Fresh Newsletter: Status Updates

I’ve posted here before, but I want to get it in front of your eyes again: I have a newsletter! I’ve been struggling to figure out how to use it, but I think I’ve figured it out. I would love it if you would subscribe. In order to pique your interest, here is the first section of this week’s edition.

I’ve been trying to think for a long time now how I can use a newsletter. I love receiving newsletters; it’s the newest format of choice for a lot of thinkers I really like, and I love the freedom of it. Substack does a great job of hosting great voices, and has created a nice, clean platform for writing, sharing and getting feedback. As someone who strives to write online, I feel a lot of potential for this format.

At the same time, any one who reads my blog knows I’m not exactly prolific in writing; blogposts come in waves for me. I’ll pound out a week or two worth, then my mental energy needs a while to recover and build up material and passion again. So, my biggest struggle in finding a way to use the newsletter format has been two, interrelated questions: first, what am I going to write about here, that I’m not already doing on my blog or elsewhere; and second, what could I write about that would give me the passion and enough material to write often enough to make this worthwhile for someone to subscribe to?

I think I’ve finally found an answer to these questions.

I mentioned before that one of my favorite things on the internet is Alan Jacobs’ Snakes and Ladders newsletter. In it, he does a weekly update on things he is doing: what he’s working on, what he’s reading, what he’s been eating, etc. I love this little peek into the world of someone I greatly respect, and at times, these little reflections morph into longer thoughts about things. I love this feature, and I’ve decided to shamelessly steal it as the basis for what I am doing here.

Every week, in this newsletter, you will find a listing of what I’m calling “Status Updates”: a compendium of things I am writing, reading, watching, listening to, eating, drinking, learning, and a whole bunch of other verbs. These updates will be a jumping off point for longer reflections and ideas about things for me; the concrete nature of what I’m experiencing is a good way for me personally to organize and verbalize thoughts better than just randomly posting things on my blog, which is what I have been doing for the most part for the last five or so years.

These newsletters will run once a week, and they will likely be on the long side. I feel confident in this choice as an avid reader of Andrew Sullivan’s newsletter, The Weekly Dish, which often runs several thousand words in length, on a variety of topics. This has shown me, newsletters don’t necessarily need to be short and succint; they can operate as longer pieces that encourage deeper thinking and engagement.

I hope you enjoy reading these as much I have enjoyed putting this first one together. I would love engagement back to me, so please feel free to “Reply” and give me your thoughts on anything you read here. And of course, share as widely as you wish, and encourage others to subscribe as well! The more readers the better.

Thanks for reading, and again, please subscribe and share!

The Pro-Life Case for Biden

My wife shared the following with me from Facebook. This was written by a pro-life Christian, and it really sums up a lot of my feelings about pro-life politics, Christian support for Donald Trump, and the election. I wish I could have worded my thoughts this elegantly or powerfully. Take a moment to read this, and then reflect on it carefully, whether you be pro- or ant-choice, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, or, most importantly, no matter what branch of the church you find your home in.

“I have felt a heaviness in my soul lately.

For the past couple weeks, I’ve felt it. A weight. The heaviness. So this morning – when a block of time unexpectedly opened in my schedule, I closed myself in my room, read some of John’s gospel, opened my journal, and prayed, “OK, God. What is it? My heart feels heavy. I need to write. But I don’t have words. What is this feeling?”

And I began to write – Heartbreak. It’s heartbreak. And disillusionment. I’ve been here before – so many times since 2016. And here I am again.

I keep seeing Christians say they can’t vote for Joe Biden because of his stance on abortion. I”ve seen Christians proudly state they are single-issue voters – it all comes down to abortion. So they’ll vote for Trump. Because he promises to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade. That’s the one and only thing that matters.

But why? Why is that the one and only thing that matters?

Is that the one and only thing that matters to Jesus? Reading through the Bible, I would say unequivocally “NO.” What does the Bible say directly about abortion? And I ask this from my pro-life heart. The Bible has FAR, FAR more to say about pride, about abusing power to mistreat the poor, about lying, about treating others with hatred, about humility, about seeking forgiveness, about faithfulness — about ALL of that than it does about abortion.

So, Christians, why are you so willing to toss all of those morals aside? Why are you so willing to turn a blind eye to so many behaviors that are completely, blatantly in opposition to the heart and character of Christ?

