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News, Politics

Alberta planning to enshrine right to refuse vaccinations

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced in late September that her government is planning to amend and strengthen the Alberta Bill of Rights when the Alberta legislature sits again later this fall. As she explained via a video message:

“As our society evolves, so too must our laws, to ensure our rights and freedoms are properly protected in an ever-changing world.”

Smith’s first proposed change is to ensure that:

“…every individual in our province who has the mental capacity to do so, will have the right to decide whether or not to receive a vaccination or other medical procedure.”

But the revisions aren’t limited to vaccinations. The changes will also strengthen property rights to ensure that Albertans can’t be deprived of their property without due process and just compensation. And they also include a plan to further affirm the rights of legal and responsible firearm owners. As the premier declared:

“In my view, these amendments to the Bill of Rights are not just legal changes. They are a reaffirmation of the values that make Alberta one of the freest jurisdictions on earth.”

However, some are questioning the motives and the real impact of such changes. Mount Royal University professor Lori Williams argued that “she’s clearly playing to in the hopes that they will not call her leadership into question in the leadership review at the beginning of November.”

The Alberta Bill of Rights was passed in 1972 and updated in 1980 and 2000. Unlike the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it isn’t a constitutional document, so it is easily alterable. That means that even while other bills and policies in the province are supposed to align with the Alberta Bill of Rights, the legislature can as easily override the Bill of Rights as they can amend it.

This highlights the differences between the rights God gives vs. rights from the State. As well motivated as the premier’s efforts might be, if the New Democrats win the next election, they could quickly take these new “rights” away. In contrast, God grants irrevocable rights via the prohibitions in His 10 Commandments – for example, by banning murder and theft He gives a right to life and property. These rights may still be violated by sinful man, but they can never be erased.

Both the Alberta Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter pay lip service to this truth by recognizing in their preambles that the rights they seek to recognize are founded on the supremacy of God.

Picture credit: Screenshot from a Sept. 24 post to x.com/ABDanielleSmith

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Dying Well

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Articles, Family, Movie Reviews

