Jesus in the Valley

I don't recall just when I first learned about Peter Thiel, or how. Perhaps it was over at Marginal Revolution, a blog that Tyler Cowen runs along with his friend and colleague, Alex Tabarrok. Cowen is a big fan of Thiel's, regards him as one of the premier, if under-appreciated, public intellectuals of our time. I've been following Marginal Revolution for years. Thiel comes up often enough, so it's plausible that that's where I learned out about Thiel.

Anyhow, when I learned about Thiel, I also learned that, not only was he a Christian, but that he was something of a fan/student/disciple (?) of René Girard, the literary critic and philosopher. Now, Girard I've known about for years, since my freshman year at Johns Hopkins. During freshman orientation a number of lectures had been made available to us. They were on a variety of subjects, all given at the same time. We had to pick one, or, I assume, none at all. I picked one on something called "cultural relativity." Just why I picked that one, I do not know. But I did, and it was given Girard. Strangest thing I'd ever heard – that was my impression. Later on I took a number of courses given by Dick Macksey. He had Girard as a guest lecturer. That's when I learned about mimetic desire and sacrifice, Girard's major themes.

But I digress. This post isn't about me or Girard. It's an excerpt from an article in The New York Times, Seeking God, or Peter Thiel, in Silicon Valley, by Emma Goldberg. Here's the opening paragraphs:

Everything clicked when Peter Thiel gave the speech about God.

The occasion was a 40th birthday party for Trae Stephens, who is Mr. Thiel’s venture capital partner as well as one of the founders of Anduril Industries, a maker of high-tech defense systems and weaponry. It was a multiday affair, held in 2023 at Mr. Stephens’s home in New Mexico. It began with an evening roasting the birthday boy, followed by another toasting him and then a brunch with caviar bumps, mimosas and breakfast pizza. At the brunch (the theme was the Holy Ghost), Mr. Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire and right-wing kingmaker, delivered a talk about miracles, forgiveness and Jesus Christ. The guests were enthralled.

“The room of over 220 people, mostly in technology and venture capital, were coming up to us saying, ‘Oh, my goodness, I didn’t know Peter Thiel was a Christian,’” recalled Michelle Stephens, Mr. Stephens’s wife. “‘He’s gay and a billionaire. How can he be Christian?’”

That reaction — eyebrows raised, curiosity genuine — gave Ms. Stephens an idea: Gather influential people, including in Silicon Valley, to talk about Christian belief. Last year, she started a nonprofit called ACTS 17 Collective, which holds events where the bigwigs of the tech and entertainment industries discuss their faith. For those seeking not just spiritually but also professionally, it’s a chance to get close to industry demigods.

Mr. Thiel was the featured speaker at the first ACTS 17 event last May, at the San Francisco home of Garry Tan, the chief executive of Y Combinator. He talked about how Christian theology informs his politics and which of the Ten Commandments he finds most meaningful. (The first and last: Worship God, and don’t covet what others have.) A D.J. added ambience, mixing worship beats for the more than 200 attendees. [...]

The name ACTS 17 is an acronym (Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society), but it also refers to the biblical chapter in which Paul the Apostle crisscrosses Athens and Thessaloniki to spread the Gospel among Greek “kings and queens of culture,” as Ms. Stephens puts it, the eminent and affluent demographic that she aims to minister to today. It’s a somewhat counterintuitive Christian calling, she acknowledged.

“We were always taught as Christians to serve the meek, the lowly, the marginalized,” Ms. Stephens said. “I think we’ve realized that, if anything, the rich, the wealthy, the powerful need Jesus just as much.”

Silicon Valley executives are accustomed to chasing the elusive — fortune, breakthroughs, power — but God has not tended to rank high on the list.

Frankly, and judging from the big-money hijinks surrounding AI these days and the shenanigans Musk is up to in Washington – Musk has worked with Thiel and claims to be a “big believer in the principles of Christianity” – serving "the meek, the lowly, the marginalized" is not high on the list of things that Silicon Valley cares about. Goldberg's article gets around to that. She has more to say about Thiel as well, and the Girard connection. It's a good read.