The Galli Report - Friday, August 28, 2015

Friday, August 28, 2015

How to Handle Bullies Thanks to David Zahl at Mockingbird for pointing out this piece about a new study on bullying. Apparently bullies, contrary to conventional wisdom, "scored highest on self-esteem and social status and lowest on depression." While the article and study seem to give uncritical obeisance to evolutionary psychology, a number of its conclusions and suggestions are worth pondering. Hope After Market Crashes In light of China's recent market collapse, it's probably timely, maybe providential, that we all read this Books & Culture review of The System Worked: How the World Stopped another Great Depression. The thesis is this: Despite the potpourri of public punditry on the calamitous state of our international financial institutions, these institutions did—by and large—weather a very nasty storm, a storm that did less damage than it would have without them, and these institutions are better for it. In other words, the system worked. The book's author, Daniel W. Drezner, isn't Pollyannaish about the world economy—something that huge and complex has problems and more problems to attend to. But he does try to instill sober hope into congenital economic naysayers. Not that I would know anything about pessimism. Two Keys to Reducing Poverty Two recent articles can help us think about reducing poverty in a country like the US. In the first, journalist Malcolm Gladwell looks at poor families who left New Orleans after Katrina. One insight of that article is this: "Social scientists find that leaving a dysfunctional urban neighborhood can transform a family's prospects." The second article highlights a dimension that Gladwell's New Yorker piece overlooks: ". . . any serious conversation of . . . upward mobility generally, has to begin with the state of the two-parent family in America. Simple, Clear, Engaging—and It's About the Bible! One of the more promising Bible resources I've run across in some years (HT to Justin Taylor) is called The Bible Project, led by a team of video-savvy and theologically astute developers. Take a look at The Book of Genesis Overview, Part 1; or the one on 1 Corinthians (to see how they handle didactic material). If you are impressed, as I was, you'll want to scroll to the donation section and help them keep the project going. Wouldn't it be great to have this resource for every book of the Bible? Grace and peace, Mark Galli Editor, Christianity Today

More froM Christianity Today You Are How Much You Work Amazon, Google, and the troubling push for productivity at all costs. "I'm on the Ashley Madison List. Now What?" You've messed up. You're ashamed. Repent and cling to Jesus. America's Reading Crisis Is Much Worse Than You Think A teacher's plea for the church to give the gift of literacy.