Rise of the Lukewarm Materialists

 While the world seems to trumpet the decline of Christianity in the modern west, I'd argue it is merely the decline of 'christianity' or as C.S. Lewis would put it, the decline of 'christianity and...' or perhaps the endangerment and extinction of the lukewarm lutheran.  I don't think America was ever truly a Christian nation, was it founded on Christian thought, morals, and philosophy, certainly, but I don't know if it has ever been a 'christian nation' and it really doesn't matter, because the Kingdom of Heaven has never been and will never be of this world, it wasn't when old Rome was at its height nor America in its decline or even Israel at any time in history.  The idea that any temporal nation can equate with or compete with the eternal and incorruptible Kingdom of God is ridiculous.  Should christians work to make their communities and countries a better, more 'christian' environment and culture, certainly, but to mourn the death of something that never existed is ridiculous or to despair because we now live in a more culturally secular age is preposterous, such has been the state of the earthly church since its inception: we are outcasts, pariahs, laughingstocks, those who believe in things unseen and rejoice in the foolish things of the world, lunatics, strangers, aliens, and foreigners to the world and culture of our birth.  The first disciples were accused of turning the world upside down, but rather they were setting it right side up.  The church will always be upside down and backwards to the prevailing earthly culture, no matter where or when, that is its very nature.  Christ would not have come from outside our reality to save us if salvation could be contrived from within by human efforts, ergo His kingdom will also be something outside our current understanding of what a country is.

Until the end of the 1990s or perhaps the early 2000s it was still culturally okay to identify as culturally Christian, most people did so just to blend in or find cultural acceptance or because they weren't Hindu or Jewish or because grandma was, no matter their personal beliefs or practices.  It didn't mean anything then and it doesn't mean anything now, the only difference is that now it isn't safe or acceptable to identify as Christian.  Instead, the conformists are migrating over to other causes, trends, movements, and organizations.  The heart of christian belief and practice hasn't changed in 2000 years but our current culture has moved on from identifying such as 'normal' or 'acceptable' rather now identifying that same belief and practice as 'fundamental extremism' or 'whatever-phobic' or 'myopic and dangerous.'  The church hasn't changed, rather society's perception thereof has done a complete 180.  Society finally figured out that this horse wasn't going to get them where they wanted to go, so they dismounted and found a new ride.  Any other cause can be used as a means to an end, to get you wherever you want to end up, but the true church will never be a means to an end, that doesn't mean people won't try, but eventually they'll figure out it is an express train going somewhere very particular not a horse one can whip and kick and rein around to suit one's own whims.

So all those mediocre, lip-service 'christians' have jumped ship.  Proclaiming themselves 'nones' or whatever and the world rejoices at this sudden decline in the church, only it really isn't a real decline.  We're losing dead weight, the people that were only here for themselves and their personal endeavors not for the good of others or the kingdom of God.  The people who contributed nothing and demanded everything be done exactly their way and who caused 95% of the problems.  If I was the world, I wouldn't be celebrating this mass migration but rather dreading it ending up weighing down any and every other cause, trend, or organization.  These same folks are going to be joining ranks with the rainbow alphabet and the climate change enthusiasts among many another cause or belief or organization.  They'll demand attention and resources and that everything be done their way or they'll make a fuss about it and cause strife within the ranks.  Good riddance!

The church is getting into fighting trim, the fetters are falling off and the labyrinth of people pleasing has fallen down.  While public opinion is against us, at least there will be less squabbling amongst ourselves!  In Revelation Jesus warns people to be hot or cold towards Himself, not lukewarm, lest He spit them out of His mouth and that's exactly what is happening.  And all these loafers, hangers-on, and parasites are going to be seeking something else to fill that void.  World beware, they are coming your way! 'Rejoice O Heavens and ye who dwell in them, but woe to you oh earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great wrath for he knows his time is short...'

AI and what it is to be human

 Poetry, metaphor, humor, aesthetics, the metaphysical, the creation and appreciation of true beauty, these are things it will be very hard for a computer or artificial intelligence ever to truly comprehend.  I stole a couple quotes from classic poetry just to see what would happen, the results are gorgeous, but especially in the case of the second picture, the computer really didn't get what was going on.  I used Leonardo.ai to produce the following unedited pics:

The first is from Keat's "Ode to a Nightingale:" "magic casements, opening on the foam Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn"

The second is from Noyes' "The Highwayman:" "The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas. The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor..."

Certainly gorgeous, but both have their faults, particularly the purple galleon!  The crazy thing is these images depend on millions of individual human contributions to culture and art and it takes a human to appreciate them and humans to edit them and give them meaning.  We were created to be creators, yes we can create things that can help us create, but without a driving human influence behind a given production it means nothing, it is nothing.  Only the Creator can call something out of nothing, only one created in His image can give meaning to nonsense.

The AI Apocalypse?

 AI has certainly been making headlines lately, as have the predications of a dawning utopia or impending robotic apocalypse resulting therefrom, but no matter how terrifying or exciting, one must remember that AI, like fire or electricity or anything else is a tool, while it may revolutionize the way we live, do business, and communicate, and if implemented hastily or in a foolish manner may have drastic and unforeseen consequences, but it is still a tool.  Genetic modification is also a tool and with it we can feed billions or create a monster virus that can wipe out a civilization.  It is what we do with it and why that makes all the difference.

In one of the Star Wars prequels, Obi-wan says, "if droids could think there would be none of us here."  And I've always loved that line, so simple yet so profound.  Yes our tech can 'learn' and 'know' and 'do' all sorts of neat stuff, much of it yet undreamt, but it can't think, create, or give meaning to anything.  Our Creator made us in His image and breathed into us life, and being, and purpose.  But a computer can no more appreciate a rainbow or a sunset or a sonata than your pet goldfish or sofa.  We can't create that for ourselves, how much less for our tech?  It had to be created in us by an outside source, we are incapable of passing it on to our own creations or creating it out of nothing.  No matter how amazing, AI will never produce real art.

Yes, it can produce amazing images, I've just been playing with it, but it requires human input to create those images, human taste to select and manipulate the images, and a human eye to appreciate the final product.  My camera can produce great images but it requires me to select the content of said image.  The camera doesn't care what image it produces, but I do.  The AI image generator produced some rather good and some rather grotesque and some completely baffling images.  I needed to change my prompts or edit the resulting image or change the filters and parameters to get what I wanted, it meant nothing to the computer.

Can we use AI for terrible things, yes!  As we can fire or money or nuclear weapons.  No matter how much our tech changes, our hearts do not nor does what it means to be human.  Yes, tech may get really good at solving medical problems or doing your taxes or whatever but it will never replace humanity, instead it is meant to serve humanity, but it will only be as beneficial as the purposes and intent of those overseeing it.  Will it change things, certainly, but will it replace us, no!  Should we use it wisely, by all means.  Will we?  If history is any indicator, I wouldn't bet on it.  Should we despair?  Certainly not, for the same One who bequeathed us our own intelligence still oversees our world and lives and has a plan and a purpose in all things.  We can certainly make robots in our own image but we'd be far wiser taking very seriously the commands of our own Designer, in this as well as in all things!  There may not ever be an AI apocalypse but we most certainly know the tale of this world will one day be at an end and then we must each give an account of our lives to the Author, so maybe that's the apocalypse we should be most concerned about, at least if we aren't currently His!