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Written by Rex M. Rogers

Published: 15 May 2023

Have you thought about the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on our society and economy, and how can we harness its potential while mitigating its risks and challenges? What ethical concerns arise with the development of AI technologies, and how can we ensure that these technologies are used in ways that promote human well-being and flourishing?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #85 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Artificial Intelligence, AI as it’s called, is already nearly ubiquitous in American society, but most of us have probably been largely oblivious to it. AI helps robots build cars in Detroit, deliver your order within twenty-four hours from the Amazon distribution warehouse near you, and is in your face online and on television every day.

“The term artificial intelligence (AI) was coined in 1956 by the American computer scientist John McCarthy, who defines it as “getting a computer to do things which, when done by people, are said to involve intelligence.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being developed at exponential rates and it has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives. What’s put AI on the front page of our minds for many of us is the advent of the online generative AI tool called ChatGPT, available for free to the public since Nov 2022.

ChatGPT is the fastest growing app of all time. Now, anyone can get into the act, and the younger set have done just that – asking ChatGPT to write social media posts, contribute essay content for their homework, and generate original art and music.

AI has led to a number of positive and beneficial developments in recent years, including:

1. Improved healthcare: AI has the potential to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by enabling more accurate diagnoses, personalized treatment plans, and better disease prevention strategies.
2. Enhanced education: AI-powered educational tools can help students learn more effectively.
3. Increased efficiency: AI can help businesses and organizations automate routine tasks, increase productivity, and reduce operational costs.
4. Improved public safety: AI-powered surveillance systems can help prevent crime and improve emergency response times.
5. Enhanced scientific discovery: AI can be used to analyze vast amounts of data, enabling scientists to make new discoveries.
6. Personalized consumer experiences: AI can help companies better meet the needs and preferences of individual consumers.

But as with any technology, there are concerns as well:

1. Job displacement: As AI becomes more advanced, it’s potential to automate jobs makes it likely some individuals will no longer be needed, particularly in manufacturing, transportation, and customer services.
2. Privacy and security: As AI systems collect and analyze vast amounts of data, there is a risk that this data could be hacked or used for nefarious purposes. There are concerns about how AI systems may infringe on individual privacy rights. As AI systems collect vast amounts of personal data, this data can be used for nefarious purposes such as identity theft or targeted advertising. There is a risk that AI could be used for malicious purposes such as cyberattacks or even warfare. The development of autonomous weapons systems could lead to an arms race between nations and increase the likelihood of conflict.
3. Ethical considerations: issues related to transparency, fairness, morality, and human dignity.
4. Safety risks: AI systems can pose safety risks if they malfunction or are used inappropriately.

And there’s more:  cheating – it is easier for students to turn in work that is not their own. AI could help destroy the arts and music, copyright issues,

Deep Fake videos that can make any person, any leader, look like they did or said something they did not. Use of AI in pornography – Deep Fake videos of famous people, sex robots, deployment of AI for malicious purposes, among them military, crime, and improper or governmental surveillance, and the ability to influence elections and thus a threat to democracy.

Mixed in the excitement for AI is an element of Transhumanism, “a philosophical and intellectual movement which advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies.” Transhumanism is science fiction come to life, humankind evolving to the next level.

A lot of concern about AI, at least in the movies, is AI running amok – Terminator, The Matrix, Ex Machina, I, Robot, Battlestar Gallactica, the mantra of the Borg on Star Trek: “resistance is futile,” Bladerunner. In these visions, AI is dystopian, about conflict, and an existential risk to human civilization.

Robots are already being integrated with religion. Can they provide counsel, help you pray, hear your confession? People use AI to amplify the good or bad things that we do, which creates questions about power and morally suspect applications.

There is a range of Christian perspectives on AI, but here are a few:

1. AI as a tool: Some Christians see AI as a neutral tool that can be used for good or evil, depending on how it is developed and deployed. They argue that Christians should be involved in the development of AI to ensure that it is used for the benefit of humanity and aligned with Christian values. AI could be used positively for Gospel influence, such as using AI in biblical translation.

