Latest news with #ACTS17
WIRED
27-03-2025
- Business
- WIRED
Unpacking ‘Good Quests,' Christianity, and Caviar Bumps
Photo-Illustration:If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. Learn more. The mission of Silicon Valley's entrepreneurs has long been to change the world. But, how do you know whether a pursuit is good or bad? ACTS17 collective, a Christian faith-based group of tech entrepreneurs, says a strong relationship with God is the answer. Today on the show, we talk about the people promoting a faith-based approach to tech, we learn what a 'good quest' is, and we ask what impact religion will have on the type of ventures the valley pursues in the future. You can follow Michael Calore on Bluesky at @snackfight, Lauren Goode on Bluesky at @laurengoode, and Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer. Write to us at uncannyvalley@ How to Listen You can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how: If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts and search for 'uncanny valley.' We're on Spotify too. Transcript Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors. Michael Calore: Question for the group. When was the last time you went to church? Zoë Schiffer: That's a big question. I'm Jewish, so I think we go to a temple, not church. And I went pretty recently, for the High Holidays. Lauren? Michael Calore: Very nice. Lauren Goode: Lovely. I think I went when I was on vacation. I like popping into churches when I'm traveling to different places. Michael Calore: Nice. Light a little candle? Lauren Goode: Yeah, just look at the architecture. Zoë Schiffer: That's cool. What about you, Mike? Lauren Goode: Yeah. What about you? Michael Calore: I swear I was listening to what you were both saying, but while you were talking, while also listening, I was also racking my brain to try and remember the last time that I was in a church, and I cannot remember the last time. I really just do not know. Zoë Schiffer: That's totally fair. Michael Calore: Well, Silicon Valley has its own relationship with God, and that is what we're going to be talking about this week. Is everybody ready? Zoë Schiffer: I'm very ready. Lauren Goode: I'm ready for confession time. Michael Calore: This is WIRED's Uncanny Valley, a show about the people power and influence of Silicon Valley. I'm Michael Calore, Director of Consumer Tech and Culture here at WIRED. Lauren Goode: I'm Lauren Goode. I'm a senior writer at WIRED. Zoë Schiffer: And I'm Zoe Schiffer WIRED's, Director of Business and Industry. Michael Calore: Power, money and Influence. This has long been part of the allure for many in the tech world, but for a growing group in the Valley, there's a new path to success, God. Today, we're talking about the Silicon Valley Christians who are promoting a faith-based approach to innovation. We'll drop in on a San Francisco party where tech bigwigs and influential figures talk business and the Bible, we'll learn about, quote, unquote, "Good quests," and we'll ask the big question, what impact will religion have on the type of ventures the Valley pursues in the future? So Lauren, tell us about this party you went to. Lauren Goode: Which one? I go to so many parties. Michael Calore: Well, let's start with the party in New Mexico. Lauren Goode: Yes. Okay. That one. To be totally clear, I was not at this party. It's been written about, and I've heard about it directly from one of the hosts. This was a three-day birthday party held in New Mexico in November of 2023. And the theme of it was The Roast, the Toast and the Holy Ghost. Zoë Schiffer: Oh my gosh. Say what you will about tech people, but they know how to make a party theme. Lauren Goode: So this party was for the 40th birthday of someone named Trae Stephens, who is a well-known venture capitalist and entrepreneur. WIRED his written about him before. Our colleague, Steven Levy, did a big interview with Trae last year. And this party, according to Trae's wife, Michelle, was designed to be a playoff of Kanye West's Sunday Service. They booked a DJ who remixes worship songs, but also it was like a party, right? They said they served caviar bumps, there was breakfast pizza, there was mimosas. A good time was to be had. But what really kind of stood out from this party is that one of Trae's business partners, Peter Thiel, gave a fire side chat that had all of the attendees talking. Michael Calore: Okay. Zoë Schiffer: I honestly did not know that Peter Thiel was religious at all until I started talking to you about this. Michael Calore: And we should back up and say a little bit about Peter Thiel, and about who he is and why he's important. Lauren Goode: Yeah, for the uninitiated, Peter Thiel is another well-known venture capitalist, and he's known for many reasons. He's one of the original founders of PayPal, the so-called PayPal Mafia. He's an early investor in Facebook, so he's incredibly wealthy. In media circles, he's infamous for having backed the lawsuit that put Gawker Media out of business. In politics, he's been a very vocal supporter of Donald Trump, and Peter Thiel's network of right-wing allies has been infiltrating the Trump administration. And to your point, Zoe, he's also religious. This sermon that he gave at Trae Stephens's birthday party has been described as, "A fire side chat on miracles and forgiveness." And it was after this fire side chat that he gave, that" according to Michelle Stephens, the wife of Trae, people were coming up to her and saying, I didn't know Peter was a Christian. How can you be gay and a billionaire and be Christian?" And even something like, "I didn't know you could be smart in a Christian, "Michelle says that people said to her. Michael Calore: Oh, no. Lauren Goode: And then they started asking, "And where do you go to church in San Francisco?" Michael Calore: So where do they go to church in San Francisco? Zoë Schiffer: They are not talking about doing yoga at Grace Cathedral. Lauren Goode: They go to a church that's called Epic Church, which has been around for several years in San Francisco. But according to the pastor there, it has grown in attendance in recent years. But in addition to the Stephens's being members at this church, and other people in the tech community, Michelle Stephens, who is an entrepreneur, was entrepreneurial and decided to start a non-profit that hosts gatherings where people come and give talks, kind of like the one that Peter Thiel gave at that birthday party. And I ended up going to one of their events recently. It was really interesting. They call this group the ACTS, that's A-C-T-S 17 Collective, and it's an acronym, it stands for Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society. Michael Calore: And these are ticketed talks? Lauren Goode: They're ticketed talks. Michael Calore: Okay. Lauren Goode: Fifty bucks and you have a direct line to God. He's on your speed dial. Zoë Schiffer: Do they feel more like parties or more like church? Lauren Goode: Well, this is a great question, because the event that I went to recently in San Francisco is in a private home that is a converted church. It was in this room... You're nodding 'cause I think you know exactly where it is. Right? Michael Calore: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Zoë Schiffer: Is it the one by Dolores? Lauren Goode: Yes. Zoë Schiffer: It is? Oh my gosh, I've