Tag: Misc

Damien Hirst Jumps The Shark:

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991)

Photograph [Fair Use] Wikiart

The arts are undergoing a crisis of relevance. People have been so alienated by the weird dysfunctions of the establishment art world for so long, there is little awareness of what is being advanced as the visual representations of our culture.

This stuff matters more than people know. Art shows us who we are, and it shows us how to be. Right now the arts are dominated by destructive nihilists. Look at what they do, to understand what the elites are trying to program as our way to live.

There is a longstanding artistic tradition of the momento mori: “remember you must die.”

The reality of our own mortality, and coming to terms with it, is a vital function of traditional art. Making something exquisite out of the way of all flesh is a transcendental act. It has been expressed in many ways. Throughout art history, skulls make appearances in paintings, on jewelry, on clocks and watches. Dutch masters painted beautifully naturalistic oil still lifes referred to as vanitas, which included images of bones, snuffed lamps, and hourglasses. They not only celebrated the refined talents of the painters, they implied pending decay.

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If you made a list of what a right wing fantasy utopia would look like for someone with localist leanings, you’ll discover that the only people who have successfully produced those environments are on the left.  In this podcast I examine the cultural contradictions of conservative values, showing how in practice the values of conservatives themselves have produced some – not all, but some – of the dysfunction in which they live.

You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and elsewhere. Check out the other podcasts here.

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Welcome back to the Masculinist, the newsletter about how we live as Christian men and as the church in the modern world.

Have you or someone you’ve shared it with found the material in the Masculinist helpful or thought provoking? If so, please help sustain and expand my mission by becoming a monthly financial supporter on Patreon or Gumroad.  Patreon supporters at $25/month or more get access to exclusive content, and if you contribute $10/month or more you get early access to each month’s Masculinist newsletter.

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Understanding Your Social Capital Score

Here’s how Wikipedia describes social capital:

Social capital is “the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively”. It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interpersonal relationships, a shared sense of identity, a shared understanding, shared norms, shared values, trust, cooperation, and reciprocity. Social capital is a measure of the value of resources, both tangible (e.g., public spaces, private property) and intangible (e.g., actors, human capital, people), and the impact that these relationships have on the resources involved in each relationship, and on larger groups. It is generally seen as a form of capital that produces public goods for a common purpose.

Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam is one of the biggest popularizers of the social capital concept, particularly through his book Bowling Alone, which described the decline of social capital in American communities.

Social capital today is frequently discussed as a property of locations. For example, Scott Winship at the Joint Economic Committee created a social capital index that measured social capital levels…

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The Wall Street Journal recently published an interesting article about the curious fact that companies are rejecting millions of résumés at the same time they have a big shortage of workers.

Basically, all applications are scanned by computers today, which automatically reject many applicants who might actually be qualified.

I remember an article some a few years, which unfortunately I can’t locate, in which an HR director, so frustrated with his team’s inability to fill positions, tried an experiment in which he posted an opening for his own job. He applied for it and didn’t even get an interview.

As this article shows, there are things that can happen to you that will render you effectively unhireable because of the way automated screening works.

One of the biggest is a gap in your résumé of a year or more. The WSJ article says a six month gap often leads to rejection, though they seem to be emphasizing positions that don’t require a college degree. Better safe than sorry here.

The consequences of a significant employment gap cannot be understated. I know two former colleagues from Accenture who ended up in this situation. They had both been at the senior manager level and had real skills but a year out of the job market made it impossible for them to even get an interview.

One person was laid off. He had a lot of savings and took some time off, then was excessively picky about a new job. In fact, he turned down at least one really good offer. He did not realize that once his employment gap hit a certain length – I think it’s one year in most cases – no one would interview him.

This guy found that he couldn’t even get a call back or…

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Americans are relocating, for economic, political, religious, or lifestyle reasons. But what should we think about when we think about moving? This podcast examines a number of factors to consider: whether you having a historic connection to or family in a place, economic prospects, costs and whether you can really afford to live there, whether you actually like it (not just think you’ll like it), and whether you can find a church you like there.

You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and elsewhere. Check out the other podcasts here.

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Aaron M. Renn

When I started the Masculinist, the church was a barren wasteland for advice on sexuality. I barely saw anyone else writing constructively about even the most basic issues—things like attraction, the differences between men and women, marriage, divorce.

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In the wake of Jason Meyer’s resignation as the senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church (henceforth BBC, John Piper’s former congregation), I wrote about his famous sermon on abuse.

