to Merge With Vox Media
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/new-york-magazine-merge-vox-media-1243163
One-in-five Americans now listen to audiobooks
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/25/one-in-five-americans-now-listen-to-audiobooks/
***PRODUCING MEDIA
Wedding Photographer Compares Photos Taken With A DSLR To The iPhone 11 Pro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=315&v=-2OqqrtKS-E
To be in love
/To be in love is not necessarily to love. To be in love is a state; to love, an act. A state is suffered or undergone; but an act has to be decided upon. Now, the promise which marriage means cannot fairly be made to apply to the future of a state in which I am at the moment, but it can and should mortgage, the future of conscience acts which I take on – to love, to remain faithful, to bring up my children. That shows how different are the meanings of the word ‘to love’ in the world of Eros and the world of Agape.
Denis de Rougemont, Love in the Western World
strength and desire
/It is not strength but desire that moves us.
Articles of Interest about Higher Ed - Oct 7
/***HIGHER ED
Education System Needs Fundamental Changes: Arne Duncan
Tensions over Hong Kong unrest flare on US college campuses
https://apnews.com/7b0f328f266f46c1a498a16a5ad03fbc
***HIGHER ED IN COURT
Judge rules in favor of Harvard in affirmative action case
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-rules-favor-harvard-affirmative-action-case-n1060921
Attorney ‘stunned’ by University of Michigan’s ‘arrogance,' resulting $1.6 million legal bill
https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2019/10/attorney-stunned-by-university-of-michigans-arrogance-resulting-16-million-legal-bill.html
How Penn State Is Cutting Greenhouse Emissions In Half — And Saving Money
College Students Just Want Normal Libraries
***HIGHER ED & FINANCES
Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend will be paid $50,000 out of student fees for speech at University of Florida
University of Connecticut issues just over $966,000 in parking violations for 2018
Colleges received more than $60 million from family profiting from OxyContin https://www.marketwatch.com/story/colleges-received-more-than-60-million-from-family-profiting-from-oxycontin-2019-10-03
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Academic dishonesty extends to CVs, according to a new study
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/10/03/study-academic-dishonesty-extends-faculty-résumés
Careless mistakes or intellectual theft? UW-Oshkosh case reveals complexity of plagiarism
NC State professor suspended after calling women 'useless' during lecture
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Gordon College Receives Record $75.5 Million Donation
***LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Liberty Hires Disgraced Reporter
http://wset.com/news/local/former-disgraced-reporter-austen-joins-liberty-game-on-staff
Appeal sought in child sex solicitation case involving ex-LU professor
***RESEARCH
“We find that a total of 22 out of 49 papers contain demonstrable errors” —a study of research in machine learning
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.0443
Publishers, reviewers and other members of the scientific community must fight science’s preference for positive results
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02960-3
Journal Peer Review and Editorial Evaluation: Cautious Innovator or Sleepy Giant?
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11024-019-09388-z
Two-thirds of researchers report ‘pressure to cite’ in Nature poll
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02922-9
Free Yourself From Study Fragility and P Values (video)
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/918733
A Journal’s test for peer review bias
https://augustafreepress.com/professors-take-part-in-journals-test-for-peer-review-bias/
***STUDENT LIFE
Uncovering A Huge Mystery Of College: Office Hours
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/02/766568824/uncovering-a-huge-mystery-of-college-office-hours
What Does a 'Good' Resume Look Like in 2019? The Answer May Surprise You
https://www.inc.com/quora/what-does-a-good-resume-look-like-in-2019-answer-may-surprise-you.html
Colleges are starting degrees in esports, with $36,000 programs
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/college-esports-universities-launch-degrees-in-esports/
Most Americans go to college in the hopes of a secure financial future. Many don’t get it
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/02/many-former-college-students-dont-earn-more-than-28000-a-year.html
College students who go off Facebook for a week consume less news and report being less depressed
At UC Berkeley, Brown, and Yale, students are fighting to keep Palantir off campus over its ICE contracts https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/9/26/20884182/palantir-ice-protests-campus-family-separation-berkeley-yale-brown
***SEXUAL HARRASSMENT & ASSAULT
A Texas university reported 8 rapes on campus in 2016-17, but now admits there were 38: Experts say this problem is happening nationwide
https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-university-reported-8-rapes-192738058.html
Claims of sexual assaults on Rice University campus spark campus policy change
Students at NYU and Rutgers are asking why professors who've been found to have behaved inappropriately with students were welcomed to campus this semester
Southwestern Officials Agreed to Keep Quiet About Professor Who Had Trove of Nude Student Photos, Sex Videos
12 arrested in connection with alleged rapes at Alabama university
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/04/us/alabama-rape-allegations-campus/
Black Swains
/We have a natural tendency to look for instances that confirm our story and our vision of the world.