always been so curious about that space. Lauren Goode: It's beautiful. There's a big cavernous room that has a large arched window in the back on an exposed brick wall, and high ceilings and soundproofing along the walls, wood paneling. So when you are in it, you're like, "I feel like I'm in a church," except that it was low-key party vibes. The DJ was spinning some light beats, ambient music. There were bartenders, there's food. Zoë Schiffer: Caviar or no caviar? Lauren Goode: There were name badges. There were no caviar bumps. Zoë Schiffer: Bummer. Lauren Goode: Such a bummer. Yeah. Michael Calore: And what was the talk? Lauren Goode: So this talk actually featured Trae Stephens himself. The ACTS 17 Collective has done a few previous talks with other people, but this one was Trae being interviewed by a fellow venture capitalist, who appropriately, was named Christian. And they were talking about this concept of good quests, which is something that Trae has written about before. He and a co-writer published an article in 2022 about the idea of good quests. Good quests is a framework for thinking about the work that you do. And let's just assume you're a techie, you're an entrepreneur, you're a venture capitalist, you're a startup person, and you're trying to find meaning through your work. And good quests is a way to find and do work that feels purposeful or meaningful in some way. And that means you are on a good quest. It also means that there are bad quests. Michael Calore: I see. Lauren Goode: Which is a lot of what they talked about. Michael Calore: So, the good quests and bad quests thing sounds like a big topic that we should talk about, but I want to put a pin in it for the moment because I want to talk about the business connections that happen at these meetings. I'm assuming that these meetings are not just for people to get together and listen to conversations about God, but they're probably meetings where people network. And is there a hope that Peter Thiel will show up at these meetings? Lauren Goode: Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. Zoë Schiffer: It was certainly Lauren's hope. Lauren Goode: Yeah. Well, I have a couple questions for him. He has spoken at these events before, so sure, networking is definitely a part of it. And one of the things that Act 17 has said is that they're not only inviting Christians to these events, they're inviting people of all denominations. And even if you're an atheist, you can join. They want to get the conversation started. Some people are there because they genuinely want to find their faith again or be able to express it freely. And I think other people are there for the hang and for the networking, and to rub elbows with people like Trae Stephens or someone like Garry Tan from Y Combinator, who was at this recent event. And I actually think that they're okay with that, because at events like these, the themes of religion and work are commingled so much that sometimes it's indistinguishable to fully understand what it is they're talking about. Michael Calore: Yeah. And Peter Thiel's Faith was such a big catalyst for this movement that the Stephens's have started. And I just wonder if you can get into a little bit about what connection with Peter Thiel is with this group and this couple? Lauren Goode: Yeah, so it's actually quite a big network of Peter Thiel-related companies and investments. So, Peter Thiel runs a venture capital firm called Founders Fund, and Trae Stephens is a partner there. Trae also co-founded Anduril, which is a defense tech company that builds weapons like autonomous drones and underwater vessels. Peter Thiel's Founders Fund is a big investor in Anduril. Trae Stephens was also an early employee at Palantir. Palantir is a data intelligence company that Peter Thiel co-founded with someone named Alex Karp. I mentioned Garry Tan earlier. He was also an early employee at Palantir. Now, he has his own venture capital firm and he runs Y Combinator, but he has been involved in Act 17 events. So this non-profit and their event series was partly inspired by Peter Thiel and just the talk that he gave, but also it's a pretty tight network of really high-profile techies who also happen to be linked to these tech firms that make defense tech for the government who are involved in these talks. Michael Calore: It is such an interesting juxtaposition that these folks who are coming together to talk about their faith, and to talk about Christian values and promoting them in technology, are also building systems that support more. Zoë Schiffer: They don't see those things as in conflict, I don't think, from what I've read. Alex Karp has talked about similar themes. He has a new book out, and he said specifically that the fact that so many smart people are working on social media apps when they could be working on, he doesn't say the word good quests, but it definitely has that flavor, is in his mind a big problem. Lauren Goode: Say more about that, Zoe, because Trae talked a lot about this, too. The consultants at McKinsey and people who are making photo sharing apps are getting a really bad rap these days amongst this crowd. And I want to hear more about what Karp has been saying about that. Zoë Schiffer: Yeah. He talks a lot about how the idea that all societies are equal in his mind is simply not true. That we should think of the United States as unique and worthy of protecting and preserving in terms of our culture. And so, if you believe that working on national defense is a really important vocation, a calling even. Just while we're talking about these big name people and their relationship with religion, he was doing a Q & A with Barry Weiss at a university recently, and one of the students asked, "What could we do to help the working class?" And he answered with a bunch of different suggestions, but he said his number one suggestion was introducing them to religion, which I thought was quite interesting. Lauren Goode: It's almost like is there a tension here? Which is I what you're getting at Mike? Michael Calore: Yeah. Lauren Goode: In espousing your beliefs and your religion, but also using it as an interesting framework, where in some cases you're casting a moral judgment upon the jobs that people do in their day-to-day lives or to support their families, to live, basically, right? And it's particularly interesting when it's coming from these powerful figures in technology who happen to build tools and services and apps that are used by the federal government and defense, right? Because you might hold up one and say, "Well, that seems incongruous with doing good things for society." And what's interesting now is that these figures are expressing these ideological and religious beliefs and infusing the Silicon Valley hustle culture with them. Michael Calore: And we'll have to talk more about that culture, but first we need to take a break. So let's do that and come right back. Welcome back to Uncanny Valley. So Lauren, when you spoke to Michelle Stephens for your story, she mentioned that she had felt tokenized as a Christian in Silicon Valley. And Christianity was sort of a dirty word in the Valley for a long time. Right? Lauren Goode: I don't know if I would describe it so much as a dirty word as I would that I've heard from people that they maybe have felt uncomfortable before in the highly agnostic