Trigger Warnings May Backfire with Mark Galli

Trigger Warnings May Backfire

A great deal of cultural anxiety has been floating around trigger warnings, but maybe we are making much ado about nothing. Because “The Latest Study on Trigger Warnings Finally Convinced Me They’re Not Worth It.” So writes Shannon Palus on Slate. As the subtitle puts it, “All the evidence suggests they don’t help and might actually hurt, which means we need to devote more attention to better forms of mental health care.” Mindfulness Is a Philosophy The mindfulness trend—learning to become more mindful of one’s emotional state and the world around us—shows no sign of retreat. And it’s good as far as it goes, says Sahanika Ratnayake, graduate student at the University of Cambridge. But she doesn’t buy the idea that it is value-neutral, that people of any and all faiths, or no faith, will find it equally helpful. In fact, she argues, it is grounded in a specific worldview about what reality is and how it works. Her observations in this long read will be appreciated by believers of many faiths, including Christians: In claiming to offer a multipurpose, multi-user remedy for all occasions, mindfulness oversimplifies the difficult business of understanding oneself. It fits oh-so-neatly into a culture of techno-fixes, easy answers and self-hacks, where we can all just tinker with the contents of our heads to solve problems, instead of probing why we’re so dissatisfied with our lives in the first place. How We Write Now A look at how Twitter is changing the way we write, and why we find that way of writing attractive. Or, according to an article on The Message, I should say, “When you realize that Twitter is changing the way we write.” New Blood at CT I thought I’d use this space to introduce two new editors at CT. I won’t say much about them but let their writing speak for them. Kara Bettis joined the staff on August 1, having written for CT on many occasions; her most recent piece looks at virtual baptisms (I was so glad she included some serious critiques of the practice while acknowledging its reality). On August 12, we’ll be joined by Daniel Silliman, who wrote this moving piece about our ingrained selfishness and the grace that heals it. Details, Details An 11-minute video looks at how Forrest Gump’s production designer explains his work in creating Lt. Dan’s first scenes. I am continually surprised and amazed at how much detail such people pay attention to, the tricks they use to imitate reality, and the subtle but powerful difference it makes. Grace and peace,

Mark Galli Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today