I described how Meyer deceptively presented secular abuse frameworks as if they were an application of scripture, how BBC’s framework would allow the elders to declare any man they wanted an abuser, and how under their definition even Kathy Keller could be classified as a “severe physical abuser.”

A recent article in Christianity Today magazine shows that my warnings about BBC’s abuse framework were fully warranted.

The article describes how BBC elder Andy Naselli was charged with not being “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” and thus should be disqualified as an elder and professor. While not technically a charge of abuse, it is rooted in similar logic and as the article makes clear, disputes over abuse and accusations of abuse (even “double abuse”) loom large in the divisions there.

What did he supposedly do?

Two BBC members objected to Naselli having posted a five star review of Joe Rigney’s appearance on the Amazon Prime show Man Rampant using his Bethlehem affiliation. Naselli identified himself as the author of the review and said he’d quit if the members’ motion passed.

Janette and Steve Takata, who have attended and served at Bethlehem since 2003 and 1990, respectively, were concerned enough that Janette made a motion at the churchwide quarterly meeting in January. She requested that, prior to Rigney taking office, the elders make a statement to “separate” Rigney’s views in the episode from “the views and teachings of Bethlehem Baptist Church.”

Janette Takata pointed out that Rigney was identified as being from “Bethlehem” in the video and that a BCS professor and Bethlehem elder…

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“You must study the Masters but guard the original style that beats within your soul and put to sword those who would try to steal it.”

-Attributed to El Greco

We call him El Greco, “The Greek.” His real name was Doménikos Theotokópoulos (October 1, 1541 – April 7, 1614). He was born in the Venetian colony of the Kingdom of Candia, the island now named Crete. He appears to have been raised Greek Orthodox, and received his initial artistic training in icon painting. He moved onto Venice and Rome before ultimately settling in Toledo, Spain in 1577. El Greco spent the rest of his life there, picking up the Spanish nickname we know him by.

El Greco came to Spain with ambitions to become a court painter for King Philip II, but it seems the ruler didn’t care for his art. The monarch commissioned two paintings, but the King was so displeased with The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice El Greco produced, it was never installed in its intended location, and no more royal commissions were given.

We don’t know why Philip rejected the work, but it an indicator of things to come. El Greco seems to have been successful as an artist while he lived, but his paintings generated mixed responses. After his death his paintings fell into disrepute and obscurity. It was only in the twentieth century El Greco was rediscovered as a significant artist.

The problem may have been there is nothing else like El Greco. Institutionally, the art world is a trend follower. El Greco came of age during an art period referred to as Mannerism. After the peak achievements of giants like Michelangelo and Raphael, the next generation of artists moved away the idealized, harmonious naturalism of the High Renaissance. Mannerists incorporated distortions and…

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Aaron M. Renn

When I started the Masculinist, the church was a barren wasteland for advice on sexuality. I barely saw anyone else writing constructively about even the most basic issues—things like attraction, the differences between men and women, marriage, divorce.

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Vincent Van Gogh is now recognized as one of the greatest painters in world history. He’s become the archetypal undiscovered genius, although much of the mythology surrounding him is ambiguous at best. There definitely is a Rashomon effect going on regarding the difficulties in Vincent’s life. Many theories suggest that much of what we think we know about Vincent is wrong.

Did he really only sell one painting during his lifetime, or do references in a letter from his art dealer brother Theo indicate other sales?

Did Vincent really cut off his own ear, or just the lobe?

Was it even Vincent who severed the ear – or was it done by his roommate, painter Paul Gauguin, during a fight?

Did Vincent really commit suicide by awkwardly shooting himself in the abdomen – or was he actually selflessly covering up an accidental shooting committed by some careless local boys?

The dramatic myths can get in the way of appreciating the actual accomplishments of Van Gogh.

Before becoming a committed artist, Vincent had tried a variety of careers: art dealing, teaching, working as a clerk in a bookstore. He tried becoming a minister, as his father had been but failed the academic courses needed.

In 1879 Vincent became a missionary in an impoverished Belgian coal-mining district. There Van Gogh took his mission so seriously he gave away almost everything he owned, and lived in poverty and squalor. He was dismissed from his post by the Dutch Reformed Church for going too far. “They think I’m a madman because I wanted to be a true Christian. They turned me out like a dog, saying that I was causing a scandal,” Vincent reportedly said.

Only then did Van Gogh turn to painting as a career. He was 27 years old. Vincent…

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