Facing a Changing World

Right now, the pandemic is raging with new COVID-19 cases rapidly increasing. Things are in flux. This holiday season will look different from past holidays.

Back at the end of July, I talked about how the pandemic is speeding up the rate of adoption of new ideas and new technology. This means some jobs are not coming back when this pandemic is over. That is what Fed Chairman Powell is worried about.

Powell cautioned that displaced workers are going to need extended support as the U.S. economy recovers in ways that will be different from its former self.

“We’re not going back to the same economy,” Powell said. “We’re recovering, but to a different economy and it will be one that is more leveraged to technology, and I worry that it’s going to make it even more difficult than it was for many workers.”

The central bank leader said he was referring specifically to “relatively low-paid public-facing workers who are bearing this brunt,” many of whom are women and minorities. (From CNBC)

How many of you are going to do most or all your shopping online this Christmas? I expect many more will and there will not be very many going to the stores. In some places the stores may not even be open. The store clerks are some of the “public-facing workers” he is talking about. Will they have jobs when this is over? The big box stores have been struggling for some time now, but I am more worried about the small Mom-and-Pop stores surviving and the survival of other small businesses such as restaurants.

So as jobs disappear for many employees and small business owners, what will their replacement jobs look like? Will they be able to use the skills they have from the past? Will there be unskilled jobs available? Or will they need to be retrained? If retrained, will there be enough jobs available for them in their new field? Lots of unknowns, but unfortunately l believe this economic transition will be messy. Everyone will need to be resilient.

This pandemic is lasting much longer than I thought it would. I should have realized that it would last a while. The 1918 “Spanish” flu pandemic actually lasted over 2 years (February 1918 to April 1920). I don’t think this pandemic will last that long because there is a vaccine coming, but the pandemic will be around for over a year.

There is also concern about this generation of children. Because of the sudden shutdown of schools last spring with some attempts at remote learning, these children missed significant classroom experiences. My wife came out of retirement, to meet a desperate need for a first grade teacher at Immanuel Lutheran School. She confirms that her students have some challenging gaps in learning–socially, academically, and behaviorally. Today’s students need to catch up. Because of the large number of new COVID-19 cases, many schools are going back to remote learning. Is remote learning currently up to the task? Right now I would say remote learning is not up to the task for many, if not most, children, especially in the lower grades. Right now, I think, remote learning works well for students who are motivated, but the rest of the students need more than just remote learning. In the future, I believe remote learning will be part of a child’s education, but right now it is not quite ready. Teachers will have to be flexible, creative, and resilient.

This pandemic is having a major effect on our economy and society. The pandemic is changing our world. Welcome to the emerging new 21st century normal, where we all will need to be resilient.

Racism Today

The last several years have shown that racism is alive and well in America. It is not just that some people are racist, though that is true, but that there is an underlying current of racism in American society, called systemic or structural racism. Here are two videos by Phil Vischer (of VeggieTales fame) from which I learned a lot about racism in America.

Much of what Phil talks about is the history of systemic or structural racism in the last 60+ years, that is racism that is built into society and our laws. It does not make for a level playing field with people of color not being treated equally. Phil lays out a good argument why this is the case. It is worth watching both videos. Part 2 answers the common questions and objections to the first video.

To bring up one point that really struck me is the typical white household ($171,000) has 10 times more wealth than the typical black household ($17,150). (6.7 times if you include the atypical households.) Much of the wealth is usually found in home ownership, and it is also one of the best ways to grow your wealth. The lack of wealth limits your options. This is in part due to the policies of the past and present, such as redlining, which is the systematic denial of services (e.g. house loans) by the government and the private sector.

Racism is a complex problem with no simple solutions. Many people of color have been kept in poverty, intentionally and unintentionally, by white Americans and by American laws. Because this has gone on for generation after generation, many black people, especially men, have lost all hope. They see no way out of their poverty. Many have stopped trying.

The Bible speaks quite clearly about racism being wrong and that all are equal in the sight of God. Here are a few phrases from the Bible:

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:11)
For God shows no partiality. (Romans 2:11)
But if you show partiality, you are committing sin (James 2:9)

The result of racism is oppression. What does the Bible have to say about oppression?

