The Galli Report: 09.10.21

Intel welcomes faith. An atheist chaplain--so? Trigger warnings for the Bible? Weigh in on vaccine passports. The great boatlift of 9/11.

Welcoming Religion in the Workplace
We’ve read many a story about businesses that discriminate against religious employees. For example, some have discouraged or prevented women from wearing religious garb (like a hijab) or jewelry (e.g., a crucifix) in the workplace; others have punished employees whose faith influences their traditional views on human sexuality, which some progressive businesses find offensive.

However, there is this counter trend:

Intel has been a star in the technology world for nearly half a century. One secret to its success is a little more spiritual than you might have guessed, according to CEO Pat Gelsinger.

In a recorded message that will play during an international conference on business and religion this week, Gelsinger highlights the competitive advantage that comes from building a culture that celebrates personal faith alongside other employee traits. At Intel, workers are free to “bring their entire self” to the office, he says.

“Why Intel and other top companies make room for religion in the office” explores this alternative way of conceiving religion and the workplace. Naturally, we’ll see what happens when an employee’s religious conviction result in some officewide controversy or risks profits. Despite the ugly rumors, not every business is driven by maximizing the bottom line no avoiding all staff conflict. When faith enters the workplace, it will inevitably have rippling effects that don’t accord with maximum economic efficiency. Wise businesses will figure out how to manage such moments rather than simply eliminating faith from the workplace.

An Atheist Chaplain—So?
The new chief chaplain at Harvard, humanist chaplain Greg Epstein, is an atheist. This, of course, led to several stories, some praising the progressive move and others complaining about “another thing that’s gone wrong” with the Ivy League/higher ed/America/etc. But the story is not as controversial or weird as it first sounds—as long as you understand that we live in a radically pluralistic society and that Christians have to figure out how to live in that space and still be faithful to Jesus. Here’s why an evangelical campus minister employed by InterVarsity at Harvard voted for atheist Epstein to become chief chaplain.

Trigger Warnings for the Bible?
There has been outrage of some on the right after the National Archives and Records Administration placed a “harmful content” warning on all documents across the archives’ cataloged website, including the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Given how historically ignorant we are as a nation, it may indeed shock some younger readers of the archives to discover that men and women did bad things in the past. It says something about the sorry state of our educational system and the triumph of the therapeutic mindset that this revelation might trigger some negative feelings in readers of the archives. Among other things, this warning highlights how we’ve failed to help young people think and absorb information (the good, the bad, and the ugly) like mature adults, so that they need such trigger warnings when they read history.

If there was ever a piece of literature that needs a trigger warning label strewn across the cover, it would be the Bible. In those pages, the reader will encounter violence, sexual seduction, murder, rape, encounters with the Divine that leave people quaking in fear and trembling—not to mention the cruel crucifixion of an innocent man. But it’s also a book of the most extraordinary moments of heroism, humility, and wisdom, and first and foremost, a long story of God’s passionate love affair with humanity. 

But Christian parents know this already. This is why, rather than scribbling trigger warnings across Bible covers, they read only some portions of Scripture to their children when they are young, only exposing them to the troubling and spiritually profound parts when they are ready to hear them. It’s not rocket science, so I’m unclear why our educational system can’t seem to manage something like this without resorting to clumsy trigger warnings.

Vaccine Passports
R.R. Reno, in a short essay about the dangers of “healthism,” writes:

I have no doubt that the coronavirus vaccines are moderately effective. But the relentless cheerleading for them has been unsettling. Why are we so preoccupied? The notion that the vaccines secure “safety” for others is an exaggeration, for we know that the vaccinated, even if protected against the worst effects, can communicate the disease. 

Mandates and “passports” are extreme measures. In view of the fact that we now know the virus does not pose an extreme threat, these measures indicate that we live in a society dominated by disordered preoccupations with health and overdetermined by a fear of death. These preoccupations and overdeterminations are as spiritually corrupting as fixations on wealth and material consumption. 

I’m not finding evidence of healthism in the local church. During a pandemic, I’m not opposed to requiring people to wear masks or to prove they’ve been vaccinated before they can participate in a group or a mode of transportation that puts people in close proximity. It doesn’t feel like healthism as much as common sense, a simple way to love one’s neighbor.

I’d appreciate any GR readers weighing in on this topic in the reply section. I often receive comments in personal emails, and I appreciate the thoughtfulness expressed in them, even when I might disagree. I think the GR readership would benefit from such comments as well—if the conversation stays civil :-). So have at it.

The Great Boatlift of 9/11
I wasn’t aware of it until I listened to a podcast about 9/11 that mentioned it. Somehow I missed it at the time. If you did too, or you simply want a reminder, check out this this video: “Tom Hanks narrates the epic story of the 9/11 boatlift that evacuated half a million people from the stricken piers and seawalls of Lower Manhattan.”

Grace and peace,

Mark Galli