Silicon Valley, talking openly in professional settings about their faith. I spoke to one entrepreneur and venture capitalist at the event who said he's been working in the Valley since 2005, and he's always been Christian, but he never really felt like he could wear it on his sleeve before. And more recently, and he specifically said since the pandemic, he's been a little bit more open about it. And through that, has been pleasantly surprised to see other people say, "Oh, hey, I'm a Christian too." But I think Silicon Valley in general, you're right, has long been perceived as agnostic and even atheistic. Some of the data, however, shows that people are actually more rooted in religion that you would think, because Silicon like a big geographical place. It's not just the tech industry. Michael Calore: So, you're saying that this large contingent of humanity is not a monolith? Lauren Goode: Right, exactly. They're all wearing hoodies and Apple watches, but they're not all the same. Michael Calore: Is there any data about what the breakdown of Christians and non-Christians are in Silicon Valley? Lauren Goode: Yeah, that's a good question. And we have to zoom out a little bit, because the most recent data we have from Pew Research looks at religion in California and religion in the San Francisco metro area, but not, quote, unquote, "Silicon Valley specifically." In the San Francisco metro area, 46% of adults identify as Christian, and that's only down slightly from a decade ago. But an increasing number of people say they are religiously unaffiliated. That's at 42% compared with 35% a decade ago. And then in California, broadly, the number of people who identify with other religions, like Judaism and Islam, has largely remained the same over the past decade. So, in short, there are a fair number of Christians in the San Francisco metro area, but I would say the biggest sort of counterforce to that is agnosticism. And Zoe, I want to hear your thoughts on this too, because I know we've had some conversations about the alternative things that people do for self-discovery in Silicon Valley, this idea of like, "Well, I have a practice, like a meditation practice," or, "I have certain rituals that I do." And they find community in different places, but they're not necessarily rooted in religion with a capital R. Zoë Schiffer: Right. Yeah. I do think the kind of psychedelic experimentation, the Burning Man of it all can serve a similar function, giving people a sense of belonging, something outside of themselves that they're engaged with, and all of those things can be really meaningful. Michael Calore: And how do folks like the Stephens and the ACTS 17 crowd feel about these spiritual pursuits that are non-Christian, non-Western spiritual pursuits? Lauren Goode: The sense that I get is that these things are not mutually exclusive. You could go on your shroom trips or your workshops at Esalen, or I don't know, whatever other sort of- Michael Calore: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Lauren Goode: Yeah, we're all going, "Yes. Yes, yes." All of the agnostic practices. And that doesn't exclude you from having a religious practice that is rooted in historical texts or some sort of established God, or has an official church, I think. They're saying, at least initially, "Our arms are open. Anyone can come to these events." I'm willing to bet that of the 200 plus people who were there at the event that I went to, that some of them have probably dabbled in other rituals. Zoë Schiffer: Extracurricular activities. Lauren Goode: That's right. Michael Calore: They've been to the psytrance rave and taken the molly, and talked about their app. Lauren Goode: Sure. And talked about their app. Yeah, exactly. They're still talking about their apps. And I don't even think that the two should necessarily be conflated. It's just that those kinds of hobbies or practices tend to define a certain aspect of Silicon Valley culture, maybe more so than religion has. Zoë Schiffer: I think that that makes sense. There's a saying that I heard a lot in chatting with people who engage in more of the drug-type pursuits, that these substances will get you in the room, but they won't let you stay. So maybe religion lets you stay. Lauren Goode: Oh, that's kind of interesting. So it's like you do a guided ketamine trip and then you tumble down the block to the church in Dolores Park? Zoë Schiffer: Yes, and? Lauren Goode: Yes, and? Michael Calore: Yes, and? Lauren Goode: ACTS 17 doesn't seem to be pushing that away. What Michelle Stephens has said is that she feels like the industry just has too much emphasis on money and power and wealth, and these are my words, that those in a sense are the more powerful drugs, and the more concerning drugs. And that religion provides a different kind of avenue to success, and that success is that relationship you have with God. Zoë Schiffer: Alex Karp also mentioned something similar. He has said that, "You just need enough money to not have to think about money, and that the other pursuits are more important." Lauren Goode: Ah, right. So I'm assuming that means Alex Karp just has just enough money and he gave the rest of it away? Zoë Schiffer: Yeah, for sure. For sure. Michael Calore: Yeah, probably. Didn't ACTS 17 member, Garry Tan, Tweet about this? Lauren Goode: Yeah, he did last year, and he linked to the article that was written in The San Francisco Standard. He said, "LSD and shrooms won't fill the God-shaped hole in your heart. Guess what might?" I'm guessing the answer is God, right? Do I get an ice cream cone for guessing correctly? Right. Do people still do LSD? Michael Calore: Yes, people still do it. Zoë Schiffer: Yep. Lauren Goode: This is this how uncool I am, Uncanny Valley listeners. Michael Calore: There's nothing cool about drugs, Lauren. Lauren Goode: Okay. That's right, we were raised in the D.A.R.E. era. Michael Calore: Let's take another break and we'll come right back. Welcome back to Uncanny Valley. We talked earlier about the good quest versus the bad quest. It sounds like a sitcom, but it's central to the philosophy of how the Christians that we're talking about in Silicon Valley approach the work that they do. What is a good quest? Lauren Goode: Yeah, and this borrows from gaming culture too. When I think about a good quest, I think about playing Legends of Zelda or something. Michael Calore: Is it like a side quest is a bad quest? Lauren Goode: Yeah, right, exactly. You can get sidetracked by a side quest, I think is the idea. But Trae Stephens had written an article, along with an entrepreneur named Markie Wagner. It was published in 2022, and it created this framework for thinking about what you do for a living and whether or not it falls, and where it falls on the matrix. Is it a good quest? Is it a bad quest? Is it something that feels good but is really easy to do and isn't solving a big problem? Is it something that's hard but feels bad? Or is it something's hard to do but feels good because you're fixing big problems? And the way that Trae has described it, and also some of the peers in his network who we've talked about on this show, is that if you're just making another photo app, you're a brilliant engineer, but you're using your mind space and your talents to build a photo app, it's probably not a good quest. For whatever reason, he also