2. AI as a threat: Others are more skeptical of AI, seeing it as a potential threat to human autonomy and dignity. They worry that AI could be used to replace human decision-making, or even lead to a dystopian future where machines rule over humans.
3. AI as a partner: Some Christians see AI as a potential partner in human endeavors, working alongside humans to achieve common goals. They see AI as a way to enhance human creativity, productivity, and well-being.
4. AI as a theological issue: Some Christians see AI as a theological issue, raising questions about the nature of humanity and our relationship with God. They argue that we need to carefully consider the ethical implications of AI and how it aligns with Christian beliefs about the dignity and value of human life.

“The questions that frequently arise in AI cover the range of philosophical questions: what is really real? (ontology), how do I know it? (epistemology), what is right and good? (ethics), and what does it mean to be human? (philosophical anthropology). The approach one takes to questions in AI is largely shaped by our philosophical presuppositions and our worldview…In the words of futurist Roy Amara, who coined Amara’s law: ‘We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.’ The future of AI is neither inevitable nor unstoppable. However, Christians will need to join the dialogue and be prepared to carry out our responsibility as we unfold these powerful new technologies.”

Historically, Christians have developed both arguments for and against technological change, and these apply once again with respect to AI:

For technological change include:

1. Technological progress is a reflection of God's creativity and is part of the divine plan for human progress.
2. Technological innovations can help to improve the quality of life and reduce human suffering.
3. The use of technology can be seen as a form of stewardship over the natural world, as humans are called to care for and responsibly use the resources God has provided.

Against technological change:

1. The pursuit of technological progress can lead to a dangerous arrogance and a rejection of humility and dependence on God.
2. Technology can be seen as a form of idolatry, as humans place their faith in technology rather than in God.
3. Technological advancements can lead to a loss of community and a breakdown in human relationships, as people become more isolated and disconnected from one another.
4. The use of technology can lead to a loss of human dignity and a devaluation of the natural world, as humans seek to control and dominate nature rather than working in harmony with it.
5. The rapid pace of technological change can lead to a loss of stability and a sense of purpose, as people become overwhelmed by the constant demands of new technologies.

As a Christian, I believe AI is a gift from God that can be used for good. AI has the potential to improve our lives in countless ways. However, we must also be mindful of the ethical implications of AI and ensure that it aligns with our values as Christians.

No one knows where AI is going, but it’s clear that Christians need to pay attention, learn, and evaluate now, not wait until something develops, we consider unconscionable. And by the way, unconscionable things have already developed.

This will not be my last podcast on AI. Much remains to be noted and evaluated.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2023  

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.  

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Written by Rex M. Rogers

Published: 24 April 2023

Does it seem to you that criminality, mass shootings, and threats against persons in public spaces are increasing? Whatever happened to crime and punishment?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #82 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Recently in downtown Chicago, an event occurred that media called “Teen Takeover.” It was a social media fueled mob of youth, apparently from throughout the metropolitan area, who simply decided to run amok under the Loop and on Michigan Avenue.

Numerous videos are available online showing hordes of young people breaking windows, jumping on cars, trashing whatever was in their path, firing guns in the streets, even assaulting innocent bystanders and tourists.

In videos, “teens can be seen jumping on top of a bus while others start a massive brawl. A Tesla, said to be worth $120,000, was vandalized.” Two teens were shot during the incident. Fifteen teens were arrested.

Teen takeovers have happened before in Chicago. It’s a deadly hobby. So is violence in general in Chicago, and in other major American cities where law and order is on life support.

“The weekly shootings and murders in Chicago have become so routine that it rarely makes national news. Newsweek noted: ‘The number of homicides in Chicago hit a 25-year high in 2021 with more than 800, according to the Chicago Police Department. That number decreased to 695 last year but is still far higher than when (outgoing Mayor Lori) Lightfoot took office in 2019. Crimes including carjackings and robberies have also increased in recent years.’"

