Every Wednesday I post a handful of articles, blog posts, videos, columns, books or anything I find interesting and worth your time. Ranging from thought-provoking to funny to ridiculous, most are things I stumbled upon in the past week. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading along!
"Short Read" = 10 Minutes or less. "Long Read" = 10 Minutes or longer.
#1 - Eric Holder: We Can Have Shorter Sentences and Less Crime - NYTimes (Short Read)
In 2013, the US Bureau of Justice reported that America's incarceration rate had ballooned to incarcerating 920 individuals per 100,000; surpassing historically oppressive countries like Russia, China, and Iran. While the United States only consists of 5 percent of the world population, our prison population consists of 25 percent of the world's prisoners. Last quarter, I wrote a term paper entitled, Mass Incarceration and the Aim of Justice, where I argued for the church's unique opportunity to speak prophetically and pastorally into culture through embodying restorative justice. Through my research I was startled by the reality of our broken justice system. In this opinion piece in the New York times, Eric Holder argues that we must "reduce draconian mandatory minimum sentencing for low-level drug offenses and encourage more investment in rehabilitation programs to tackle recidivism." An important article for an important issue.
#2 - Brand Over Brain - Ted Radio Hour (53 mins)
NPR's Ted Radio Hour, is slowly becoming my favorite podcast. Each episode weaves together multiple Ted talk's and interviews centered around a common theme. Currently, they are on a season break and re-aired an old episode entitled, "Brand Over Brain." The episode discusses the power of brands to assign a perceived value to certain products, and also explores the validity of finding real value. The podcast itself is fantastic, but this episode was particularly interesting.
#3 - Here's Why There's Still Hope For the American Evangelical Church - Jon Huckins (Short Read)
Last quarter I took a class on Biblical and Practical Peacemaking, in that class we were fortunate to have Jon Huckins guest lecture for a week. Huckins is the co-founding director of the Global Immersion Project that focuses on reintegrating peacemaking into our human vocation. In this short piece, Jon Huckins reminds us of the dynamic, challenging, and world-changing call to love our enemies. "When we are more driven," writes Huckins, "by our fear to defend what is ours from the enemy 'over there' than freed to live fully into our mandate to love, we morph into something we were never intended to be..."
#4 - Words Still Matter - David Gushee - ReligionNews.com (Short Read)
Focusing on the ethics of speech, David Gushee reminds us of the importance of truth and trustworthiness in order for a society to properly function. Critiquing both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Gushee reminds us that "speech should be truthful, promises should be kept, the power of speech should be used wisely, and speech should be direct, fully truthful, and non-manipulative. Speech reveals character."
#5 - Can You Beat Usain Bolt Out of the Blocks - NYTimes (Short - Interactive)
I'm sure I haven't been the only one that has been enamored with the Olympics the past few weeks. Watching Usain Bolt defend his 100m final yet again, was mesmerizing. The New York Times put together a fun interactive to see if your reaction time is as quick as Bolt's.