Aaron M. Renn

1 week ago | americanreformer.org | Aaron M. Renn

Catholicism, and increasingly Eastern Orthodoxy, seems to have an appeal for a segment of highly educated and ambitious evangelicals. JD Vance, whose conversion to Catholicism I previously wrote about, is an example. The sociologist Brad Vermurlen, who wrote the definitive account of the evangelical New Calvinism movement, also appears to be in the process of converting to Catholicism. What’s going on here? First, it’s worth noting that Catholic conversions are primarily an elite phenomenon.

1 week ago | theaquilareport.com | Aaron M. Renn

Gender cultural and political polarization is creating legitimately incompatible views of the good life that make marriage impossible. If men wants the white picket fence life and the women want to be focused on career ambitions, that’s going to be hard to reconcile. While compromise is inevitable to get and stay married, some divides are so fundamental they can’t be bridged. There’s a quip attributed to Henry Kissinger that, “Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes.

1 week ago | aaronrenn.com | Aaron M. Renn

My Member podcast this month is on the evangelical business ethos and how it contributes to a lack of evangelical influence at the top of society. Members get an exclusive monthly podcast, monthly interactive Zoom sessions, and access to a private Member only Slack group. See my Support page for more info about becoming a Member. Aaron Renn is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

2 weeks ago | aaronrenn.com | Aaron M. Renn

I’m pulled in two different directions on institutions. On the one hand, we need institutions badly. On the other, our institutions are functioning poorly, and most of us have no ability to affect them. There’s a game theory puzzle called the Prisoner’s Dilemma that helps explain this. Two criminals are being held by the police in separate cells. If neither of them talks, they both get off with a light sentence.

2 weeks ago | aaronrenn.com | Aaron M. Renn

Catholicism, and increasingly Eastern Orthodoxy, seems to have an appeal for a segment of highly educated and ambitious evangelicals. JD Vance, whose conversion to Catholicism I previously wrote about, is an example. The sociologist Brad Vermurlen, who wrote the definitive account of the evangelical New Calvinism movement, also appears to be in the process of converting to Catholicism. What’s going on here? First, it’s worth noting that Catholic conversions are primarily an elite phenomenon.