Meanwhile, two elected officials’ response to the teen takeover is telling:

Robert Peters, an Illinois State Senator who represents part of Chicago, tweeted, “Since I’m a glutton for punishment and I’m sure I’m gonna get the most unhinged, crime weirdo replies but: I would look at the behavior of young people as a political act and statement. It’s a mass protest against poverty and segregation. Rest in peace to my mentions.”

In other words, this violence against property and persons is a protest about poverty. One problem with that argument is that the U.S. has a large body of law dating to the 1960s that clearly delineates how social protests can take place, how freedom of speech can be exercised and is encouraged under the First Amendment, as long as property, people, and the public’s right to free thoroughfares is not violated. Point is, the minute violence ensues, the action is no longer a legal protest but an illegal riot.

Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, the progressive who will succeed ineffective Mayor Lori Lightfoot, said, "In no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in the Loop and lakefront this weekend. It is unacceptable and has no place in our city. However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities."

In other words, to hold youths accountable for destruction of property, assaults, and breaking other laws is somehow to “demonize” them. Mayor-elect Johnson’s solution, by the way, is not to employ more trained police officers. No, he said, “Our city must work together to create spaces for youth to gather safely and responsibly, under adult guidance and supervision, to ensure that every part of our city remains welcome for both residents and visitors.”

What spaces is he talking about? Does he really believe youth would go to some controlled space under adult guidance and supervision?

How can these political leaders think this way? Sadly, they are not alone. Many so-called “woke” individuals have been elected in recent years, or those in office have jumped on this bandwagon in the name of race relations, only to make race relations worse.

“State and city district attorneys, and county prosecutors seek either to release violent criminals without bail or reduce their felonies to misdemeanors. Critical legal and race theories are their creeds. So, they argue that crimes have little to do with individual free will. Criminals are not deterred by tough enforcement of the laws. Instead, ‘crime’ reflects arbitrary constructs of a racially oppressive hierarchy.”

But, “rhe cure to lawlessness is not to indulge the lawbreakers by justifying or seeking to explain their behavior. It is to enforce the law. Doing so serves to tell others there are consequences for illegal behavior and justice will be swift and certain. Without law enforcement there is no glue that can hold a city or a society together. Hundreds of Chicago police officers have left the force and the city is having trouble recruiting replacements. Is it any wonder with the ‘defund the police’ movement and growing disrespect for those who feel called to protect and serve?”

“When lawless behavior is tolerated and leaders who are supposed to keep neighborhoods safe effectively see lawbreakers as depraved because they are deprived, to quote lyrics from ‘West Side Story,’ it is a virtual guarantee that some will run wild. As the Proverb says: "Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint" (Proverbs 29:18).

What is happening?

1. As I’ve noted before, America is engaged in an unnamed Second Civil War, pitting those who do not believe in God or at least one who to whom they are accountable, and who reject the idea of objectively determined right and wrong, individual responsibility, and law and order 

against those who still believe in God, absolute truth, morality, and righteous justice for all.

2. The practice and rule of law and order, blind justice, and accountability are under attack.

“Take illegal immigration. Nearly 6 million people have poured across our borders illegally since President Joe Biden took office…In blue state cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and Chicago, laws protecting private property, public safety and public health are routinely flouted; the consequences are felt only by law-abiding citizens…Retail theft is no longer prosecuted, so bands of thieves walk into stores and steal with impunity. Small businesses are forced to close or move. Even large corporations like Walgreens, Walmart, Target, Macy's, BestBuy and REI are…leaving, citing theft and crime that is undeterred and unpunished. In 2020, under then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot's tenure, mobs of vandals did millions of dollars in damage and theft to the upscale stores on Chicago's Magnificent Mile.”

This crime wave evident across our country and culture is not pure happenstance. It is the result of a society reaping what it sows in discarding time tested, moral standards, mores, and values. 