took aim a few times at McKinsey Consultants during the event I went to. He just said, "They just sort of show up on your college campus and they pick some of the best and brightest minds and say, 'Go be a management consultant.'" And he considers that not to be a good quest. So Trae said during the ACTS 17 talk that I went to, "I'm literally an arms dealer." And when he said that, the crowd sort of laughed, and I think people were surprised by how candid he was about that, but that's what his company makes. They make weapons. And he said, "It's an unusual calling. It's not a calling for everyone, but it is my calling." And so he was sort of applying the language or the vernacular of a vocation to what he does for a living, and then sort of putting that on the good quest part of the matrix, because it's a hard thing to do and he's solving a hard problem. But he is also mentioned things like manufacturing and advances in medicine, and that there are other things that you can use your talents for that are considered good quests. Michael Calore: Right. If we boil down the idea of a good quest to something that is good for humanity and something that promotes Christian values, I think it's difficult for a lot of people to square the fact that you're doing good in the world with the fact that you're building systems of killing people. Right? Zoë Schiffer: But I think that's why the nationalism part is so important to this, because they're not saying, "We should be doing good for humanity." It seems like a lot of these people are saying, "We should be doing good for the United States of America." Lauren Goode: Right. My understanding, based on reading Alex Carp's very long essay in The Atlantic, is that he really believes we should be building up America as a technological republic. And I think that's what you're saying, Zoe. Zoë Schiffer: Yeah. Which again, to Mike's point, it might seem like these things aren't in conflict unless you have that nationalistic angle woven in. Lauren Goode: It's interesting, because when you think about the teachings of the Bible, you think about helping those less fortunate than you, helping the poor, welcoming people in, being of service. So you don't necessarily think about weapons. It may seem like it's incongruous with being of service. And I think that that is a very valid point to raise. My understanding of it, which is not a justification or an explanation for it, is in listening to Trae Steven's talk at the Act 17 event, it seemed like his interpretation of building God's kingdom on Earth was pretty literal. It was, "What has God asked us to do? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. We will build the kingdom." And that means literally building. It makes me think of the Silicon Valley ethos around, "It's time to build. Build, build, build. Make stuff." Michael Calore: Yeah. And for a lot of people who are not religious, what is central to that ethos is that, "We're doing good in the world." And maybe for a Christian with that ethos, it's centered around, "We're doing God's will by building these things, by making this our society." So, in other words, you can justify a lot of things by saying, "Well, it's okay because we have God on our side," to paraphrase Bob Dylan. That sounds like a slippery slope to me. Lauren Goode: I think you are absolutely right. And Trae Stephens himself said, "I think people can convince themselves that anything is a good quest." He was referring to someone who came up to him and was pitching an NFT marketplace. That, to him, was not a good quest. But yeah, I think that's the thing. You can convince yourself that what you're doing is good, even if you're harming people in some way. And just to pull it back even further, what is one of the things we've heard from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs for decades now? What are they going to do with the thing they're building? They're going to, what, change the world? Michael Calore: Change the world. Lauren Goode: Right. And they have, they continue to. It's not always in a good way, but who makes the moral judgment of what's good? Michael Calore: Justice has to play into it. People can feel like if they're delivering justice in the world, then that's a good thing. And maybe that's why weapons systems feel like a good quest, because it's like, "Well, there's good guys and there's bad guys, and it's pretty cut and dry. And if we can help eradicate the bad guys, then that's a good quest." So that, in a sense, is making the world a better place for people of that mindset. But then again, who is to decide who is the good guy, who is the bad guy? Also, I will just point out at this moment that I think Jesus Christ taught us that the best way to solve conflict is through nonviolent means. So, if Jesus was a pacifist, how would he feel about all of this? I don't know. I'm not Jesus. Lauren Goode: Sounds like you're ready to go back to church, Mike. Michael Calore: Maybe. I have a lot of questions. Maybe that's what church is all about. It's about answering these questions. Lauren Goode: Zoe, how does this stand out to you when you consider this in the context of your faith? Zoë Schiffer: I think it's really interesting. I don't know how. I'm still thinking through the Alex Karp arguments on all of this, but I think just from a basic standpoint, that having religion as one component of a larger kind of life can be really beneficial for people. And I think there is a problem with a lot of people feeling like their lives are meaningless, and so to the extent that this can help imbue their lives with meaning. Or prompt them to stop doing a job that feels soul-sucking and find something that is more of a good quest, something that's more meaningful, I think that's great. All of these things can be used in negative or positive ways, although that's clearly a judgment call, but I think there's potential for good. Lauren Goode: It'll be interesting to see whether or not this is something that really takes root in Silicon Valley, aside from hearing directly from pastors or people in the community, "Oh, it seems like there's growing interest, attendance is rising." Those are all certainly strong signs. But Silicon Valley has been going through this big shift over the past few years, politically, ideologically, artificially, if you want to throw artificial intelligence into that too. And I'm just so curious to see where religion dovetails with that. Michael Calore: Yeah. Yeah, and building God's kingdom, what that looks like- Lauren Goode: What that looks like. Michael Calore: ... for here. Lauren Goode: Is that AI? I mean, really. Michael Calore: Is our next God AI? Lauren Goode: I don't think she is. Zoë Schiffer: I see what you did there. I liked it. Lauren Goode: Thank you. Michael Calore: Thanks for listening to Uncanny Valley. If you like what you heard today, make sure to follow our show and rate it on your podcast app of choice. If you'd like to get in touch with us about any questions, comments, show suggestions, or suggestions for which churches we should attend, write to us at uncannyvalley@ Today's show is produced by Kyana Moghadam, Amar Lal at Macrosound mixed this episode. Paige Oamek fact checked this episode. Jordan Bell is our Executive Producer, Katie Drummond is WIRED's Global Editorial Director, and Chris Bannon is the Head of Global Audio.
