Welcome to the latest edition of the Top 5 articles we’ve read this week. Each week, we read dozens of articles in the hope we find essays and reporting that speak to big ideas, trends, future looks, and incredible human stories. We hope you enjoy these articles, and do always let us know if you have a suggestion or a recommendation!
Three things you can do this week:
If you’ve felt anxiety, anger or apathy (all of the above?) since the assassination attempt last week, we are with you. We believe that prayer is a vital discipline of our faith and it is a great help in a time of need. CCPL released a new podcast episode/YouTube video featuring Rev. Cece Jones-Davis, Chaplain Barry Black, and CCPL’s Founding Board Chair James Catford about the place of prayer in politics. It’s so good. We think it will help you.
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The Top 5 articles for your week:
“Why every town should host an activities fair” (Connective Tissue)
Because Sam Pressler writes about practical solutions for local government and says:
The civic life of towns is not all that different from the campus life of colleges. Residents are like students, paying taxes instead of tuition to receive a set of services from local government. Town leaders are like administrators, responsible for delivering these services to support local residents. Just as colleges host activities fairs to energize campus life, so too can town leaders host activities fairs to energize civic life.
“In the Age of Proxy Nationalism” (Comment Magazine)
Because Phil Klay wrote a masterclass of an essay on nationalism in 2024. This observation is remarkably stark:
When I see people who have never set foot in Russia or Ukraine or Gaza or Israel, with no family ties to those countries, spouting the propaganda of foreign lands, I wonder whether I am witnessing the genuine adoption of an identity or a consumer for whom sampling the spice of nationalist fervor is just one of the commercial choices you’re offered when you purchase a cell phone that connects to the internet.
“I Gave Myself a Month to Make One New Friend. How Hard Could That Be?” (Esquire)
Because Kelly Stout writes about the difficulties in establishing new friendships.
What I really wanted was something that, for some reason, despite its near-universal popularity, we’ve constructed society to make nearly impossible: hanging out casually when the mood strikes, with a bunch of people who know us deeply and love us anyway.
“How Americans Justify Political Violence” (NYT Magazine)
Because Charles Homans has been reporting for the NYT on political violence since 2021 and in the wake of last week’s assassination attempt, it is a critical issue to consider.
If condemnations of violent political speech ring hollow in the United States, it’s because they are. This is a country where the language of violence has become too deeply entangled with politics to disentangle with a few pro forma statements, and where a growing share of Americans are comfortable not just with rhetoric but with potential action….In a June survey, the political scientists Nathan P. Kalmoe and Lilliana Mason, who have conducted a yearslong study exploring American attitudes toward political violence, found that about 20 percent of respondents believed that political violence was at least sometimes justified. A full 60 percent — up from 40 percent four years ago — believed it was at least sometimes justified if people from the other political party committed an act of violence first, figures that varied little between Republicans and Democrats.
"The Urban Doom Loop Could Still Happen” (The Atlantic)
Because Dror Poleg writes about a major problem for most major American cities since the start of the pandemic: a constant change in office space vacancies.
An economy in which most companies can predict their needs in advance and commit to long-term leases is not returning any time soon.
(BONUS) Religion and the U.S. Presidential Election (Theos)
Because Michael wrote for the British research think tank, Theos, contemplating whether the typical modes of assessing the influence of religion in our politics are sufficient.An existential politics can enliven or eviscerate religious meaning in our politics, and what makes the difference is moral knowledge. If this election is about “saving democracy,” as some have claimed, does this make voting this year an act charged with moral agency, or are the stakes so obscene that the whole process itself is vulgarized? Might the immorality of politicians leave little room for the moral agency of voters?
ICYMI
The Morning Five: July 15, 2024
The Morning Five: July 16, 2024
The Morning Five: July 17, 2024
The Morning Five: July 18, 2024
The Resilient Pastor Podcast: Michael Wear on Navigating Political Polarization and the Spiritual Impact of Politics
Thanks for sharing!!!