Here and There #30
Elisabeth Elliott, long covid, disruption, Marilyn Robinson, Christian nationalism, and risk/benefit analysis
I grew up in the 1950s, attended high school and college in the 1960s, and have vivid memories of the deaths of 5 missionaries in Ecuador in 1956. We of that generation all read Through Gates of Splendor, the story of the peaceful attempt to reach an Ecuadoran tribe that was hostile to, and fearful of, the outside world. That book was written by the best-known widow of one of the five, Elisabeth Elliott. I didn’t follow very closely the remainder of Elliott’s life, but she was widowed once more and then entered into a long third marriage. Two biographies of Elliott appeared in 2023; I’ve read neither, but a third writer in a recent article ruminates about the nature of that third marriage and how it shaped Elliott—and her influence on Evangelical culture.
Noah Smith starts each week with “5 things to consider/think about” on his blog; and I’m usually interested in only 1 or 2 of them. This Monday was a bit different: all of the topics—cultural stagnation, pedestrian deaths, evidence on decoupling [the relationship between where products are made and the U.S. economy], the benefits of education, and why philosophers read the classics—were interesting to me. Your mileage/wordage may vary! (Skip the top-of-article stuff, if you’re in a hurry.)
Zeynip Tufekci has an article in The New York Times about long covid and the lack of action (or mistaken action) by the CDC and also the Biden Dept. of Health. There have been few comprehensive studies or attempts to determine causes and potential ways of dealing with this ongoing health problem. There are still more than 2,000 covid deaths each week; a serious case, even if not fatal, can lead to “long covid.” (The link is a gift article.)
“Disruption” is the mantra of the tech industry. Disruption is good because it brings benefits to all, taking action against complacent industries that have gotten too fat and lazy to serve their customers well (even if they continue to serve their stockholders well!). The inimitable Corey Doctorow now has an essay about the fact that the large tech industries are not really agents of disruption—they are pretty deeply embedded in our economy and our culture, and no one is messing with their success. “Big companies are where good ideas go to die.” Read it. Doctorow is one of the best people writing today about the damage being done by Big Tech.
Marilyn Robinson has written some novels that Merna and I have very much enjoyed (Gilead, Home, Lila, and Jack, all about a single family—each novel from a different protagonist’s perspective—and its context in small-town Iowa), as well as a much earlier novel that I still need to read, Housekeeping. She is not writing as much these days, but this interview provides a brief glimpse into who she is and what she’s thinking as she approaches her 80s. I found it interesting and enjoyable. (The interview is a gift link.)
What to say about the loss of coral reefs around the world due to warming of our oceans? It’s all quite sad. We’ve watched quite a few documentaries on the topic and the attempts of scientists to figure out ways to keep corals from dying—or to preserve them for a new era of life in our world. It’s all quite discouraging, as this Axios article makes clear about last summer’s events. Global warming is also affecting our Great Lakes, too.
A bit of archaeology/anthropology—along with ancient hunting techniques. We know that Indigenous Americans herded bison into traps of one kind or another, where they would kill them for their meat and hides. It turns out that the inhabitants of the German North Sea shore built walls some 9,000 to 11,000 years ago to drive reindeer into a trap, for similar reasons—although all of this is now underwater due to rising sea levels since the creation of the wall that’s been discovered. Humans are inventive.
In the last couple of weeks, there’s been a fair amount of controversy around both “Christian Nationalism” (driven at least in part by the release of the documentary God and Country, executive produced by Rob Reiner) and, connected with it, criticism of some recent books by women about toxic masculinity and Christianity. I can’t cover it all! But here are some things I’ve read that relate to these sometimes interwoven topics. Historian John Fea has an article in The Atlantic in which he argues (I think) that criticism of Evangelicalism has gone too far; you can read it here (a PDF). Kristin Du Mez, whose work Fea criticizes, has a response here. Furthermore, Fea has a review of God and Country in Christianity Today, which in some respects makes the same points as his Atlantic essay. From another side, Chrissy Stroop, who makes no apologies for her ex-Evangelicalism, considers the film to be a “whitewash” of Evangelicalism. In turn, then, Kristin Du Mez responds/considers some of the issues at greater length. The debate can become tiring; but I think the topic is nonetheless an important one.
“[T]oo often, the risks of major technological change are borne by one set of people while the benefits accrue to another.” This essay on reframing not just the benefits, but also the risks, of any change in technology, in society, is helpful. It’s got me pondering the question as we all face many changes in the course of our lives, individually and collectively.