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WIRED
14-03-2025
- Business
- WIRED
The Silicon Valley Christians Who Want to Build ‘Heaven on Earth'
Trae Stephens is a cofounder of the defense contractor Anduril. Photograph: Peyton Fulford A high-profile network of investors and founders in Silicon Valley are promoting a new moral vision for the tech industry, in which job choices and other decisions are guided not by the pursuit of wealth, but according to Christian values and Western cultural frameworks. At an event in San Francisco last week hosted in a former church, Trae Stephens, cofounder of the defense contractor Anduril and a partner at the Peter Thiel–led venture capital firm Founders Fund, characterized the idea as the pursuit of 'good quests' or careers that make the future better, a concept that he said has theological underpinnings. 'I'm literally an arms dealer,' Stephens said at one point, prompting laughter from the crowd of roughly 200 people, which included Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan. 'I don't think all of you should be arms dealers, but that's a pretty unique calling.' The hour-long discussion was part of a series of ticketed gatherings organized by ACTS 17 Collective, a nonprofit founded last year by Stephens' wife, health care startup executive Michelle Stephens. The group, whose name is an acronym that stands for 'Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society,' is on a mission to 'redefine success for those that define culture,' she says. In Michelle's view, tech workers mostly believe in arbitrary metrics of success, like money and power, leaving some of them feeling empty and hopeless. She wants them to believe instead that 'success can be defined as loving God, myself, and others.' People of all denominations—including atheists—are welcome at ACT 17 events. Last Thursday's event had low-key party vibes. Bartenders served beer and wine, a DJ was spinning light worship beats, and prayer booklets rested on a table. The idea for ACTS 17 and a speaker series on faith actually took root at a party, Michelle says. In November 2023, during a three-day 40th birthday party for Trae in New Mexico, Peter Thiel led a talk on miracles and forgiveness. Guests were intrigued. 'Folks were coming up to us saying things like, 'I didn't know Peter is a Christian,' 'How can you be gay and a billionaire and be Christian?', 'I didn't know you could be smart and a Christian,' and 'What can you give me to read or listen to learn more?'' Michelle says. The Stephens have long-standing connections to Thiel. In addition to helping start Anduril and working at Founders Fund, Trae was also an early employee at data intelligence firm Palantir, a company cofounded by Thiel that develops data intelligence tools used by the US military. At the ACTS 17 last Thursday, Trae appeared to echo a number of ideas Thiel has also espoused about technology and Christianity. He emphasized that jobs outside the church can be sacred, citing Martin Luther's work during the Protestant Reformation. 'The roles that we're called into are not only important and valuable on a personal level, but it's also critical to carry out God's command to bring his kingdom to Earth as it is in heaven,' Trae said. Thiel made nearly identical comments in a 2015 essay arguing that technological progress should be accelerated. Science and technology, he wrote, are natural allies of 'Judeo-Western optimism,' especially if 'we remain open to an eschatological frame in which God works through us in building the kingdom of heaven today, here on Earth.' But what do Thiel, Trae Stephens, and other powerful tech figures actually mean when they say it's possible to build a Christian heaven on this planet? For Trae, the idea is practically literal, and happens through his concept of 'good quests,' first outlined in an article cowritten with entrepreneur Markie Wagner in 2022. In the article, Trae and Wagner argued that Silicon Valley was in a 'crisis of nonsense.' Pastimes such as 'exiting your first startup only to enter venture capital,' 'armchair philosophizing on Twitter,' and 'yachting between emails in de facto retirement at age 35' are examples of bad quests. Good quests, on the other hand, tackle massively hard and complex problems, and result in advancements in manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and the extension of human lifespans. After the essay came out, Trae said a man approached him and shared that he was trying to solve an important problem by building an NFT marketplace. That right there, Trae told the audience at the ACTS 17 event, is an example of a bad quest. 'The human brain can convince you anything you're doing is a good quest,' he said. Trae, who ran President Donald Trump's defense transition team during his first term, used the same good versus bad quests frame to explain why he recently turned down the opportunity to serve as US defense secretary. Very few things in life should be able to take you away from your 'yes,' or your good quest, Trae explained. 'I think the reason for my 'no' was understanding what my 'yes' was,' he said. Alex Karp, the chief executive of Palantir, recently criticized what he similarly described as a moral crisis in the tech industry, decrying the fact that ample capital and 'legions of talented engineers' were wasted 'merely to build photo-sharing apps and chat interfaces for the modern consumer.' Karp went on to say that the 'prevailing agnosticism' of the modern era has 'paved the way for the market to fill the gap.' The agnosticism Karp refers to is cultural, rather than spiritual. But like Trae Stephens, he believes the tech sector has been too focused on solving trivial problems and ignoring the most pressing issues of society. The problem, Karp argued, could be solved by rebuilding the United States from the ground up as a technological republic. (Presumably, that would include Palantir selling its technology to the government.) The Bay Area, where Silicon Valley is nested, has long been a haven for progressive values and is often perceived to be largely agnostic or atheistic. Its prevailing rich-hippie vibes are well documented, with tech workers turning to biohacking, psychedelics, Burning Man, and Esalen retreats as forms of introspection and self-discovery. Those pastimes aren't likely to wane in popularity anytime soon, but for some people, the ACTS 17 Collective presents an alternative community, one combining tech startup culture with fervent faith. 