A century of cinema for your family

20+ great films for you and your kids to time travel through the last 100 years ***** While most other art forms have been around for centuries and millennia, “motion pictures” have only existed for just over a century. Back in March of 1895, two Frenchmen, the Lumière brothers, had a public screening of their black and white, silent, 46-second-long film Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory. And while that was as boring as it sounds, improvements started coming fast and frequently – later that same year they showed a 40-second comedy of sorts, The Tables Turned on the Gardener. The title character is using a hose to water his plants and when the water pressure drops, he looks down his hose to find out why. And that’s when the boy who’d been stepping on his hose lets the water resume – a first go at cinematic slapstick. In the decades that followed we got plot, then color, and eventually sound. Cinema brought different art forms together – writing, acting, costuming, cinematography, music, construction, and more – and it took filmmakers about a quarter century to really figure out how to gel them all. So it isn’t until the 1920s that we get films that begin to stand the test of time, and can entertain still. Now it’s never been that easy to find quality movies for kids, and even less so when you have Christian standards for what your family watches. But if you expand your choices beyond what’s come out in the past year, it does get a little easier. And if you want to mix some education along with your entertainment, then now might be a great time to introduce your kids to great movies of the past. You can show them the ways the world has changed and the ways it hasn’t, and they can learn that newer is not always better! To make it easy to do, we’ve created a list of suggestions for you from movies we’ve previously reviewed. Travel backwards in time from today to the 1920s to see a hundred years of cinema history. And by heading backward one movie at a time, you can slowly get your children used to the very different pace and look of the older movies. All the films that follow are linked to their longer reviews, so if there are any cautions, you can see what they are by clicking the titles. 2020s Paw Patrol: the Movie Who hasn’t heard of Paw Patrol by now? But rest assured you don’t have to have watched the show to enjoy the movie. When an incompetent mayor runs amok in Adventure City, the pups have to help clean up the chaos. This film is good old-fashioned fun. The Super Mario Bros. Movie If your kids are a bit older, they might enjoy this fun romp through the world of Mario Bros. Mario and his brother Luigi get sucked into a strange and colorful land, where Mario has to rescue everyone from the dreadful Bowser. 2010s Tangled This retelling of Rapunzel is a favorite of many. Rapunzel has been told she needs to stay in the tower to stay safe, but when she meets a thief named Flynn, she gets an opportunity to leave and explore the wider world. A highlight is her versatile hair and all the ways she uses it to help her and Flynn get out of tight situations! The Peanuts Movie This movie brings in all the silly fun of the comic and leaves out some of the melancholy. Charlie Brown tries a variety of activities to impress the Little Red-Haired Girl, and is helped out by his friends. Will he succeed? 2000s Pollyanna Orphaned Pollyanna teaches her aunt and neighbors about the “Glad Game” her father taught her – this game involves striving to find something to be glad about in even the most difficult situations. Throughout the movie, things happen that make it very hard for her to stay “glad” – will Pollyanna stop playing her game? Chicken Run This one is for teens and maybe tweens but not younger – a clever claymation homage to the World War II prisoner escape genre, this takes place on a chicken farm, with the hens working together to plan a mass exodus. But they'll have to get past the Nazi guards farmer and his dogs first. This might be more for dads and their lads, but kids with an interest in World War II history should appreciate this. 1990s Little Women Four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, come together through hard times their family experiences, and do their best to grow up into good young women. Toy Story All of the Toy Story movies are worth watching, but the first one came out all the way back in 1995, making it a great fit for the 1990s. Andy’s toys – Woody, Mr. Potato Head, Little Bo Peep, and more – all come to life when no people are around. Then a new toy, Buzz Lightyear, arrives to make Woody jealous. Both adults, and children as young as 12, can really appreciate this one (a bully and his initially creepy toys might be too much for the younger crowd). 1980s An American Tail Animated films are often assumed to be “just” for children, but the best of them use the art form to showcase stories for all ages – which means this could be a great film for the whole family! An American Tail explores the story of immigration, which is something many of us are familiar with as a result of our own family histories with immigration. The Fox and the Hound A fox and a hound meet and become the best of friends... but as they grow up, will their friendship last? They’re told foxes and hounds are natural enemies. This is a classic film with strong lessons about racism contained in it. 1970s The Hobbit While the live-action Hobbit trilogy hit big screens in the 2010s, the initial animated version came out in 1977. It has a lot to offer, and is not split into three parts! The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Who doesn’t love Winnie the Pooh? This movie contains several classic Pooh stories, and is a perfect way to introduce children to Pooh and his friends. 1960s The Incredible Journey Another classic movie based on a book. In this story, two dogs and a cat have to find their way back to their family, who are over 200 miles away. Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates A movie set in the Netherlands! Young Hans has to support his family, but he struggles to afford both food for them all, and medicine for his father. So he enters a 26-mile skating race with a big prize. Will he win? 1950s Jack and the Beanstalk Abbott and Costello, the well-known comedy duo from the 40s and 50s, star in this version of Jack and the Beanstalk. It’s slapstick, so some parental explanation might be needed for kids to get the jokes and comic physical humor, but kids will surely enjoy all the zany antics. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea A mysterious “sea monster” is destroying ships in the ocean, and three men are sent out to discover what it is, and stop it. It turns out not to be a sea creature, but a submarine! The three of them are taken aboard and start to learn all about its mysterious captain... 1940s My Friend Flicka A classic story of the love between a boy and his horse – a wild colt who needs to be tamed, and a boy who daydreams his way through school. Maybe they can both help each other grow up. A few cautions: for children who love horses, the death of a horse in this movie might be a tough watch, and the pace of this movie is slower, especially by modern movie standards. Lassie Come Home A boy is forced to sell his beloved and loyal dog Lassie when his family can’t afford to feed her anymore. Lassie’s new owner takes her to Scotland, but she is determined to find her way home, and goes through some serious adventures on her long journey. 1930s The Prince and the Pauper Stories about switched identities are fun, and this is one of the classic versions. A poor boy and a prince realize they look almost identical, and after they switch clothes they’re both mistaken for the wrong boy. Will the wrong boy end up crowned king? This is a black-and-white film, and is slower paced, but many children 9 and up will enjoy it. The Adventures of Robin Hood This film is consistently mentioned as the classic version of Robin Hood on screen, which went on to influence all the others. No dark and gritty retellings of Robin here! Our review lists four reasons you’ll never find a better version than this one. 1920s Sherlock Jr. We’re getting into movies old enough that some children will find them very, very different from modern movies... that said, most children do enjoy the silent films that are jam-packed with action! This could be a great opportunity to expand their viewing – and yours. Our first recommendation for silent films is Sherlock Jr., which is also free online if you click the title. Seven Chances Another silent film! Jimmie has seven chances to find someone to marry that day, in order to fulfill the conditions to inherit his grandfather’s fortune. Conclusion And that, then, is a collection of 22 films covering just over a century of cinema. If you do end up working your way through this list with your family, please let us know your thoughts, especially on the older ones. What were your favorites? We hope you find some gems! To find even more film recommendations, including many films for younger children, be sure to check out our list of 200+ movies King David might watch....

