Verse Of The Day; Ron's Roundup; This Day In History

Verse Of The Day,

from BibleGateway.com.

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him." James 1:5 (NASB 1995)

So far, most conservative and/or Christian content has not been deplatformed. So, until that happens (may it never be!), check out these links. Presented randomly.

This is potentially useful. The Right Way to Stop a Nosebleed, by Brett & Kate McKay on The Art of Manliness website.

Anne Kennedy, one of my favorite bloggers, has a short article about reading devotional materials instead of the Bible. She doesn't disapprove of devotionals, she actually wrote one herself, but she is concerned about the number of people that consider devotional books the same as reading the Bible itself.

The next three links are from the January 23 edition of  the "Front Porch Republic" weekly newsletter. I HIGHLY recommend subscribing to it it!

“The New National American Elite.” Michael Lind traces the nationalization of elite culture in America:

From the American Revolution until the late 20th century, the American elite was divided among regional oligarchies. It is only in the last generation that these regional patriciates have been absorbed into a single, increasingly homogeneous national oligarchy, with the same accent, manners, values, and educational backgrounds from Boston to Austin and San Francisco to New York and Atlanta. This is a truly epochal development.

“Everything Is Broken.” Alana Newhouse offers a sweeping diagnosis of a decadent culture and its institutions:

Th[e] disconnect between culturally mandated politics and the actual demonstrated preferences of most Americans has created an enormous reserve of unmet needs—and a generational opportunity. Build new things! Create great art! Understand and accept that sensory information is the brain’s food, and that Silicon Valley is systematically starving us of it. Avoid going entirely tree-blind. Make a friend and don’t talk politics with them. Do things that generate love and attention from three people you actually know instead of hundreds you don’t. Abandon the blighted Ivy League, please, I beg of you. Start a publishing house that puts out books that anger, surprise and delight people and which make them want to read. Be brave enough to make film and TV that appeals to actual audiences and not 14 people on Twitter. Establish a newspaper, one people can see themselves in and hold in their hands. Go back to a house of worship—every week. Give up on our current institutions; they already gave up on us.

This one is a little disturbing. “Our Manorial Elite.” Alan Jacobs draws some disturbing parallels between today’s tech capitalists and medieval economic structures. He concludes, “Call them warlords or the manorial elite, our massive transnational tech companies will protect us only when they believe it is in their interest to do so; and they will never offer us any protection from their own ever-increasing, ever-more-intrusive power.”

I always enjoy, and learn from, Tara Ross's "This Day In History" articles. Today's is even more exceptional than usual: "This Day in History: The pacifist who signed the Declaration"