In the history of the world, the wholesale rejections of the supernatural is a quirk of Western secularism. At the same time, it will not ultimately survive the human longing for transcendence and communion with the supernatural, no matter how far technology advances.
In an age so defined by consumer choice and product reviews, it has become intuitive to embrace the “try before you buy” motto in most areas of life. For some decisions, however, those rules simply do not work. A growing body of research suggests that romantic relationships should not be approached in the same way as buying a new car or choosing a cellphone provider.
Assisted suicide, especially when extended to those most in need of compassion and care, subverts our collective understanding of human value. It subjects this value to feelings, both our own and (increasingly) that of medical professionals and government officials. When made available to cases of mental illness, assisted suicide undermines the battle a patient wages on their inner demons and thwarts efforts to recovery. In other words, it is the exact opposite of “care.”
This is yet another way that physician-assisted suicide or “medical aid in dying” corrupts medicine. Vulnerable people in most need of help will be the victims of these bad practices. For their sake, and for future generations who will inherit the world that we are unmaking, we must find a better way.
According to The Wall Street Journal, recent polling data shows a “Surprising surge of faith among young people.” As columnist Clare Ansberry wrote, “About one-third of 18-to-25-year-olds say they believe—more than doubt—the existence of a higher power, up from about one quarter in 2021, according to a recent survey of young adults.”
This study corresponds with others that have offered surprising insights about Generation Z. One Barna study found that, globally, 52% of teenagers today identify as Christian, and 6 in 10 are motivated to know more about Jesus. In the U.S. and Canada, Barna concluded, teens feel less negatively about sharing their faith than Millennials do, with 81% rejecting the statement that “if someone disagrees with you, it means they’re judging you.”
Persecuted church bodies are not merely to be objects of our mercy and care. When they suffer, we suffer. They are our fellow laborers and members of the same Body. We may not be able to share in their suffering, but we do have the honor of learning from their struggles. Our trials, at present, are not as extreme or dramatic as theirs. However, the wisdom they offer may well be the insight we will need to face down the challenges of our own times and the times that may come. Let us continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in China and elsewhere, aiding them however and whenever we can. Let us be grateful for the gifts of their hard-earned wisdom.
God’s Word makes plain that His plan involves not just the saving of souls but the restoration of His creation. His efforts in various times and places in history are according to this redemptive plan. The final chapters of Revelation culminate in a New Heaven and a New Earth, a restored creation fully realized in the return of Christ. The garden home of Adam and Eve in Genesis is renewed in the garden city of Revelation, bringing to fruition Christ’s command for us to pray that God’s Kingdom come, “on Earth as it is in heaven.”
A 2019 paper in World Psychiatry summarized that divorce and separation are associated with higher risk of academic difficulties, lower grades, higher school dropout rate, conduct and substance use problems, and depression. Children of divorced parents are also “more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, live in poverty, and experience their own family instability.” They are also more likely to have mental health struggles and to be institutionalized for mental health struggles.
Recently, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt launched a Substack newsletter called After Babel to explore the cultural effects of social media which, he says, reminds him of the biblical account of the tower of Babel. Recorded in Genesis, the project seemed like a good idea at first but, in the end, “everything you built together has crumbled, and you can’t even talk together or work together to restore it.”
Haidt is convinced, as are others, that social media has fueled the exploding mental health crisis among teenagers, especially among adolescent girls.
Recently, a number of prominent tech executives, including Elon Musk, signed an open letter urging a 6-month pause on all AI research. That was not enough for AI theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky. In an opinion piece for TIME magazine, he argued that “We Need to Shut It All Down,” and he didn’t mince his words:
Many researchers steeped in these issues, including myself, expect that the most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI… is that literally everyone on Earth will die. Not as in “maybe possibly some remote chance,” but as in “that is the obvious thing that would happen.”
The story behind “Heart by Max” begins during the lockdown days of COVID-19.
