Ep. 607: UFC in the White House, Spain Revisited, Microfinancing Questioned
Christina
Hello, everyone, I’m Christina Darnell, the managing editor of MinistryWatch. Welcome to the MinistryWatch podcast.
In today’s extra episode, I talk with Warren Smith about some news items that are slightly (even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.”
So, Warren, what’s up first?
Warren
Microfinancing is taking a beating in the media these days.
In the 1990s and 2000s, microfinancing was all the rage. The basic idea was to give entrepreneurs who could not qualify for loans at traditional banks an opportunity to take out a small loan to finance income producing activities.
Christina
Women could buy sewing machines and take in tailoring and alteration work to support her family. Men could buy motorcycles to take them to job sites or pick up trucks to start a hauling or construction business.
Warren
That’s exactly the idea.
But new reporting by the Wall Street Journal questions the effectiveness of such microfinancing activities. It is also interesting that Christian ministries who got on the microfinancing bandwagon (Opportunity International, Hope International, Five Talents, and others) are now pivoting to savings groups, financial literacy, and broader economic development because the evidence for traditional microcredit has been more mixed than early advocates expected.
Christina
Something else that’s been in the news this week has been Steven Spielberg’s new movie “Disclosure Day.”
Warren
The new movie is being touted as a “takedown” of Christianity. Spielberg suggested that the discovery of extraterrestrial life would create a crisis for the Christian faith.
Christina
But a lot of Christian apologists have weighed in on this question and they say that’s not accurate.
Warren
That is right. I’ve got to confess that I’m skeptical of extraterrestrial life on other planets, at least life on any planets within reach. There’s some evidence of water on the moon and on Mars, so we might find some type of organism there, and that would be interesting. But I think we can see deeply enough into space to suggest that there’s nothing significant nearby.
Christina
But even if there was, nothing about Christian doctrine would be challenged by the discovery of extraterrestrial life.
Warren
I think that’s right. Christians from C.S. Lewis to Larry Norman (in his song “Unidentified Flying Object”) have written about this idea, and it is interesting but innocuous in terms of its threat to Christianity.
A more troubling aspect of Spielberg’s film, according to Rod Dreher, is its overt Gnosticism, and ancient heresy that keeps getting re-heated and half-baked by modernists and post-modernists.
Christina
So what is Gnosticism?
Warren
Gnosticism is a collection of ancient religious movements that taught that salvation comes through secret spiritual knowledge (gnosis) that awakens the divine spark within humans and frees them from the material world.
To read Dreher’s critique of the film, click here. My friends John Stonestreet and Tim Padget over at The Colson Center have also written intelligently about this movie. You can find their commentary at www.BreakPoint.org.
By the way, the film is getting decent reviews and is performing well at the box office, taking in $44 million its first weekend, against a $110 million production budget.
Christina
This week marks the anniversary of the death of someone you hold in high regard. Can you tell us about John Dyer?
Warren
If you find self-promoting (and, too often, self-destructive) Christian celebrities distasteful, John Dyer could be your palate cleanser. He lived in the 1800s, and he helped bring Christianity to the American West as a Methodist circuit riding preacher. A church he founded in the resort town of Breckenridge is still in operation. He also ended up in the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. To find out why, read this piece, which I wrote a year ago, but which I call your attention to this week because it is the 125th anniversary of his death.
Christina
And you’ve been turning your eye toward Europe this week. Why?
Warren
Culturally speaking, things are strange in Europe right now. Birth rates are plummeting there even more than here. This fact will have profound economic and societal implications in the years ahead.
I visited Spain 15 years ago and wrote about what I saw there for WORLD Magazine. (And here.) Here are the headlines from that story: Large, gorgeous, empty churches, an economy that lacked confidence, and conservative political parties hunkered down.
Christina
But that was, as you said, 15 years ago. Today, things have changed somewhat.
Warren
The economy is better, though not great. Center-right conservatives, represented by the Partido Popular, have been overtaken by the far-right Vox party.
I started thinking about this when I read that Franklin Graham recently did a crusade in Madrid that attracted 10,000 people. That sounds like a lot until you realize that the musician Bad Bunny attracted 60,000 on the same night. Read my friend Bruce Bower’s account of what is happening in Spain here.
Christina
Another high-profile event this week was the UFC fights at the White House. Do you have any thoughts about that?
Warren
Christians often talk about the “good, true, and beautiful” as if they are separate things. They are not, these three qualities are unitary, of-a-piece. Something cannot be really TRUE or GOOD unless it is also BEAUTIFUL. Something that is ugly or banal aesthetically is also, to that extent, also less true and less good. These are ideas to consider as we assess the events of June 14, which was — in my view — another “wag the dog” spectacle designed to distract the masses. Juvenal had a phrase for it: panem et circenses. Bread and circuses. He also said that such spectacles were a sign of a nation in decline.
Christina
Any final thoughts before we go?
Warren
If you have not discovered our YouTube channel, check it out here. We now have nearly 200 videos there, and they have attracted tens of thousands of views. Subscribe, like, and share to spread the word about our work.
I am in Albuquerque next month. If you live in the Land of Enchantment, one of my favorite states, reach out to me. I would love to share a meal or a cup of coffee with you. My email is [email protected].
We’d love to have your financial support as we approach our fiscal year end. Just go to www.ministrywatch.com/donate
Christina
The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. I’m Christina Darnell, along with Warren Smith.
Until next time, may God bless you.
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