News

Liberal MP reminds journalist who holds the purse strings

Ongoing funding of Canada’s media by the federal Liberal government appears to be emboldening some government officials to demand favorable reporting. On Sept. 7, Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed weighed in on a tweet made the previous day by Terry Newman, a senior editor at the National Post. Newman’s tweet on X was critical of immigration minister Marc Miller specifically and the Liberal government overall, and that didn’t sit well with Noormohamed who replied with his own public post: “Your paper wouldn’t be in business were it not for the subsidies that the government that you hate put in place....” Newman was quick on the draw. “Okay. You win. You pay my salary,” she replied. “I’ll stop criticizing your government now. Please don’t fire me.” Mr. Noormohamed is well aware of the National Post’s funding, since he sat on the “National Forum on the Media” parliamentary committee this summer where he argued that since reporters were taking government money and were still remaining critical of the government, clearly such funding wasn’t a problem. However, now, only a couple months later, he is the one making what appears to be an implicit threat to a journalist who dares challenge his government. For years now the Liberal government has been channeling hundreds of millions of dollars to media outlets that meet their criteria. “We’re pretty close, by my estimation, to a 50 percent wage subsidy on journalist salaries up to $85,000 per year,” noted Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of The Hub, a relatively new non-profit media organization that has been very intentional about not taking government funding. A recent poll has found that more Canadians say “a lot of the news is just government propaganda” than “the news is fair and transparent.” And almost twice as many respondents said “I don’t think I get the truth from mainstream news in Canada,” as said “I get the truth from the news.” Media outlets have been struggling financially in recent years as the public is increasingly unwilling to pay for a publication, relying instead on social media and other online content to stay informed. The federal government stepped in to help with direct funding, including a $595 million dollar bailout and a “Special Measures for Journalism” fund that provides tens of millions in cash to numerous publications each year. But one of the inevitable consequences of a government-funded media is that it makes it difficult for the public to trust that such media is independent of the government, and able to report objectively about the government’s decisions....

News

Saturday Selections – September 14, 2024

Why not raise the minimum wage to $100? Transgender thinking has infected economics too, with politicians applying the same wishes-can-reshape-reality thinking as they hike the minimum wage. They've decided if they say workers are worth $15 a hour, then they will be. But if such wishing really did make it so, why not hike it to $25 an hour? Or $50? Or as this video (from 7 years back) asks, why not $100? It's because in the real world, the minimum wage is actually an employment ban on anyone who can't bring that amount of value to their employer. Inexperienced workers, handicapped workers, or elderly workers who might work at a slower gear could all be barred from employment. And if we made the minimum wage $100 an hour, that would ban a lot of people. But why is it okay when we ban smaller numbers of people at $15 a hour? And how did it become the government's role to decide not simply whether or not people should be allowed to offer their labor at a lower rate, but whether they should be allowed to work at all? Why did God create viruses and bacteria? While we don't understand all that bacteria and viruses might have done before the Fall into sin, some of their current useful functions give us some clues. 4 arguments against doctor-assisted murder These are 4 really good arguments to stack on top of the foundational truth that our lives are given by God, and therefore are not our own to dispose of as we would. As He has said, don't murder. Psychology of marriage There's an old joke about a band of scientists and researchers who set out to scale Mount Intellect, rising up from the valleys of ignorance. They scrape their way slowly up, and as they finally summit the highest peak, they find a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. God made us for marriage, for commitment, and thus that's so much better for us than "shacking up." And now some psychologists have discovered and explained how making the choice to commit is better for us. Welcome to the summit, gentlemen. A Christian’s practical guide to reproductive technology 3 key takeaways: Doctors create an average of 15 embryos in a single round of IVF. Unfortunately, only 3-7% of all created embryos result in the live birth of a child. The outcomes of IVF are not neutral. Children born through IVF have a higher likelihood of cancer, autism, minor cleft pallet, or a congenital heart defect. A diagnosis or season of infertility does not mean that a couple will never have children; only that it may require more work and time than they initially expected. Is Gen Z really the poorest generation? God forbids covetousness in the 10th Commandment, and one powerful way to counter temptation in this direction is to count our blessings. So, yes, many are worse off than they were just 5 years ago. But even the struggling Gen Z is probably doing a lot better than their grandparents were in the 70s. This video is American, but there's a lot of transfer to what's going on north of the border. ...