'I've worked in Silicon Valley since 2005, and my initial impression was that it was anti-Valley to talk about religion and belief systems,' Nate Williams, a startup entrepreneur and investor who attended the event last week, told WIRED afterward. 'But now it's becoming more normalized to wear it on your sleeve,' he says, a trend he attributes partly to people seeking community after the pandemic. At some moments during the event, the twin themes of work and religion were so commingled that it was hard to make a distinction between the two: Is work the new religion, as it has been and ever shall be in Silicon Valley? Or does religion offer a different framework for how people should think about what constitutes meaningful work? 'When you get into the startup world—there are some things in life you can be casual about, but probably work is not something you can be casual about and have success, do you agree?' Ben Pilgreen, founding pastor of the nondenominational Christian Epic Church in San Francisco and the Stephens' pastor, said to the crowd. 'The themes raised tonight don't seem to be something you can be casual about.' (Epic Church's attendance has been steadily rising over the past several months, Pilgreen said in a recent interview with the SF Standard.) After the talk, attendees swarmed the Stephens couple, thanking them for the discussion and asking questions about future events. One attendee told WIRED he's now interested in visiting Pilgreen's Epic Church and attending its dinner series, which, like the house of worship, has a startup-worthy name: Alpha.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What the fall of DEI means for religion
This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night. President Donald Trump's return to the White House has sparked changes to DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs across the country. Trump administration officials have done away with DEI initiatives in government agencies, and many leaders in the private sector have followed their lead. These changes have affected not just race- and ethnicity-based programs and clubs, but also religion-related employee resource groups. For example, federal agencies no longer have faith-based ERGs, because they were shut down amid the DEI program purge, according to Brian Grim, the founding president of the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation. Something similar played out in recent years on college campuses that shuttered DEI offices, as I previously reported for the Deseret News. Interfaith organizations lost funding and staff members due to changes that were generally thought to be focused on race, sexuality and gender. Grim has been tracking this trend closely, since he's an advocate for faith-based initiatives in workplaces. He said that most public companies he works with are continuing to support faith-oriented employee resource groups even as they fall out of favor in Washington. However, some companies are making adjustments to their system of employee groups, as recent reporting from Fast Company makes clear. Adjustments include changing the names of resource groups and reframing the mission of the groups to be more about professional advancement than personal connection. Federal judge blocks executive order on transgender minors 27 religious organizations unite to sue Trump administration Why tension between the Trump administration and Catholic Church is ratcheting up The Super Bowl commercial you need to show to your dad The ACTS 17 Collective is a nondenominational nonprofit that's working to spark conversations about religion and spirituality in Silicon Valley. It was launched last year by Michelle Stephens, who is personally and professionally connected to high-profile tech investors like Peter Thiel, according to The New York Times. At ACTS 17 events, attendees can access both professional and spiritual benefits. They connect with Silicon Valley stars while learning new ways to connect with God. Recent talks have been about leaning on faith to make career decisions and the relationship between artificial intelligence and religion. The name of the group, ACTS 17, refers to a chapter in the Bible that recounts the apostle Paul's ministry to wealthy Greeks. It's also an acronym for the phrase 'Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society,' the Times reported. Stephens told the Times that she knows the focus of the group is unique, but added that wealthy tech workers can benefit from faith just as much as anyone else. 'We were always taught as Christians to serve the meek, the lowly, the marginalized,' she said. 'I think we've realized that, if anything, the rich, the wealthy, the powerful need Jesus just as much.' Pew Research Center has released a large new survey to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes a look at how the pandemic did — and didn't — change American religious life. Ahead of Valentine's Day, I stumbled onto a delightful survey from YouGov about common pieces of relationship advice. Researchers asked Americans if they thought the various tips were actually true and found that fully 92% of respondents believe that 'actions speak louder than words.' My friend John Hawthorne's new book on the past and future of Christian colleges and universities came out last week. I'm looking forward to digging into 'The Fearless Christian University.' You don't need to be a BYU fan to enjoy BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe's elaborate Halloween costumes. I wrote about his famous outfits after he announced his retirement last week. If you're a fan of celebrity memoirs, I'd encourage you to check out 'Be Ready When the Luck Happens' by Ina Garten. I knew next to nothing about the 'Barefoot Contessa' when I starting read, but really enjoyed learning about her professional journey and enduring love of food.
