Links Edition

Immoral biological children. Ambition run amok. Repaganizing. What the pill has done to women.

I’m not convinced these are the worst of times for Christians.  The church has always had obstacles to endure and overcome. In posting articles like the following—my usual fare--I’m not saying the sky is falling.  It fell a long time ago (in the garden), and even in eras when Christianity was the prevailing outlook of society, sensitive souls have been deeply and rightly troubled by racism, prejudice, unjust wars, greed, corrupt church officials, and so on and so forth.

I’m also convinced that even in confused and troubling times we can and should “Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again, I say rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).  After all, Christ is victor, and it’s only a matter of time before his reign is supreme.  In the meantime, we can go about with our heads held high “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom. 5:3-5).

To be honest, I’m preaching to myself.  I read a lot of bad news, and if I’m not careful, I can become bitter and cynical.  Sometimes I’m not careful.  I find bad news simultaneously sad, fascinating, and baffling—baffling because I’m often not sure how we should respond as followers of Christ.  So consider the following links, as usual, as food for prayerful, hopeful thought.

Preferring Biological Children Is Immoral: Most people say they want their kids to be their own genetic offspring—but such a desire is in conflict with other evolving values around parenting and family. (Wired)

I had not encountered this point of view before, but as it comes from a mainstream magazine like Wired, I suspect it has a larger following than I imagine. You may need to read it in a private window in your browser if you’ve read more than two or three articles on Wired this month.

Making It (Up) In America: America runs on ambition, a classic vice—but it doesn’t have to be that way. (The American Conservative)

Christian ethicists insist there is an ethical use of ambition, and I tend to agree with them.  But in America, anything noble can quickly become crass.  I’m afraid that we’ve gotten to the point of calling evil ambition a good.

We Are Repaganizing (First Things)

You might think, Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard this before. But author Louise Perry, who does not even claim to be a Christian, takes the subject to deeper and more interesting territory as she explores the history of abortion going back to the days of the Romans.  I found it a powerful essay.

Which orifice? What organs? Who cares?  Andrea Long Chu says all the quiet parts out loud (Reactionary Feminist)

CONTENT WARNING!  Some language and descriptions in this piece are disturbingly graphic.  Read at your own risk. I offer it because it speaks to ugly and horrific truths about our sexualized/genderized culture.

Author Mary Harrington begins by asking why a 2019 book on gender ideology is so controversial among feminists. I found this part difficult to follow as it was replete with jargon whose references I don’t completely comprehend   But then she moves on to her main theme: how technology has objectified women in the most disturbing ways:

… having accepted the post-Pill paradigm, the ultimate purpose of sex is no longer children but anything you want it to be: for example leisure, self-actualization, or commerce. And once you’re there, what difference does it really make what sex the passive partner is, or which orifice is penetrated? Once we accept in principle that sex is – as Favale puts it – recreational rather than procreational, we have acceded to a vision of sexual intimacy in which women are sterile by default. And from there, it’s only the smallest of shuffles to accepting womanhood as a state of generalized penetrability.

The first and last link come full circle, so to speak, both acknowledging implicitly or explicitly that we live in an age in which technology, which is said to liberate us, often works to corrupt and degrade our divinely-gifted humanity.

As I said above, this would be profoundly discouraging if it were not for Christus Victor.

Grace and peace,

Mark

Photo credit: Olya Solodenko