Dying Well

The five Ws of funeral planning

I can think of many times I’ve answered the phone at the funeral home and the person on the other end of the line expressed a need to plan a funeral, but didn’t know where to start. They wanted to have the conversation, but did not know what questions to ask or how to begin the conversation. Hopefully, by asking and answering some basic questions I can help prompt your thoughts and ideas about end-of-life planning. Who? Funeral planning can be done by anybody. At some point in the Christian life, we are confronted with our own mortality and that gets us thinking about our exit plan. Christians should give careful attention to funeral planning, since a funeral is a final witness to those left behind about what we believe and hold dear, and is an opportunity for the gospel comfort to be presented to our family and friends and leave a lasting impression. My father, a retired pastor, has said on occasion that he prefers to preach at a funeral rather than a wedding, because those in attendance at a funeral are usually listening more closely. A great question to ask yourself is, “What do I want my funeral to communicate?” Funerals are for the living, so funerals must be relevant and meaningful to those left behind. Planning ahead for your own funeral may be the only time you arrange an event for everyone in your life to attend but not yourself. Funeral planning is often done by the recently bereaved. Death comes sooner than expected many times, and a sudden, tragic loss can cause us to go numb, and feel like we are going through the motions in a daze. A trusted funeral director is vital to help you navigate all the decisions that need to be made and help you to stay within budget as plans are formulated. Ultimately, your executor (or if there is no will, your closest kin) has legal authority to make your funeral decisions. They should be carefully selected and clearly informed of your wishes. What? Planning ahead can take many forms. It can simply be a conversation between spouses, parents and children, or friends about wishes a person may have regarding a funeral. It could also involve a conversation between a parishioner and a pastor about what text, songs and message should be incorporated into the funeral liturgy. Planning ahead can also involve some more practical steps, such as purchasing cemetery interment rights, selecting a funeral home to assist your family, choosing services and other items like a casket, cemetery vault, marker or monument, and even setting aside the funds to pay for them. In many areas you can research some of this information ahead of time from a funeral home’s website to educate yourself. There is typically no cost for a funeral planning consultation appointment and recording your preferences on file at a funeral home. If a death has already taken place, decisions need to be made rather quickly. There could be as many as 25 or more things to decide in a short period of time about a loved one’s funeral, ranging from which funeral home should look after the arrangements to what outfit he or she should be dressed in, to who the organist or pianist should be. Choose a funeral director who you know is going to be a helpful guide through all the decisions that need to be made. When? Funeral planning should be done at your own pace. Any cemetery or funeral provider who is aggressively pursuing you or pressuring you should be avoided. Your funeral provider should provide plenty of information and choices and show a long-term commitment to your local community. Look for a referral if you are new in town. Planning ahead for a funeral is often done in conjunction with retirement planning, or when a family home or other assets are sold, or when conversations about aging and end of life tend to come up naturally. Funeral planning without making a will is like building a chair with only two legs. These things should be done in tandem. The timing of funeral planning conversations can be difficult to navigate, especially when one party is more willing to discuss the topic than the other. But talking about it doesn’t make it happen any sooner, it only helps you to be more prepared. Maybe that sounds cliché, but there is truth to this statement, especially as we confess God’s providence in life and in death. Involving other family members, such as adult children, in the conversation can be helpful to move along in a productive way. Funeral planning should be done earlier than you might think. For those who are married, funeral planning is a mutual gift that you can give to your spouse (kind of like when my wife and I signed our wills on our anniversary). It allows you to make decisions together. I have seen many surviving spouses burdened with making the final decision on all the details when nothing has been planned ahead of time. If you are single, planning ahead allows you to have some control and say over the details of your own funeral, rather than leaving everything in the hands of your executor. Planning early also allows you time to consider all the options, and plan for the expenses. Where? Conversations can be shared anywhere. They can happen while on a drive, over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, at a family gathering, or while sharing a quiet moment. Somewhere along the way you need to capture the content of the conversations and put it on paper. We often sit around the family kitchen table to help people, whether for planning ahead, or when someone has died. Arrangements can also be discussed at the funeral home by appointment. Why? Planning ahead has a financial benefit, as a prepaid funeral arrangement offers guarantees and the investment of funds that protect the family from any future inflation of costs. Planning is preparing. It allows you to face difficult realities with loved ones, and to say confidently that even though it will be so hard, we will be able to face death, that last enemy, standing on God’s promises, as they are boldly proclaimed to us as part of a well-planned funeral. Having those conversations ahead of time can really make all the difference and set us off in the right direction on the grief journey when the time comes to say goodbye to a loved one. Garnet VanPopta Rick is a funeral director at Kitching, Steepe & Ludwig Funeral Home in Hamilton, Ontario. You can email him at [email protected]....

News

President Trump runs from his pro-life past

Donald Trump once had the distinction of being the most pro-life president in living memory. In his first term in office, he put into place the Suprem...

Dying Well

Write your own eulogy

Crystalize what’s most important in your life **** My neighbor wrote my eulogy last week, or what I hope will be at least a part of it. It was her...

News

Saturday Selections – September 7, 2024

The importance of "social trust" What can we do when people stop trusting? One common approach is to outsource trust to the government. Get the gover...

Magazine, Past Issue

Sept/Oct 2024 issue

WHAT'S INSIDE: Write your own eulogy / Why are you grieving? / 7 articles on aging well / Capture the Contrast photo contest results / A tool to count...