I’ve heard it said that “Nowhere is safe today,” or “We’re experiencing diminished personal safety like never before.” I know what they mean, because there was a time in my lifetime that if you exercised good judgment and avoided places you knew were prone to “bad things happening,” you could move about relatively safe and secure. This time seems to have passed.

There has always been crime and there always will be. What we have now in American culture is ignored or approved crime.

Now, you cannot be sure if you go to an athletic stadium, music concert, mall, campus, even church, that you will be safe. We are retrogressing to a time when individuals and families did indeed care for their own safety. In frontier times and later in the Old West, everyone carried a gun or was with someone who did.

In days gone by, the place where you did not carry a gun or worry about protecting yourself was what they called “civilization,” meaning localities back East that had established right and wrong law and order.

What’s now disappearing in America is just that, “civilization,” an advanced state of human society based upon moral standards, mores, and values that respects and protects life.

The principles that undergird the United States of America -- indeed, what we think of as "Western civilization" generally are being dismantled.

Our living assignment remains the same:

To know truth and to make it known.

To speak the truth in love.

To be ready always to give an answer of the hope we have within us.

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

In so doing, you also need to become more aware, more conscious of your surroundings, more capable of protecting your family and friends if you are called upon to do so.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. 

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2023   

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.  

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Written by Rex M. Rogers

Published: 17 April 2023

In recent years, the end of marriage was predicted and even promoted, but is this the case and is it the best? What is the state of the union for marriage in America?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #81 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Whether you’re married, have been married, or have never been married, you’ve probably thought about it and interacted with couples who are married.

Aside from making a personal decision about one’s spiritual condition and Christian faith, I’d suggest that the most meaningful and significant decision any of us make is to get married and to whom.

In recent years, some predicted the end of marriage as we know it. Some even promoted the end of marriage.

And the trends seemed to suggest this might happen.

“The U.S. marriage rate reached a historic low in 2018, according to federal data spanning more than a century.” 

“Both marriage and divorce rates in the United States declined from 2009 to 2019 but rates vary from state to state. In 2019, there were 16.3 new marriages for every 1,000 women age 15 and over in the United States, down from 17.6 in 2009. At the same time, the U.S. divorce rate fell from 9.7 new divorces per 1,000 women age 15 and over in 2009 to 7.6 in 2019…In 2019: Wyoming's marriage rate was among the highest in the nation. Delaware's marriage rate was among the lowest.”

“The 2020 national marriage rate fell to 5.1 per 1,000 people, its lowest level in 121 years.”

Then, post-COVID, “the rate of marriage increased in nearly every state in 2021 and went up 18% overall…That marked the biggest year-to-year jump since the end of World War II.”

“Getting married is a public demonstration of love and lifelong commitment between two people. For Christians, there is an extra dimension – marriage is part of a pattern of life established by God when he created humanity. He recognized that it was better for the first man, Adam, if he had a partner, Eve. Christians believe marriage is a partnership of love…Jesus acknowledged this in the Bible book, Matthew, when he said, ‘for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. They are no longer two but one...Like many people, Christians also believe a marriage is the best place to bring up children…Christians believe that the binding partnership of marriage is a powerful symbol of the relationship between Christ and the Church.”

Sarah and I are approaching our 49^th Anniversary. Hard to believe, as the quick passage of time always is. I remember our halcyon dating days, of course. I remember getting married the summer following our graduation from college. We were in love, certainly, but looking at it from the perspective of 40-something years, I think, we had no idea what real love and commitment is, as we do now.

This makes me think of the providence of God. He directed us together. He gave this unbelievable woman to me, the one who for fun I call Good Wife, capital letters on both words, when I write about her on social media. If anyone has the gift of hospitality detailed in Scripture, Good Wife is one of them. Clearly, as they say, I “married up.” How but for the grace of God was I blessed with a woman like this?

I know a few friends from college days, couples who married as did post-graduation. But a few of those marriages didn’t make it. This is grievous indeed because, though praise God I have not experienced divorce, I know if hurts all involved, sometimes for a lifetime. It is said that it “takes two to tango,” and I suppose there are circumstances wherein this applies. But I’ve lived long enough to know that sometimes divorce “happens to you.” It comes because the other spouse walks awry.