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. (Psalm 9:9)
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. (Proverbs 14:31)
Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression (Isaiah 1:17)

What can we do? First, we need to care, and listen, and learn. If God is for the oppressed, then we should be to. We need to act. We should seek justice and correct oppression. We should be generous to the needy. We should not continue to sit on the sidelines and do nothing. (Consider some of the ideas at the end of the second video to put into action.)

Paul was concerned about the racial divide between Jews and Gentiles in the Ephesian church so he wrote:

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. (Ephesians 2:13-17)

It is Jesus Christ who brings peace to our racial divide and makes us one.

Cancellation

Mary is a sweet old grandmother who just cashed her Social Security check at the local bank. It had been a busy day but she got her check cashed just as the bank was closing. John looks around the corner and sees Mary walking home. He really wants to grab her purse and get that money, but he is debating with himself on whether to do it or not. What is going through John’s head? What is holding him back? Is it that someone might see him and he would be arrested? Or is he thinking how Mary needs that money to live on and stealing the money would be really hard on her? The former reason is where our human nature takes us. We don’t want to be caught and suffer the shame and consequences. The later reason is more common in cultures where Christianity has influenced the culture. Concern for others is a trait emphasized in Christianity.

The former reason is part of an honor-shame culture, which is common in much of the world because of human nature. Today it is showing up more and more in the West because of our post-Christian society. The “Cancel Culture” is one manifestation of it. Cancellation is to bring shame upon the person for actions or words that a group considers disgraceful and objectionable. The purpose of canceling is more than just a group expressing displeasure. The purpose is to make the person so undesirable that it destroys the person’s reputation and causes people to avoid them. Many times that includes demands that the person lose their job. In fact maintaining a relationship with a shamed or canceled person could cause you yourself to be canceled.

Cancellation is a tool used by critical theorists to fight against unjust societal structures, especially with regard to race. Two recent cancellation examples are the removal of statues of slave owners and the canceling of people who had years before blackfaced themselves. From these examples, you can see cancellation has no time limit, and there is no forgiveness or restoration for canceled people. You can be canceled for something you did or said in the past that you now regret.

An interesting side point is that in our postmodern society, moral truth is supposed to be relative. However for these people who cancel, the current moral truth is fixed and rigid, but for many of those being canceled the moral goalposts have been moved and what was okay back then has now become an objectionable offense. The moral standard has changed. I do believe in a fixed moral standard as determined by Christian scripture. That standard has not changed. It has been set for thousands of years. We all fail to live up to that standard, but there is forgiveness and restoration found in Jesus Christ.

As Christians, how do we approach someone who believes in canceling? First start with prayer. Ask God for guidance and for him work through you. Second, be humble and listen. Try to understand and learn where they are coming from. Many times they are trying to right actual wrongs in society. If they are critical theorists, they will believe that removing the oppressive norms of society will solve the problem. As Christians, we know that the root problem is our sinful nature, and that liberation from societal norms will not solve the problem. Remember the restoration and forgiveness found in Jesus is the solution. Third, realize that there will be differences of opinion. You don’t have to convince the person. Just plant a seed and let God do the rest in his time.

Where is the Unbiased News?

Newspaper Boxes (photo by David Resseguie)

There is no such thing as completely unbiased news, however, some sources are much more biased than others. Ideally we want news sources where the reporters and editors are trying to deliver unbiased news. The reporters and editors can not be completely unbiased because they have to make decisions on what to write about or print. An unimportant detail to them may be important to you. Yet even with a bias the facts are usually there in the article or video to inform you.

So how do we determine biased and unbiased news? First is the video or article written to provoke emotion? If so, it is biased. If you become angry or fearful because of what you watched or read then it is likely it is biased. It appears to me that the newer the news medium the more likely there is an emphasis on the sensational. That is a very broad generalization, but I believe in general it is true. That means that newspapers are more likely to be reliable than cable news or social media posts. You need to remember that the news industry wants to get and keep your attention so they can sell more advertisements, so there is pressure on them to make the news sensational.