Adult non-fiction, Book Reviews

A Good Old Age: an A to Z of loving and following the Lord Jesus in later years

by Derek Prime 2017 / 184 pages They say not to judge a book by its cover, but how about by its title? “A Good Old Age,” written by the 86-year-old pastor and seasoned veteran, Derek Prime, reminded me of what the Bible writes about Abraham: “And Abraham died in a good old age” (Gen. 25:8). So yes, this book had me by its title. Perhaps the title also grabbed me because I’m at an age where my parents have/are close to following the Lord Jesus into glory. Witnessing their time in the “waiting room” as they prepare for the last years of their earthly life, I see both the joys and the challenges these years represent and so was keen to see what Derek Prime had to say about the A-Z’s of following Jesus in the sunset years. The book did not disappoint. But it did surprise. I soon realized I needed its wisdom in middle age as much as my parents did in their elderly age. I needed it as preparation for the last lap of my life, which the Bible tells me will come more quickly than I realize as “the grass withers, the flower fades” (Isaiah 40:8). Like Alistair Begg asserts in the foreword: “(This book) needs to be read long before we find ourselves in the senior citizen seats on the train.” So, whether you’re young and want to understand your grandparents and their behaviors more, whether you’re middle aged and giving extra time and love to your parents, or whether you’re nearing the Jordan crossing, this book is for you. In A Good Old Age, Derek Prime goes through the entire alphabet, assigning a letter with its corresponding spiritual priority to each chapter, posing insightful questions along the way for the reader to consider while providing encouraging prayers at each chapter’s conclusion. Although not a deeply theological book, it is an extremely practical one which won’t have you skim-reading over the fluff, because, quite simply, there isn’t any. While written simplistically, its truths are profound and, with the help of the Spirit and through prayer, will prove transforming. Both its content and its font size make for a highly readable book (in good light I didn’t need my reading glasses). The author points out many perils to avoid in old age: Do you tend to compare the present with the past? Do you distrust the motives of those around you? Are you pessimistic? Do you indulge in self-pity? Are you grumpy and demanding? He also points out potentials to embrace while spending time in the waiting room: Do you take the extra time you have to pray for those you love and for those in authority over you, including the minister and elders/deacons? Do you share good and wise counsel that has guided you in life? Do you encourage those around you? Do you speak to others about the hope that is within you, also as you approach the time of your death? Does your obedience to the Word of God shine from your life as a witness to your children and grandchildren? There are several recurrent themes that run through this book and pop up in various different “letters”: seeking God’s approval before man’s approval; the power and importance of prayer as one of the most important things that you can do in old age (something not hampered by physical limitations); living your days in praise and thanksgiving; being an encourager and not a critic; pressing onward toward the goal of following our Savior into glory. To give you a little bit of a taste of A Good Old Age, here are a few of my favorite “letters” (and no, I won’t tell you what “x” stands for – you’ll need to buy the book for that!): A is for Acceptance. Accept the fact that you are old. Accept the truths of aging – loss of a certain amount of independence, increased frustration, more physical ailments. Accept that your children are busy and can’t visit you as much as you would like. C is for Contentment. Be content with your health, finances, family members, friends. Be satisfied in Jesus Christ and witness this by your contentment in the everyday circumstances of your life. L is for Love. When love is in place, everything falls into place. Keep the cross in focus and everything else comes into focus. The more you realize Christ’s love for you, the more you love Him and reflect that love to one another. “Even as well-established fruit trees often provide the best fruit, so older Christians should produce the best examples of Christ’s love in a Christlike life.” Since I started with the letter A, I had better finish with Z. Z is for Zeal. Zeal for the honor of God’s name, zeal for right relationships before we die, and zeal for the coming of God’s kingdom. Derek Prime didn’t know how long he would spend in the waiting room of his sunset years before God called him Home. But God numbered his days, and the author died three years after this book was published, at A Good Old Age of 89. He left behind a legacy to his children and grandchildren of what it looked like to love and follow the Lord Jesus. May the same – by the grace of God – be said about us. This review first appeared in the May 18, 2024 issue of Una Sancta, a magazine “for the Free Reformed Churches of Australia” and it is reprinted with both their and the author’s permission....