But marriages that last for the right reasons are wonders to behold, and experience. My parents were married for 66 years until Dad went to heaven. I don’t think they were ever apart more than 3 days in that timeframe, and they were blessed beyond measure, which meant my sister and I were blessed beyond measure.

It’s generally sad to read about so-called Hollywood marriages that are about convenience or short-term attraction or status but not about love and commitment.

And it’s sad to read about celebrities who go through 5-6 marriages and often even more partners during their lives, only to reach their older years living alone. Sometimes they claim they want it this way and are happy to be alone. Maybe, if they’ve had bad experiences with others and are burned out by their own fame. But just as often it is not that. They are alone, facing the sunset of their lives without the deep, trusted, reinforcing companionship born of years of walking side by side through the trials and triumphs of life together.

I think of this when I see former NFL great quarterback Joe “Broadway” Namath, a man who in his prime was known the company of women around him, yet now he is, you guessed it, alone.

I thought of this when I watched Burt Reynolds negotiate his ending days, a hunk, the man every woman supposedly wanted to be with, or at least he seem to think so, and who lived at times with starlets, yet ended his life alone.

I think of this when I remember Gloria Steinem, the 1970s feminist credited with inventing the phrase “reproductive freedom” and who maintained she did not need men, who then later in life at 66 years of age got married. Sad to say for Ms. Steinem, the gentleman passed away just three years later.

God looked at Adam in the Garden of Eden and said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18). Likely the Lord knew that men would make a mess of things in the world if they were left to their own devices. But it was more than that.

God designed marriage as a practical and enjoyable relationship bespeaking the Trinity itself. The Trinity is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not three Gods but one Sovereign God of the universe in three persons.

Marriage is two persons who become one. That unity is a gift from God that fills the longing in each human being’s heart for love, unreserved commitment, and support. There is nothing else like it on earth.

Now I know that God does not call everyone to be married, so this podcast is not intended to somehow question or cast aspersion on the single person.. God made it clear in Scripture that the ultimate relationship a human being can and should experience is with God himself, and this is available to every person, married or single. So, the single person can live a fulfilled and complete life in God’s will and calling. 

I cannot begin to imagine my life without Sarah in it. I consider myself not lucky, because I don’t believe in luck, but blessed in the providence of God, and this without having talked about our four children and spouses and ten grandchildren.

I’ve chosen not to list contemporary challenges and threats to marriage, but they are legion, ever present in media, social media, and culture, unremitting, unscrupulous, certainly unbiblical, and now incessantly promoted.

Satan is the Father of lies and division, evident in his first interaction with Eve in the Garden of Eden, evident today in the onslaught of his minions upon marriage. Only the Lord can place a hedge around us to protect against such sinful destruction.

Good marriages are gold. Good marriages are a gift of God. Good marriages are possible because of the lives of the good spouse God gave you. Celebrate him or her today.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. 

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2023   

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.  

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Written by Rex M. Rogers

Published: 13 April 2023

It seems Transgenderism is having its historical cultural moment, but what really is this about and how should Christians respond?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #80 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Transgenderism or Trans ideology, the “T” in LGBTQ+, is experiencing something of a historical moment. While trans activists claim trans people are marginalized victims, trans ideology is now the dominant view in public education, media, social media, entertainment, athletics, government, even the Pentagon and the White House.

Now trans ideology is taking hold of corporate marketing in America.

“America clearly is in the throes of a cultural campaign for transgender rights, privileges, and immunities. It is a multi-faceted movement at once entertaining and dangerous.”

“It is not only major corporations, including Nike, Proctor & Gamble, and Anheuser Busch that have jumped aboard the transgender bandwagon. 

Universities and now, the federal government and the judiciary are all in.”

“The transgender glorification movement truly has transitioned into high gear.”

