Lamenting the Decline of Sacral Marriage

https://issuesetc.org/2024/01/03/0032-the-demise-of-the-augustinian-view-of-marriage-dr-allan-carlson-1-3-24/

Listening to this latest installment of Allan Carlson being interviewed on Issues Etc., I kept thinking about the elephant in the room – the one that was never addressed.

Jubilee and Growing Nationalism in British Evangelical Circles

This only about eight weeks late but it doesn't really matter. As much as I might enjoy doing so I'm not running a news site or current events blog. If it were up to me I would publish a couple of articles a day along with other essays and what I'd really like to do – more doctrinal and Scriptural studies. But work and other obligations means that's not possible. And as this year is proving to be one of the most difficult I've had in almost a decade, there's less time than usual as I'm putting in extra hours in an attempt to make ends meet. And in terms of writing, I'm playing catch up.

Rejecting the Sodomite Rainbow

Evangelicals were thrilled when several Tampa Bay baseball players refused to wear the 'rainbow' patches on their uniform for some kind of Sodomite pride day – something their team wishes to promote. As Sodomy is all the rage we are subjected to rainbow-washing in all sectors of society. Not saying something is to say something and so many companies and institutions that probably don't care all that much about the issue are keen to make a statement even if it's just a token one.

Social Credit Scores Today and Tomorrow

https://www.thehour.com/opinion/article/Data-isn-t-just-being-collected-from-your-phone-15451658.php

The Snowden revelations in 2013 confirmed our fears that the Orwellian TIA (Total Information Awareness) programme had lived on despite the fact that it had supposedly been canceled by the Bush administration.

Citizenship and Travel in the Coming Dystopia

https://www.politico.eu/article/future-passports-biometric-risk-profiles-the-codes-we-carry/

Is it the Mark of the Beast? Actually no, but I'm still not doing it. I'm not a Dispensationalist looking for a One World Government and a Seven Year Tribulation but at the same time this sort of technology and the way it's being used is certainly bestial.

Facial Recognition and the March Toward Dystopia

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/07/fbi-ice-find-state-drivers-license-photos-are-gold-mine-facial-recognition-searches/

Law enforcement is just helping itself to our personal data. And they're not collecting it and sifting it because they suspected you did something. They're just running your data through their filters and algorithms... because they can.

The Totalitarian Enabler: Your Mobile Phone

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/06/phone-camera-microphone-spying

On one level it's just these avaricious companies that are after your data but of course if they can do it so can hackers.

Additionally we learned via Edward Snowden that the NSA is also attempting appropriate this data and in many cases has direct and unhindered access to it. I was pleased to note this article at least mentioned it. Many other media outlets no longer bother. It's yesterday's news.

Spurgeon on the Unrighteousness of War

A great quote from Charles Spurgeon. Isn't it interesting how when Bible-based Christians are not wielding political power, as indeed Non-conformists in 19^th century Great Britain certainly were not, there is no zeal for empire, for conquest, for the 'glory' of the nation. Establishment Christianity whether formal or simply the result of a contrived theological narrative is a poison to the Christian soul. How quickly does it invert the ethics of the Christian Church!

The Christian Right's Misread of European Homeschooling and the UN

http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/france/201607150.asp?utm_source=WU%20email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WU

While I obviously sympathise with homeschoolers in France what this article typically omits is the motivation for these legislative changes. The American Right would point to European 'liberals' and their desire to force a secular conformity.

Good News out of Norway

Once again I must say that I'm not a fan of HSLDA, or a member, but I do receive their emailed newsletters. We homeschool our children and HSLDA is a sometimes helpful, though not always candid, source of information.

Fidelity in the Face of Totalitarian Militarism

I'm sorry to admit it but the Jehovah's Witnesses conducted themselves marvelously under the Third Reich. There's a lot of material to be found on this but I was fairly impressed with the Wikipedia article's summary and narrative. In other words, it's a good place to start.

ICReach and the Death of Civil Rights

As the Snowden revelations continue to come out the latest involves the NSA's internal 'Google' clone, an inter-agency search engine that allows other departments within the government to access the data NSA has gathered.

This is all warrantless collection of information. It's as if the police or any other government agency can drive by your house and come inside and snoop.

It's really beyond that. Based off the way the Internet functions in our lives, they can actually get into your head and see what you're thinking about.

Mohler's Dubious take on Downton Abbey

http://www.albertmohler.com/2014/01/10/downton-abbey-and-the-modern-age-what-are-we-really-watching/

Southern Baptist Seminary president Albert Mohler is considered one of the spokesmen and intellectual leaders of the Evangelical movement. He's also highly respected in Calvinistic circles as a leader who helped to recapture a large mainstream institution within the Southern Baptist Convention.