New York Times
11-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Seeking God, or Peter Thiel, in Silicon Valley
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. In October, the nonprofit hosted another talk at Mr. Tan's home, this time with Dr. Francis S. Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, who has long talked about how he reconciles science with his Christian faith. Ms. Stephens is planning more events in San Francisco, as well as one in Los Angeles, and has reached out to potential speakers like Pat Gelsinger, the former chief executive of Intel, as well as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an activist and Muslim turned critic of Islam who converted to Christianity. 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. The Bay Area is one of the least churchgoing parts of America, where people have been more apt to meet their spiritual longing with meditation, ayahuasca, intermittent fasting or cold plunges. An episode of the HBO show 'Silicon Valley' once satirized this with a gay entrepreneur aghast at being 'outed' as Christian. In a place built on stretching human limitations, where people exert dominion over everything from fertility to outer space, even turning mortality into a business opportunity, the divine has seemed, to some, obsolete. Mr. Thiel has long been an exception to the atheism and agnosticism of his peers. He has said his Christian faith is at the center of his worldview, which he expounds upon with a heterodox approach — fusing references to Scripture and conservative political theory, parsing ancient signs and wonders for their connection to tech wonders today. In recent podcast interviews, he draws on biblical prophesies to warn of an Antichrist who will promise safety from existential threats like artificial intelligence and nuclear war but bring something much worse: one-world government. (Mr. Thiel declined to be interviewed through Ms. Stephens; his spokesperson did not return an email.) Other tech and entertainment gurus also seem to be embracing religion. Last year, Joe Rogan talked about the importance of faith in multiple podcast episodes, saying he had at times been 'pretty atheist' but became more spiritual after the death of his grandfather. 'As time rolls on, people are going to understand the need to have some sort of divine structure,' Mr. Rogan said in an episode last February. 'A lot of very intelligent people, they dismiss all the positive aspects of religion.' Elon Musk, in a recent interview with Jordan Peterson, a psychologist who has become a sort of manosphere guru, said he was a 'big believer in the principles of Christianity.' Mr. Musk summed this up in a ditty on X: 'Atheism left an empty space, secular religion took its place,' he wrote. 'Maybe religion's not so bad to keep you from being sad.' ACTS 17, which is nondenominational, aims to give people an easy, approachable introduction to religious belief. Its website deploys the hallmarks of millennial direct-to-consumer branding, featuring pretty people in puffy jackets talking and smiling alongside floating sans serif promises about 'redefining success for those who define culture.' If religious rituals offer up old ways of muddling through newly tumultuous times, it's unsurprising that they're resurging now in Silicon Valley, which seems to be going through its own cycle of rebirth. Pride-themed trivia nights and Black History Month playlists have given way to tech moguls feting President Trump, decrying the snowflakery of their young workers and crusading for a return to a bygone era of higher birthrates. This political flip has prompted some skepticism about the new religiosity in the tech community, with even some Christian thinkers questioning whether some of it might be more self-serving than sincere. 'When you look at the Bible, it's all about supporting the poor, helping the other, inviting the stranger in,' said Anne Foerst, a theologian and computer scientist at St. Bonaventure University in New York and the author of the book 'God in the Machine.' 'There's a certain attitude with some evangelicals that when you accept Jesus as your savior you are saved,' she continued. 'Then you don't have to worry — about drone building, rejecting foreigners, rejecting wokeness, all that sort of stuff.' But many Bay Area clergy make the case that theology and Scripture offer something vital to people whose technological work touches on white-hot ethical and existential questions. 'We really feel a burden to help people consider how the model of Christ might help them think about how they change technology,' said Paul Taylor, an Oracle employee turned pastor who leads the Bay Area Center for Faith, Work & Tech, another group helping to bring religion to technologists. 'How do they think about technology for the sake of the good of the world, for the sake of people who might not have a voice?' With ACTS 17, Ms. Stephens's mission seems more tactical, less pointed. Start-up and tech workers are used to kneeling before the powers of venture capital and Big Tech. Why not get them bowing also to God? Token Christians If an A.I. model were to conjure an image of a Silicon Valley power couple, it might resemble Mr. and Ms. Stephens. They live in a scenic corner of San Francisco where they enjoy gathering the 'kings and queens' of local culture; both took topics that had consumed them and spun them into start-up endeavors, in Ms. Stephens's case that being religious belief. Mr. Stephens grew up as the grandson of a Southern Baptist pastor in a small Ohio town. Ms. Stephens was raised in a Roman Catholic family in the suburbs of Philadelphia, with a father who restored and renovated churches. The two met at Georgetown University and bonded over the role that faith played in their lives. They took long walks during which they talked about the Bible and the differences in their religious practice — why Ms. Stephens prayed to the Virgin Mary, for instance, and Mr. Stephens directly to God. After college, Mr. Stephens worked as a computational linguist for U.S. intelligence services and Ms. Stephens as a pediatric intensive care unit nurse. In 2008, Mr. Stephens got an offer to join Palantir, now a data analytics behemoth. Mr. Stephens ascended into the ranks of the tech elite. In 2013, he was invited by Mr. Thiel, who financed Palantir, to become a principal at his venture firm, Founders Fund, and moved with his family to San Francisco. He helped start Anduril, which makes autonomous drones and underwater vessels and is set to receive a round of funding valuing it at $28 billion. (Founders Fund has backed Anduril since its start.) Ms. Stephens started a digital health care company. Along the way, they had two sons, 'the munchkins,' as Mr. Stephens called them. Throughout this period, they held on to their faith, which sometimes set them apart in the Bay Area social scene. It was their first time living somewhere where churchgoing wasn't the norm, Ms. Stephens recalled, and where they sometimes felt like the token Christians in the room. That desire to share their beliefs planted the seed for ACTS 17. Each event the nonprofit holds will feature a conversation with some high-profile person whom the audience might not know as a Christian. The talks so far have drawn devoted, lapsed and non-Christian audiences. Tickets go for $50, and attendees are recruited by word of mouth and on social media. 'After an ACTS 17 event, all we would like is for folks in attendance to take a next step in their faith journey,' Ms. Stephens said. 