“The cultural shift, especially in corporate marketing, has been nothing short of seismic. Where once Jack Daniels whiskey was presented as a sophisticated spirit, with ads depicting entertainment icon Frank Sinatra, the Tennessee-made alcoholic beverage now is branded by drag queens, in a timid genuflect to the LGBTQ+ movement.”

Other companies on the bandwagon include Ulta Beauty, Olay, Tik Tok, Instacart, Tampax, Nike, Kate Spade, Crest, and many more.

“One of the strangest kowtows to the LGBTQ+ campaign has been Hershey’s chocolate. During WWII, Hershey’s was one of a number of products that became closely identified with the American armed forces, especially the Army GI. 

Eight decades later, the universally recognized brown Hershey’s milk chocolate candy bar wrapper markets itself as a “HER-SHE’s” treat and advertises yet another biological male transgendered to female.”

“Last week, female swimmer Riley Gaines was violently assaultedat San Francisco State University for daring to speak about the unfairness of male athletes competing against females.”

This goes way beyond trans boys or men accessing restrooms designated for females.

Recently, the highest profile trans marketing is Anheuser-Busch featuring a biological man, Dylan Mulvaney, who identifies as a woman on their Bud Light cans. Supposedly, Mulvaney is celebrating "365 days of girlhood" This resulted in both backlash from Country Music stars and the general public evidenced by pictures of Bud Light stacked unsold in stores, and resulted in the usual charges of bigotry and intolerance from the Left aimed at these musicians, the public, and conservatives. 

Kid Rock shot up a case of Bud Light with a rifle. Ted Nugent called the partnership with Mulvaney the "epitome of cultural deprivation."

Meanwhile, you have to wonder what corporations are hoping to accomplish. Not market share, for sure. The number of adults in America described as transgender is totals less than 1%. And Anhueser-Busch has lost some $5 billion in value since the Bud Light can debacle.

“Disney experienced this last year, as it offered up a number of entertainment releases with woke messaging, which were routinely avoided by audiences, leading to losses. There was the gay rom-com movie “Bros” that basically defined a woke motion picture release, and it was not even supported by the gay community, becoming one of the biggest bombs of 2022.”

Some suggest this move to woke-ize their image and products is all about the companies' Corporate Equality Index score, a ranking overseen by a major LGBT+ lobbying group, the Human Rights Campaign.

“'Workforce Protections', 'Inclusive Benefits', 'Supporting and Inclusive Culture', and 'Corporate Social Responsibility and Responsible Citizenship' are all used to determine how a company compares on the all-important ranking…The CEI falls under umbrella entity ESG, stood for 'Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance', and its 'ethical investing' movement, which funds ideological projects including those that phase out fossil fuels, promote unionization, and maintain racial and gender equality hiring quotas.”

"While being Transgender has become the latest trend, gender clinics and stakeholders who profit from transitioning young people want to normalize transitioning, so they use people like Dylan as a pawn in their game and lobby companies to be more 'inclusive,’…The more we see trans people everywhere, the more likely kids will want to become like them."

But while this may be Trans Ideology’s big moment, since the entire movement is based upon lies, its seeming success is not without consequences.

Being a “she matters. Without a ‘she’ and a ‘he’, we wouldn’t be we. They wouldn’t be they. You and I wouldn’t be. Period. We live in a culture that is increasingly more hopeless and meaningless because of the determination to be genderless. Our DNA determines our sex/gender, but anytime we deny God’s design for humanity, disaster always follows.”

“We’re not avatars living in some make-believe world. We’re all bound by the same scientific and moral laws. This is reality. Tragically, many have no use for what it actually is. They want to conjure up a surreality untethered from facts and consequences.”

Allow me to pause and say there is such a thing as gender dysphoria, meaning there are people who struggle with who they are biologically. This is real, and it is usually painful. Those who struggle with gender dysphoria need help, “acceptance and affirmation,” to use the trans ideology phrase, not for transitioning by denying their God-given sexuality, but acceptance and affirmation of them as human beings made in God’s image, persons who need our loving care pointing them to the Sovereign Creator God who makes no mistakes.