Seeing white swans does not confirm the nonexistence of black swans. There is an exception, however: I know what statement is wrong, but not necessarily what statement is correct. If I see a black swan I can certify that all swans are not white! If I see someone kill, then I can be practically certain that he is a criminal. If I don’t see him kill, I cannot be certain that he is innocent. The same applies to cancer detection: the finding of a single malignant tumor proves that you have cancer, but the absence of such a finding cannot allow you to say with certainty that you are cancer-free.
We can get closer to the truth by negative instances, not by verification.
Nassim Taleb, The Black Swain
Articles of Interest about Religion - Oct 5
/***RELIGION
CEO of Christian Social Justice Magazine Steps Down Amid Accusations of Racism, Sexism
https://www.newsweek.com/christian-magazine-ceo-racism-sexism-1461847
Pastor's Widow on How Son Is Coping After Father's Suicide
https://people.com/human-interest/jarrid-wilson-widow-post-how-son-coping/
Why Many Evangelicals Believe Climate Change Is A Hoax
What are America’s largest seminaries in 2019?
https://www.christianpost.com/voice/what-are-americas-largest-seminaries-in-2019.html
***RELIGION & THE LAW
Three female teachers launch a lawsuit against Quebec’s religious symbols ban
New chapter opens in Pennsylvania in fight over suing church
https://apnews.com/818f44394d514bf89e3e988e6208a492
***RELIGION & FILM
Film highlighting interfaith prayer at the U.S.-Mexico border set for release
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2019-10-03/borderprayer
Kanye West, in which they will release the film Jesus Is King
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kanye-west-imax-reveal-movie-collaboration-1244115
***DENOMINATIONS
Durham megachurch pastor and Southern Baptist president to confront sex abuse crisis at major conference
LGBT group proposes dissolving UMC into 4 new denominations
https://www.christianpost.com/news/lgbt-group-proposes-dissolving-umc-into-4-new-denominations.html
Freshening Relationships
/Relationships often develop a certain tiresome predictability. You do what you usually do, other people respond the way they usually do, and around it goes. If you reverse course, act in a novel manner, you alter the entire dynamic. Do this every so often to break up the relationship’s stale patterns and open it to new possibilities.
Robert Greene, The 33 Strategies of War
Walls and Masks
/We need to be able to express ourselves, to talk ourselves out without fear of rejection by others. Too often the problems that we keep submerged within us remain, in the darkness of our own interior, undefined and therefore destructive.
We do not see the true dimensions of these things that trouble us until we define them and set lines of demarcation in conversation with a friend. Inside of us they remain as nebulous as smoke, but when we confide ourselves to another we acquire some sense of dimension and growth in self-identity and the capacity to accept ourselves as we are.
It may well be that our walls and masks will make this difficult. We may instinctively try to rationalize that there is really no one near to whom we can talk ourselves out. Many of us practice the self-deception of believing that there is no one in our supposed circle of friends that can be trusted. Very commonly these excuses that we have rehearsed so often are merely excuses. Our real fear is that we would be rejected, that the other person would not understand us. And so we wait and wait and wait behind our wall for the sufficient sound of reassurance in another or we gaze out of the windows of our towers looking for prince charming to come and rescue us. We excuse ourselves from all initiative seeking truly human interpersonal relationship with another on the grounds that the time is not ripe or the circumstances right. In the meanwhile, we can only perish.
John Powell, Why am I Afraid to Love
Savage Love
/It may be objected that marriage must then be simply ‘the grave of love’. It would be more accurate to echo Croce and say that ‘marriage is the grave of savage love’ and more often the grave of sentimentality.
Savage and natural love is manifested in rape. But rape, like polygamy, is also an indication that men are not yet in a stage to apprehend the presence of an actual person in a woman. This is as much as to say that they do not know how to love. Rape and polygamy deprive a woman of her equality by reducing her to sex. Savage love empties human relations of personality.
On the other hand, a man does not control himself owing to lack of ‘passion’ (meaning ‘power of the libido’), but precisely because he loves and, in virtue of his love, will not inflict himself. He refuses to commit an act of violence which would be in the denial and destruction of the person. He thus indicates that his dearest wish is for the other’s good. His egotism goes round via the other. This, it will be granted, is a notable revolution.
And we may now pass beyond that altogether negative and privative statement of Croce’s and at last define marriage as the institution in which passion is ‘contained’, not by morals, but by love.
Denis de Rougemont, Love in the Western World