'Maybe they'd never heard of Jesus, and a next step is reading the Bible.' It is a gentle introduction to Jesus, without the Styrofoam coffee cups and humdrum sermons that some nonbelievers associate with church. In October, the talk with Dr. Collins was themed 'Code & Cosmos,' and aptly named cocktails (Mango-Orange Cosmos) were provided. There were selfies. There were name tags. There was the echo of bygone buoyant tech happy hours, when the frosé was on tap and the cheese boards were bountiful. And for the 20-somethings and 30-somethings in attendance, the potential for advancement as well as enlightenment. As the ACTS 17 website promised in pitch deck-ese: 'These intimate gatherings promote engaging discussions and valuable connections that can enhance your career.' The idea that people go to ACTS 17 jostling for connection to its speakers and founders doesn't worry Ms. Stephens. 'Maybe they show up to initially hear from a speaker and network,' she said. 'Then the surprise and delight is — 'Oh, I also, in this environment, get to explore matters of faith.'' In November, ACTS 17 hosted two events in the United Arab Emirates. Ms. Stephens explained that after her San Francisco events, she had received invitations to take ACTS 17 to other American cities, but she said entrepreneurs in the Emirates had been more persistent (and Mr. Stephens had a longstanding professional interest in the Middle East). So the couple flew to Abu Dhabi and Dubai and gave two talks: one on how Christian faith can steer career planning, another on how God shapes their views of artificial intelligence and defense. In Abu Dhabi, a member of the audience asked Mr. Stephens after the event what he thought about the social stigma around working in defense technology. As recently as 2018, Google faced protests from thousands of employees over its efforts to use artificial intelligence to help the Pentagon target drone attacks. 'There are a lot of easier ways to build start-ups than what we're doing at Anduril,' Mr. Stephens said during a Zoom follow-up conversation with people who had participated in the event. 'We're doing it because we believe it's just and moral.' He drew a parallel between his work and that of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the creation of the atomic bomb and who famously recalled that after the first nuclear test, the words of scripture from the Bhagavad Gita came to him: 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.' 'That was accepting the fate of the divine in the execution of justice,' Mr. Stephens added. 'There's no love of violence.' Mr. Stephens told the Zoom audience that entrepreneurs often came to him for career advice when they felt they were 'wandering in the desert,' lonely and spiritually unfulfilled. He suggests they adopt a matrix he created, which puts jobs into four categories: bad and easy (making mindless iPhone games), bad and hard (creating a new e-cigarette), easy and good (building encrypted messaging services), hard and good ('Colony on Mars'). Anduril, according to Mr. Stephens, falls into that latter category: work that is complex and good, situated where God is pointing him, he said. (The company is forming a consortium with other technology groups to bid for defense contracts, and Mr. Stephens was previously under consideration for a role in Mr. Trump's Pentagon.) Ms. Stephens is quick to say ACTS 17 has 'no political affiliation.' 'There's no agenda,' she said. 'There's no specific movement happening here. We are just creating a space for people to explore those big questions that they just aren't finding solutions to in the current world, in the current social and societal order.' She added that the group didn't intend to discuss political issues, though she realizes they can't be entirely avoided. 'There's nothing we guide the moderator to ask or not ask — everything is fair game,' she said. 'We ask God to guide the moderators and speakers.' Still politics, or at least a whiff of it, cannot be ignored when Mr. Thiel is part of the group's origin story. An outspoken libertarian, Mr. Thiel was an early supporter of Mr. Trump in 2016, and Vice President JD Vance is among his acolytes. He seems also to recognize the strength that comes from an alliance between political and religious conservatives. 'The Reagan coalition was somehow the free market libertarians, the defense hawks and the social conservatives,' he told the economist Tyler Cowan in a recent interview. 'What does the millionaire, and the general and the priest — what do they actually have in common?' He continued: 'Yet the coalition worked incredibly well, and the answer I submit that they have in common is they're anti-communist, and they have a common enemy.' Imitation as a form of faith It was the first Sunday of 2025 and Epic Church, in downtown San Francisco, was jammed. Mr. Stephens went downstairs to drop the couple's 9- and 11-year-old sons at a children's service. Ms. Stephens doled out hugs to other churchgoers. Then the two took their seats in the second row of the converted industrial space where Epic holds services. Epic Church is nondenominational and got support from an evangelical Dallas-based network that places churches in 'spiritually hard to reach' parts of the United States. Since it began weekly services in San Francisco in 2011, Epic has ballooned, drawing roughly 1,000 people — including some of the city's poorest along with its tech wealth — every Sunday. It now has its own building: $12 million of office space. Ben Pilgreen, Epic's pastor, preaches a message that has resonated with San Francisco locals: He believes that any job someone does — ad sales, software engineering, H.R. — can be sacred. It's not just clergy doing the Lord's work. This is an appealing notion to those members of his congregation who want to believe the time they're pouring into their careers has a higher purpose. 'If you've been called to be a graphic designer,' Mr. Pilgreen said, 'that's a sacred vocation.' Mr. Stephens and Ms. Stephens became members of the church shortly after moving to San Francisco. It was in the Epic community that they sharpened their own thinking of how Christian faith should inform their Silicon Valley endeavors. For four years, until the end of 2021, they hosted a Faith and Work group, which met Tuesday mornings and discussed ways religion was relevant to their professional lives. Mr. Thiel and Mr. Tan were some of the high-profile guests who dropped in. (The group is starting up again this year.) This Stephens-led small group sometimes studied the work of René Girard, a literary theorist who has become Silicon Valley's favorite theologian. Mr. Girard's name is invoked by Mr. Thiel in podcast interviews, by Mr. Stephens at ACTS 17 events and by Mr. Vance. Mr. Girard, who died in 2015, was also a mentor to Mr. Thiel at Stanford. Mr. Girard's books offer a view of religion that fits tidily into the belief systems of Silicon Valley. He theorized that all desire is mimetic — we want what other people want — and one person who broke that cycle of rivalry was Jesus Christ. Interpreting his work, readers conclude that a way to transcend petty desires is to convert to Christianity and try to imitate Christ. Some of his readers and critics, like the historian John Ganz, say Mr. Girard frames religion as an antidote to the sorts of vices that are now exacerbated by social media: Is Instagram making you jealous of other people? No problem; keep scrolling, but remember you should only want to be like Christ. Another explanation for Mr. Girard's growing influence is mimesis itself. People want to mimic Mr. Thiel. As Augustus Doricko, a Christian start-up founder, put it: 'Peter Thiel could crown a circus clown his favorite philosopher and everyone would trip over themselves trying to get face time with the circus clown.' After the first ACTS 17 event, an attendee approached Ms. Stephens and said he was shaken by the profession of faith from Mr. Thiel, whom he called a professional 'idol': If Mr. Thiel was worshiping Jesus, perhaps he should be doing the same.