So nowhere in this podcast am I subtly suggesting people struggling with gender dysphoria should be ridiculed, rejected, much less hated or abused.

But I am also saying that these individuals with genuine difficulties represent a very small percentage of the population. Many more people embracing trans and other non-binary postures are involved in choices rooted in hearts blinded by sin.

Simply because people choose to willfully deny God’s definition of sexuality does not mean the rest of the population must accommodate their every predilection.

“When you deny what you really are, you deform your mind, you warp your personality and instincts, you disguise and mutilate your actual nature, and thus it becomes virtually impossible to live a normal life…But you will always find yourself challenged when around normal people because you know you are denying your own normality. Men are men and women are women, and if they try to be what they are not, they are going to have some serious issues. It is inevitable.”

Increasingly of late, we’re seeing transgender mass shooters, most recently Aubrey Hale in the tragic killing of Christian school students and personnel in Nashville.

This does not mean all trans people will become shooters, but neither does it mean we should ignore this development.

Aubrey Hale’s “fact-denial caused (he/)her to become so psychologically unstable and morally obtuse that he/)she wanted to (die and take others along.) And, quite frankly, it is totally the fault of the transgender ideological movement. They encourage people to be what they are not, to reject their own nature, and to live totally opposite what they truly are. Leftist transgender ideology is completely, and forever, to blame for every one of these people who get screwed up and filled with hate against those who are trying to help them be what God made them to be and wants them to be. And they end up crying for help but finding no answers. Because the Left, by denying God and true nature, has no answers.”

What trans identifying people need is not transition to a gender that is not their biological sex. 

What they need is spiritual transformation of their heart. They need, like all of us, the truth of Scripture: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor. 5:17).

The Lord promised, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Ezek. 36:26).

Not physical transition but spiritual transformation is what transgender people need to secure lasting peace.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. 

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2023   

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.  

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Written by Rex M. Rogers

Published: 10 April 2023

Have you ever been caught off-guard by a new meaning for a long recognized word in the English language?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #79 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Words are how human beings communicate. A gift from God, the power to speak using words, sets human beings apart from animals. But if words do not possess established, recognized shared meanings, they can be manipulated and therefore people can be manipulated. 

Words are hijacked, which is to say, unilaterally repurposed at the expense of normality, reality, and truth, so a given group can control the narrative.

In the postmodern 21^st Century landscape in which we live, confusion reigns supreme. And confusion creates division.

Division, which then leads to power, is the goal of the secular progressive left. A way to do this is to distort language, turn discourse upside down or make it impossible by constantly redefining words.

In the 1990s, President Clinton famously defended his conduct with Monica Lewinski by stating "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

“Language provides an avenue to express shared meaning so humans can relate to one another. On college campuses, social media, and in the courts, this shared meaning is being destroyed. Through linguistic activism, (the secular progressive Left has) begun a full-scale war on language, playing by their own set of constantly shifting rules.

Words can now literally be defined with their antonym. We are a hair’s width and an ounce of stupidity away from (George Orwell’s frightening phrases in his book 1984), ‘war is peace, freedom is slavery.’ This isn’t innocent linguistic drift or slang; it is a conscious effort to reshape society.

(For example,) consider “the phrase ‘undocumented immigrant’ in place of ‘illegal alien.’ The rallying cry is that ‘no person is illegal.’ But of course, ‘illegal’ refers to the action and status, not the personhood of the individual, and ‘alien’ is the technical term for a foreign citizen.”

The term ‘illegal immigration’ is no longer politically acceptable because it might reflect negatively upon some poor, misunderstood ‘migrant’ who entered the United States illegally seeking a better life. The (secular progressive Left) now identifies them as ‘undocumented immigrants.’

“By separating gender from sex, linguistic activists tore the very fabric of mutual understanding, and created a new class of victims, and by definition, a new class of offenders. Pronouns, the simplest way to identify another party, are now subject to feelings.” Dozens of nonsensical new pronouns sprang into existence.