When I read about Joe Biden’s stance on abortion, I see a man who has wrestled with his faith. I see a man whose heart wants no abortions and who has struggled throughout his years in public service to determine the best way to accomplish that. Is it by making abortion illegal? (At one point, he said “yes.”) Is it by prohibiting government funding of abortion? (At one point, he said “yes.”) Or is it by supporting public policies that make abortion rates decline? (This seems to be where he’s landed.)

This personal wrestling resonates with me. I have had those same wrestling matches within myself.

Did you know – between 1981 and 2016, the sharpest decline in abortion rates occurred under Democratic Presidents – not under Republican Presidents. The rates especially dropped under the leadership of President Obama and continued to decline after he left office. Most everyone agrees the reason for this is because access to contraception is key in preventing pregnancies. And under the Affordable Care Act, contraception coverage became more widespread. Even though some states enacted new abortion restrictions between 2011 and 2017, by 2017 57% of the nationwide decline occurred in states that had not enacted new abortion restrictions. So there is evidence that pursuing legal action isn’t necessary (or effective) to reduce the amount of abortions.

I am pro-life. I would like to see zero abortions. I also want to honor and value the lives of women who find themselves in the position of considering abortion. Those lives also matter to me. So I don’t believe criminalizing the choice is the best way to truly help those women. I think public policies that offer help and hope — financial and medical – are the best ways to reduce abortions.

Therefore, I need to find political candidates who will support programs that help the women who are most likely to feel that abortion is their only option, candidates who support making effective contraception affordable and accessible to everyone.

I also want a candidate who values all life. Refugees’ lives. Women’s lives. Black lives. Poor lives. Lives during a pandemic. The lives of people who disagree with him.

You see, when you say you’re voting for Trump because you’re pro-life, I can’t take you seriously. Because Trump has not proven himself to value lives. For the love! – read his Twitter and show me how this man values life.

When you say you can’t vote for Biden because of your Christian beliefs, I can’t take you seriously. Because again and again and again, Donald Trump’s words and actions fly in direct contradiction to the character of Christ.

For the past four years, I’ve been so disillusioned and heartbroken and sad to see so many Christians abandon their morals and contort their beliefs in order to justify their support of someone who so obviously violates every moral and value I was taught in the Church.

Somewhere along the line, political masterminds decided that evangelical Christians could be manipulated into believing abortion and gay marriage are the only two things God cares about.

Friends, that is a lie. You have been hoodwinked.

Obviously, you don’t have to vote for Joe Biden. But you can’t use our Jesus and the Bible to defend your support of Donald Trump.”

#JacobBlake

Jacob Blake should not have been shot.

Jacob Blake should not be laying in a hospital bed in Kenosha, with the prospect that he may never walk again.

“and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?””
Revelation 6:10

Jacob was not presenting an active threat to police officer or the public. He had his three small children in his car. He was on the scene to break up a fight, not start one. If police officers really needed to detain him that badly, they should have instead deescalated, and if necessary, let him drive off. He was not a threat. He was not hurting people. His license plate could have been taken. He could have been brought in later, once tempers were cooled. Again, just like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and so, so, so many others, this did not need to happen.

Jacob Blake should not have been shot. Period.

Have police officers and public safety officials learned nothing in 2020? Have the protests that have been rolling across our nation against police brutality and the unnecessary deaths of so many really fallen on ears this deaf?

We have to demand better of those we entrust our public safety too. Our public is not more safe if our cops are so willing to pull guns and fire them at people not presenting an active threat to a situation.

If you watched the video of Jacob Blake, or read the story, or saw the outcry, and your first thoughts weren’t centered around sadness and horror and disgust and anger, but instead were centered around thoughts like, “He got what he had coming to him,” or “He should have complied with police,” then I think you need to do some deep introspection. Your soul is sick in some way, if you can’t see a father get shot by agents of the state and not feel something other than blind affinity for the power structures that let this keep happening. Please, spend some time reflecting, and praying, and thinking deeply about what kind of world you want to live in.

From a Christian perspective, as I’ve said time and time and time again here, our allegiance and sympathy should not be with those wielding the power of the nation over others. Our sympathy, in the words of Christ, should always be with the least, with the oppressed, with the wronged, with those outside of power. We should see incidents like this with a great sense of sadness for our world, and an attendant moral outrage over the use of violence over and over against our fellow human beings. If you claim the title of Christian but you feel people like Jacob Blake somehow got what they had coming to them, then you are doing this whole Christian thing wrong. Go gaze on our Crucified Lord, who was a victim of overwhelming and unjust state police power.

Jacob Blake should not have been shot. #BlackLivesMatter