The HBO series Westworld, based on the 1973 Michael Crichton film, revisits one of the most complex themes in science fiction, Artificial Intelligence (AI). The term “AI” distinguishes the natural intelligence of animals and humans from that of machines. Think Alexa and Siri. We tend to be just as afraid as we are fascinated with AI. In science fiction, the portrayals of advanced AI range from robots who are confused (Star Trek TNG, and Bicentennial…
What do you say about a man who fashions himself as a preacher of the Gospel, and actually believes that God wants him to have a $54 million jet? Jesse Duplantis’ life story is a remarkable testimony to what God can truly do in a person’s life. As he tells it, prior to his conversion in 1974 watching a televised Billy Graham crusade, he was a rocker, drug addict, and heavy drinker. But his life…
Most of us were asleep on the other side of the world when Xia Boyu, a Chinese national reached the summit of Mt. Everest May 14. Impressive for anyone, but even more so for a sixty-nine-year-old double amputee. And, get this. This was Xia’s fifth attempt to scale the world’s highest peak, and it was on one of his earlier expeditions that he lost his lower legs to frostbite after lending his sleeping bag to…
It’s the stuff of fairytales. May 19, Henry Charles Albert David Mountbatten-Windsor will wed Rachel Meghan Markle. Prince Harry and Meghan, that is. The royal prince and the American actress. Of course, the only way you would not know that is if you have been asleep for the last two months. Media have been rife with fluffy exposés masked as news documentaries recounting the life of Meghan Markle and how she ascended to the glory…
What does it take to understand grace? Nancy Seaman is a small lady, friendly and good-natured, known by her neighbors in their placid Detroit neighborhood as a dedicated stay-at-home mom. And she’s a murderer. In 2004 Nancy Seaman killed her husband, Bob. And the murder was assertive. Brutal. Seaman hit her husband with a hatchet and stabbed him with a knife more than twenty times in their suburban garage. Seaman readily admits to the grisly…
I wrote this blog in 2018, and it seems especially relevant again. Today, February 18, 2020, the Scouts announced that the organization was filing for bankruptcy. We should mourn the loss of this once great organization, and we should be deeply concerned about what it says about our culture. The purpose of this corporation shall be to promote, through organization and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and…
Last week the editors of GQ.com published a piece called “21 Books You Don’t Have To Read.” They wrote the blog in response to the long-held idea that some books are “great books” which everyone should read. But they excised these 21 books from their list of great books because, the editors sniffled, “Some are racist and some are sexist, but most are just really, really boring.” For the moment, we will pretend like we…
In early April, American Atheists placed its president, David Silverman, on leave in response to an unspecified complaint. Silverman serves as a high-profile voice against religion in America. He frequently appears on news programs, and in recent years led the organization in a well-publicized attack against Christmas. Or, at least, against the celebration of Christmas. A spokesman for the organization, Nick Fish, said that the complaint resulted from “alleged violations of the American Atheists code…
As if it were news, SouthernLiving.com has announced that God made us to enjoy creation, and we thrive when we do. Well, they didn’t give God any credit, but they affirmed this basic truth in an article published online April 11. Science, the blog offered, confirms that we should “visit the beach regularly” because it’s good for us. According to the article, when we go to the beach on vacation, it’s not just the fact…
Lately, I find myself quoting C.S. Lewis a lot. Not that I agree with his particular slant on everything. But what I do agree with resonates with me so much that I want other people to see things that way, and to encounter this extraordinary intellect that God saved from atheism and transformed into one of the 20th century’s most influential Christian apologists. Take Easter, for instance. When Lewis reflected on Easter, he used the…