News

Saturday Selections – August 31, 2024

Click on the titles to go to the linked articles... Jordan Peterson pressed on whether he is Christian or not (10 min) Jordan Peterson has seemingly been on the cusp of repenting and believing for a long time, speaking glowingly about both Jesus and His Word. But past examinations of Jordan's beliefs have shown him to be Jungian rather than Christian. So has anything changed? Well, in late July he talked with John Rich, best known for being half of the country/pop duo Big & Rich. I only recently learned that Rich professes to be Christian (during his Tucker Carlson appearance) as the duo's best known song, Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy), wouldn't have you thinking so. But in a July 26 interview on Peterson's podcast, Rich pressed Canada's most famous psychologist on whether he is or isn't a Christian. The video below hits the highlights, but if you want to listen to the whole 90-minute original, click here. Was Jesus just a good moral teacher? As John Stonestreet notes and as C.S. Lewis did before him (and as Jordan Peterson should consider – see above), you can't call Jesus a good teacher if you don't acknowledge Him as God. Limiting my phone expanded my view of God "I’ll always remember summer 2024 as the first 'real-world summer' of my adult life—the summer I fundamentally changed how I interact with my smartphone. I left social media behind in 2022, but according to my screen-time reports, I was still spending around two hours a day on my phone. Two hours. I have a full-time job and two kids. Surely I could have been doing something else with all that time..." 11 statistical tips for a healthy marriage Some great points here for couples to ponder, whether these are reminders or entirely new thoughts for you. The great myth of the Sexual Revolution: you will always be young Jonathon Van Maren reports on how egg-freezing for women employees is becoming a common thing, promising that they can first establish their career and then have children later. But it is a false promise. The myth of "Junk DNA" Evolutionists predicted that much of our DNA would be junk – it was just the remnants of our long-ago evolutionary ancestors. Creationists and Intelligent Design proponents made a very different prediction: we'd find functions for this "Junk DNA" since we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Guess which prediction came true? It's important to note, too, that the secular assumptions discouraged inquiry – atheism stymied science, and an acknowledgment of a Creator furthered science. ...

Internet

On becoming tech-savvy Christians

Technology changes so quickly that we can become bewildered over what to think about all the new products, services and platforms that appear and disappear. A new technology can be hyped to the sky one moment, and fall into disuse the next month. (Case in point: who still uses Clubhouse?) But some technology has a profound ability to change our world. We wonder, how do we approach these? What should we think about them, from a Christian point of view? Here are a few pieces we’ve published in the past that can help us with several new technologies that seem to be sticking around a bit longer. Click on the titles to go to the linked articles. CHATGPT AND OTHER AI Demystifying ChatGPT The latest thing being hyped is artificial intelligence, and the most well-known example of AI is ChatGPT. What is ChatGPT and how does it work? If you feel confused, Thomas VanDrunen breaks it down in simple terms. 3 things we need to tell our kids about ChatGPT It’s one thing to understand technology such as ChatGPT, it’s another to know what we should teach our kids about it. Here are some pointers about what kids might need to know. Is AI just another tool, or something else? New technologies often appear to be useful tools that make life easier, and their negative consequences can take more time to reveal themselves. Artificial intelligence is one of the latest technologies to catch attention, but we should be aware of these potential drawbacks. CRYPTOCURRENCIES Christians can’t “invest” in cryptocurrency For a while, “investing” in cryptocurrencies looked like the newest and greatest way to make money. Here’s why Christians shouldn’t “invest” in these projects. THE SOCIAL WEB Our dangerous diet of clips, tweets, memes, and headlines This article doesn’t even mention TikTok, but it illustrates a trend that’s gotten far worse. Our tendency to absorb information in bite-sized chunks has decreased our ability to know much about any one thing in depth, even while we might have a larger number of things we know a little bit about. When navigating the online world, it’s good to keep this in mind. What might we be missing? Where should we be more humble about our understanding of an issue? TikTok passes 2 billion downloads Speaking of TikTok, what is TikTok? Here's a quick summary of this incredibly popular app. One week in: Facebook isn’t for everyone What is it like to give up Facebook? It can reveal a lot about our dependence on so-called “social” media. REST OF THE 'NET Is our curiosity controlling us, or are we controlling it? The answer to almost everything is a quick internet search away. Anytime we wonder about something, or have a friendly debate over a piece of trivia, we can easily settle the question. But curiosity, while often a force for good, can also become an endless search for something “new” and interesting. Our brains thirst for the next intriguing bit of information. Then we should consider whether it’s really us in control, or our curiosity. Solomon on smartphones and the pull of pornography Speaking of the online world, we should all be well aware by now of some of the dangers of the shadier corners of the internet. That doesn’t mean we always navigate the internet wisely, especially with devices in our pockets that offer us 24/7 temptation. In this article, Ryan DeJonge walks through the guidance that the book of Proverbs offers Christians and how it can help with the battle against pornography. …the Internet can pervert anything Pornography is the obvious danger when it comes to the Internet, but it’s not the only thing to watch out for. The internet can pervert anything. Emily Arend gives some examples of how innocent interests can lead down a darker path. Wikipedia: reader beware Wikipedia is one of the most well-known and well-used websites on the internet, and it’s been around for a long time (by tech standards). But its limitations are becoming more apparent. Sure, there’s a chance Wikipedia can be inaccurate, but a bigger issue is the potential for bias, especially in topics that venture into the realm of controversy or opinion. SMARTPHONES Reflections on “12 ways your phone is changing you” We know cellphones have changed our world drastically, but they might have a bigger impact than we realize. Author Tony Reinke has written a book on exactly this, which we review here. Our phones’ always-available distraction, disconnection from face-to-face interaction, sense of privacy that encourages temptation, and one-sided algorithms can lead us away from the Christlikeness we’re called to. The smartphone stack There are many suggestions to increase face-to-face interactions and get off our phones, and it’s worth trying a few to figure out what works for you. Here is one simple yet practical suggestion to try with a group! TOWARDS A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH TECH Technology and our anxious hearts As a pastor, Reuben Bredenhof has noticed more and more people dealing with a sense of unease, and feeling unsettled, fearful and restless. A lot of this anxiety can be traced back to our use of technology. Here he addresses some of the common anxieties that technology brings out in us, and counteracts these messages with a Christian response. God can give us peace even when it comes to technology. Elon Musk and visions of the future Elon Musk has a vision of the future. Christians should have a vision of the future as well, but do we know what it is? In our tech-obsessed world, we should have our eyes fixed on our ultimate hope! CONCLUSION The cycle of new technology will continue to turn, and we will keep being confronted by innovations, and new decisions about how to interact with these new things. But ultimately “there is nothing new under the sun” – the creations of humankind will be influenced by our sinful nature as well as our God-given creativity. It will take a lot of wisdom and prayer to navigate our changing world, but we can rest in the security that ultimately every tool is under God’s control....

