Manhood and the Metaverse

What I've been writing

Good morning from Fort Worth, Texas, where I’m at the Evangelical Theological Society’s annual meeting.

Today I have two pieces published.

First, at World Magazine, I interact with senator Josh Hawley’s campaign for renewing American manhood. This starts, I argue, by looking much deeper than “right vs left.” Here’s an excerpt:

Our contemporary crisis of masculinity is not merely a partisan skirmish. It stems from a holistic loss of moral vision. The ambition to reign over one’s instincts with self-control and use one’s strength to promote and preserve that which is truly valuable is near to the heart of true masculinity. This vision of manhood is about defending virtue as necessary for human civilization. Two revolutions—the sexual revolution and the digital revolution—have radically redefined how Western society discerns this masculine calling.

Read the whole thing here.

And for First Things, I write about Facebook and the new metaverse. The social networking company is about to complete its transition “connecting people” to creative unreal worlds. Excerpt:

The pandemic has reminded us that not even the swiftest text message or highest resolution Zoom call can compensate for physical isolation. But Zuckerberg and his colleagues see this not as an inherent limitation of technology but as a flaw in our humanity. If the humane minutia of personal relationships cannot be adequately simulated, the answer, according to Meta, is to make our relationships less humane. 

Read the whole thing here.

Blessings on you today! As always, thank you so very much for reading.