Thinking

A number of thought-provoking pieces to read today:

• R' Gil isn't convinced that facing faith challenges helps people to grow. I don't understand why this isn't more of a split - those who are interested or who already have questions should face them to an extent, while those who honestly couldn't care less should avoid them to an extent.
• Nephtuli talks about the basis for... well, all the big things. Very interesting and sharp analysis.
• Freakonomics had a hilarious contest a few days ago: Come up with a 6-word motto for the US. There are some serious ones, a lot of hilarious ones, and a number of clearly political ones (particularly self-hating), but they're a fun read.
• Wired (via Wolf) has an interesting chart detailing what happens when someone writes a post - how it goes all over the world, to search engines, etc.
• Wolf discusses going overboard in Judaism... and how it's a lot closer than we think.
• R' Meir Soloveichik has an excellent article in Commentary (e-mailed to me by Commentary Magazine) about beards, children, and other good stuff.
  
• And Orthonomics has another great post about why both sides of a marriage should know the finances.