News

St. Catharines drops censorship bylaw

Just three weeks before having to appear in court to defend their bylaw that censored pictures of pre-born children, the city of St. Catharines blinked and backed down. ARPA Canada took the city to court in response to a bylaw that forbid delivering any image of a fetus to a private residence unless the material was placed in a sealed envelope with a warning label attached to it. ARPA argued that this bylaw infringed the Charter-protected freedoms of conscience, religion, and expression and was crafted to suppress pro-life content. As the court date drew close, the St. Catharines Standard reported that “councillors repealed the bylaw Monday night after an in-camera meeting with the city’s solicitor.” The turn-about is a good example of the importance of legal action, and the judicial branch of government more generally, as a check against the overreach of government agents using their power to suppress justice and truth. Although the federal and provincial legislatures tend to get the most attention, it is the cities and towns (the municipal level) that most commonly violate the fundamental freedoms protected in the Charter. The newspaper quoted extensively from ARPA’s lawyer John Sikkema, who led the challenge. “The real aim of the bylaw was to suppress opposition to abortion,” he explained to the paper. “Suppressing pro-life speech because some people find it offensive is not a pressing or substantial objective, as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires. Rather, in a free and democratic society, is an odious objective.” In a separate note to supporters, ARPA explained that a further outcome of this is that “other cities considering similar bylaws will be much less eager to pursue them.”...

News

The Olympics as Utopian theater

It’s all a show in the city of man. ***** Even after the controversy of a bizarre opening ceremony, the Olympic Games showed why it is unparallele...

News

Saturday Selections – August 24, 2024

Abe Lincoln with a lesson on lying The smartest politicians don't break promises; like Abe here, they try not to make any promises at all. Pro-lif...

Dying Well

Let the little children come

Children can’t be sheltered from the death of a loved one. But they can be comforted. ***** Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and...

News

Saturday Selections – August 17, 2024

Click on the titles below to go to the linked articles... The wrong folk think God, the Bible, and Christianity are relevant in the political sphere ...

News, Pro-life - Euthanasia

State-sanctioned murder now the 5th leading cause of death in Canada

State-sanctioned murder, euphemistically called “medical assistance in dying,” has quickly become one of the leading causes of death in Canada, according to a new study by the Canadian think tank Cardus. Their report noted that MAiD deaths have increased thirteenfold in the short time since it was legalized in 2016 (growing from 1,018 deaths then to 13,241 now). That makes it the fifth leading cause of death in the country, and the “world’s fastest-growing assisted-dying program." Only 3.5 percent of requests for assisted killing are denied, and that number continues to decrease. The study also noted that “MAiD request can be assessed and provided in a single day.” When doctor-assisted murder was first decriminalized, the courts stressed that it had to be “stringently limited” and “carefully monitored.” But those who argued against euthanasia explained that limits would be impossible to maintain once “my body, my choice” is regarded as a sufficient moral justification for murder. If that justifies the assisted killing of someone sick, why wouldn’t it also justify the killing of someone who is healthy? But murder and suicide are wrong precisely because it isn’t our body, so it isn’t our choice. As God notes in Gen. 9:6 the reason murder is wrong is because He made us in His very Image. In a world where the law doesn’t testify to the gift of life like it used to, the Church has all the more calling to share this positive and life-affirming message through our words and, more importantly, through our deeds. We are surrounded by so many neighbors whose hopes are quickly diminishing as their bodies age or they face sickness. May we seize every opportunity to show them the Gospel of Life, which gives hope in this life and the next....