“Controlling how people speak is the implicit goal of this movement, which combined with anti-hate-speech activism seeks to empower the Left as the arbiters of morality and to punish those who wrongfully use language—ironically, achieved by abusing language themselves.”

“Racism is no longer based on religion, color, creed but on political orientation, and anyone who challenges the (secular progressive) Left's agenda is branded a ‘racist.’”

“Creating new definitions for existing words helps (the secular) progressive (Left) redefine society into newly created classifications of perceived disenfranchised individuals they promise to protect, while fundamentally changing America.”

Another example: various efforts have been made to remove “husband” and “wife” from federal law, replacing them with gender neutral terms like married couple, spouse, etc. “The current social engineering requires leftists to continually change public perception of reality.”

“Phobia” is now an all-purpose word used to condemn anyone who does not agree with the Left, as in homophobia, transphobia.

The list of hijacked words is now almost endless, including, gay, assault rifle, equity, progressive, pro-choice to replace pro-abortion, Holiday to replace Christmas, and sex, meaning one’s biological physicality at birth, now replaced by the word gender, meaning a changing or fluid condition one feels psychologically or socially.

Same-sex marriage changed the meaning of marriage. Now it’s about something call “marriage equality.”

In many public schools, there are no longer boys or girls but simply “students.”

Global warming is now “climate change”, and since the weather is forever changing, the idea of climate change is impossible to disprove.

Young criminals are now in some localities referred to as “justice-involved youth.”

Tolerance is used to censor opposing views, and any non-leftist views, are ipso facto, hate speech. Justice is now increasingly displaced by “social justice,” something depending not on right or wrong but upon one’s politics.

There’s a “challenge” at the southern border, not a “crisis.” Migrant children are being held in “reception centers” not “cages.” Instead of “border security,” it’s “border safety.” 

In fall 2020 during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, “then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett was criticized for using the term ‘sexual preference,’ in responding to a question about legal protections for the LGBT community during her confirmation hearing? ‘Sexual preference’ was weaponized by the (secular progressive Left) for being a homophobic slur. The correct term is ‘sexual orientation.’ Most alarming in Justice Barrett’s case is after she uttered the term, 

Merriam-Webster updated its definition of ‘preference’ to include the word’s usage in certain contexts may be ‘offensive.’”

In spring 2022, during “Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearing, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked the Supreme Court nominee: “Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?” Jackson responded, ‘I’m not a biologist.’”

Science, which used to be defined as conclusions based upon tested evidence gleaned from the natural world, is now something based upon feeling or politics.

Biblical images like the rainbow, meaning God’s “covenant with (humanity), that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen. 9:8-16), has now been hijacked as a symbol of the LGBTQ+ movement, adopted in 1978 as its flag.

Diversity now means difference of appearance, not differences in thought, leading to conformity of thought. 

Education at one time meant teaching independent, critical thinking, knowledge, and wisdom, but now it means indoctrination in moral relativism, globalism, and historical revisionism.

Freedom once meant personal liberty but now it means rejection of the burden of being, no stress, and economic dependence on government.

Climate change is not about environmental stewardship and conservation of resources but really is about redistribution of wealth, replacement of free enterprise capitalism by socialism, and minimizing humanity.

If the Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr returned today, his vocabulary would not fit today’s landscape. In fact, many of his goals, like attaining a colorblind society, are now considered racist. Yes, like Abraham Lincoln, in our Orwellian society, Martin Luther King, Jr. is now a racist.

Witness this quote from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Aug. 28, 1963, wherein he expresses optimism and patriotism, concepts now rejected by the secular progressive Left:

“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 

Scripture reminds us God’s Word is truth. It never changes, and we must live “on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). We are, in turn, to engage in “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). To do this, in an age of prevarication and division, we must remember: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Our spiritual and perhaps our social/political well-being depends on it.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. 

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2023   

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.