Religious Freedom in America by David French
I have my differences with French, but I agree with him on his assessment about religion in America. A change in Supreme Court justices will help somewhat in determining a few controversies that make it that far, but this can't be a top-down kind of thing. Christians need to practice their faith and live it out conspicuously. They need to push back on the actions taken against them and speak out against injustice. With the whole outcry against Karen Pence, the denunciation of the Knights of Columbus (of which I am a member--come at me, Democrats) and the return of Jack Phillips and the Little Sisters of the Poor to court, it's clear that there's growing problem of discrimination against Christians in America.
Gillette Ad Is Not Wrong by Mona Charon
I'm posting this more because I disagree with it than otherwise--Mona Charon tends to be a bit too mealy-mouthed and moderate for my taste. The Gillette ad was wrong because it perpetuated an unfair stereotype of masculinity: that they they are sexist violent bullies that like to chant "boys will be boys" while women and children suffer right in front of them. This wasn't a critique of behavior, but of the majority of men who are guilty of this behavior and do little to stop it. Apparently, this is supposed to motivate the target audience to buy Gillette razors and act like white knights. All it did was motivate already beaten-down men and their supporters to air their resentment.
5 Things To Do About Our Culture's Antagonism Against Men by Nick Sheppard
On the man front, I found that this one was one of the better articles about the APA classifying traditional masculinity as a mental disorder. Men of all ages need help because these prejudices and false narratives are quickly becoming normalized. Defining masculinity as a problem is not helpful, but only worsens the growing insecurity and anxiety young men grow up with--in other words, if our goal is to create more incels, this is how you do it. In general, masculinity (which I see as a special kind of energy and drive particular to males) needs to be channelled to constructive purposes, not utterly suppressed. I give my own two cents on this issue in my article this week in The Federalist with a focus more on what schools can do.
Time for Some Trust Busting by William Kilpatrick
What should a society do with companies that blatantly practice arbitrary censorship and squelch free speech? What about the companies that control the funding and money transactions of people engaged in expressing an unpopular opinion? This is exactly what's happening to writers (often highly credentialed ones who are scrupulous with sourcing their claims) who oppose radical Islam and raise awareness about Christian persecution. These are not hateful people; rather, they oppose the hate that informs terrorist ideologies. For this, they are removed from various platforms and cut off from funding. What becomes of the victims for whom they are advocating? No one ever learns about them because no one is allowed to talk about it. Perhaps we shouldn't give theses companies so much power that they can manipulate the masses this way. I'm all for a non-government solution, but I have yet to read it anywhere.