News

Saturday Selections – August 10, 2024

Click on the titles below to go to the linked articles... Red Green's pit crew "You know when a flatbed gets ahead of you in a race it's not going well..." India turns to coal The solar panels installed in a village in India are being put to good use... as shelter for their village cattle. Vijay Jayaraj makes the case that climate change motivated policies are the "real existential threat to billions across our planet" because they force the poor to rely on unreliable power sources. Can a Christian date an unbeliever? "Who you marry will likely shape who you become more than any other human relationship. If your husband runs from Jesus, you won’t be able to avoid the undertow of his lovelessness. If your wife runs from Jesus, you will live in the crossfire of her unrepentant sin. You may survive an unbelieving spouse, but only as through fire..." Daniel’s 3 tips for surviving university Christian young people who are not able to resist peer pressure will need to steer clear of university, because standing out is an absolute requirement. Screentime in schools "In recent years, groups of Christians, including families, have joined together to take the 'Postman Pledge,' a year-long commitment to raise kids without phones and in community with one another." But is more needed? Do we need the State to help? Springtails do their own stunts They jump the equivalent of 6 stories, exploding upward 150 times faster than the blink of an eye! ...

Closeup of a woman's feet in high heels next to a car in the dark.

News

Prostitution laws challenged at Supreme Court of Canada

In 2014 Parliament passed a new prostitution law that ARPA Canada called “the most significant piece of legislation on a social issue passed during the nine years that Stephen Harper was prime minister.” It criminalized the purchase of sexual services while making it easier for prostitutes, most of whom are being exploited, to exit the sex trade. The goal was to target the demand – the men purchasing sex – rather than the women and men supplying it, but with the end goal of having the supply dwindle. That law has since been challenged from multiple angles by those wishing to legalize and normalize prostitution. One case - Mikhail Kloubakov, et al. v. His Majesty the King – is now before Canada’s highest court. The case finds its origins in a 2021 conviction of two men from Calgary who worked for an escort agency and financially benefited from prostitution and procuring women into the sex trade. These men are challenging these laws as unconstitutional. They won their case in the lower court but lost at the Court of Appeal in Alberta. This summer, ARPA Canada and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada worked together to submit legal arguments to the Supreme Court of Canada, urging the court to uphold the law. They noted that criminal law protects foundational norms and this law in particular protects the norms of dignity and equality. At the core of prostitution law, “is the normative judgment that the exchange of sexual services for consideration is contrary to these norms, inherently exploitative, unavoidably damaging to individuals and society, and deserving of criminal prohibition.” The Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to hear the case in November....

News, Transgenderism

Transmutilation defender comes to regret youthful tattoo

A young lady who goes by the online moniker of “emo hag” was such a fan of the Harry Potter series that she got a Harry Potter “sleeve” tattooed on one arm. But then the series’ author J.K. Rowling refused to give full-throated approval of transgenderism. Rowling is happy to support men wearing dresses, but she isn’t willing to pretend they are actually women. That has many on the Left (including actors who’ve made millions off her movies) denouncing her, and “emo hag” decided the only thing to do was black out the Harry Potter sleeve she’d spent years, and thousands of dollars, creating. The irony here was expressed by Gene Parmesan in a comment on her tweet. He wrote: “wait so in your youth you made a permanent change to your body that you grew to regret???” She still didn’t catch the irony, tweeting back: “yes it’s amazing how right my dad was about this whole thing 😂“. Christians can appreciate Parmesan’s clever question, but we also need to understand where it falls short. He addresses regret, but that’s not the real issue. The devil’s play here is to blind the world to God’s created order, and the fact that He, and not we, decides what gender a person will be (Gen. 1:26-27). Gene Parmesan didn’t start with God, and as a result his point isn’t standing on a firm foundation. In fact, it can be easily rebutted. After all, kids regularly make decisions in their youth that they come to regret. A kid might choose to take Dutch instead of French, or Physics instead of Chemistry. And any hours they put into basketball can’t also be put into piano. As an adult, they might come to really regret those decisions. So the transgender lobby could readily grant that, like course selection and basketball practices, some kids might come to regret their choice. But whatcha gonna do? Choices have to be made, right? And that’s the real issue: whether this is a choice. Our real argument is that when it comes to gender, there are no options to explore because God has already made the choice for us. Christians will sometimes avoid mention of God when they make arguments in the public square in the hopes of being heard and being more effective. But, like “emo hag,” we’re missing out on some irony here. Godless arguments aren’t actually effective because they aren’t firmly grounded. It’s not a coincidence that Parmesan’s argument could be rebutted. That’s true of every Godless argument, because they don’t stand on a firm footing. We can appreciate Gene Parmesan’s point but should think of it as a great plank – it’s not strong enough to stand on, but stacked on the solid foundation of God’s Truth, it can be put to constructive use....

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