Where are the reliable sources? I would go with the traditional news organizations like broadcast TV (ABC, CBS, NBC) and the news services (AP News, Reuters) that supply the newspapers. Here is a site that tries to rank the bias. I don’t completely agree with their rankings but I believe it provides a good starting point. You need a baseline so that you can check out the accuracy of the article/video. And remember even the most reliable news sources are not always right. Note talk shows that discuss the news usually add a bias. They are not meant to be news sources.

So when we read an article or watch a video from a reliable source we should ask ourselves if we can see a bias. One way is to read/watch more than one article/video on the topic from reliable sources. You can then see what has been left out or what was differently emphasized between the reliable sources. This will help you be accurately informed.

Also be careful to note your own bias. What you read may be totally factual but not something you want to hear. You need to be willing to accept unwanted news. Or you may read/watch something totally false yet it fits with what you want to believe. You need to question your bias. To give an extreme example, remember Pizzagate. Here is a guy back in 2016 who travels from North Carolina to a pizza parlor in Washington D.C., armed and ready, to rescue children who were sex slaves. They were supposed to be held in that pizza parlor for the Democratic elite. He walked into the place and found out that he was totally wrong. He believed the fake news from an unreliable alt-right source. The sad thing is a modified version of that conspiracy theory still lives on with QAnon.

Nowadays what you share on social media makes you a news source. Be careful in what you post or repost. I remember reading about a guy who tweeted something he saw that had national importance. The tweet spread like wildfire. A few hours later he realized that he had been wrong. He posted a retraction that went nowhere. Unfortunately, social media promotes sensational stories and not retractions. Make certain what you post or repost is accurate news and not fake news, so that you do not have a part in spreading a lie.

Be Kind!

Social media amplifies mean spirited posts. They propagate in the matter of minutes across the social media sphere. They grab people’s attention and thus make more money for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like. The sad result is these mean spirited posts hurt and divide people. It is not the Christian thing to do. Scripture is clear.

²²So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ²³Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴And the Lord’s servant^[^a^] must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:22-26; ESV)

What does the Apostle Paul tell Timothy:

Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.
Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies.
Must not be quarrelsome.
Kind to everyone.
Able to teach.
Patiently enduring evil.
Correcting his opponents with gentleness.

Why do this so that “God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth”. Too many Christians post or repost half truths, lies, and mean spirited content. That is not being a good witness, and it does not promote the Christian Faith. It does the exact opposite. Don’t let the Christian name be dragged through the mud of falsehoods.

Another passage that strongly suggests that we are to be a force for good.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.^[^a^] Never be wise in your own sight. ¹⁷Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it^[^b^] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:14-21; ESV)

Here we see that we are to

Bless and do not curse them.
Be empathetic.
Live in harmony.
Associate with the lowly.
Repay no one evil for evil.
Do what is honorable in the sight of all.
Live peaceably with all.
Never avenge yourselves.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I think a good summary of this passage is “overcome evil with good”. There are plenty more passages that speak to how we should act. Here are a few more passages with the key idea phrases and context links.

Love bears all things (1 Corinthians 13:7)
Let your speech always be gracious (Colossians 4:5-6)
Speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15-16)
Do not speak evil against one another (James 4:11-12)
Do it with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15-17)
Keep loving one another earnestly (1 Peter 4:8)

So as Christians, be kind to everyone online and off. Please do not post or repost mean spirited messages. That includes even those posts you consider funny but others will find that post offensive. Check and make certain what you are posting comes from reliable sources. That means that you should also make certain other reliable sources carry the same information. Realize what you post will be seen by many different types of people who may not understand the context of your post. Again, be kind and show love to everyone.

To sum up from Luther’s Small Catechism:

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

Note there are some instances when speaking the truth in love to a person eventually requires you speak harshly to them to wake them up out of their sin (e.g. self-righteous hypocrisy) but those instances should not be social media posts for all to see.

The Communion Divide

Christians are divided over a variety of doctrines. Some people will argue and demand agreement over the most minor of points (doctrinal sectarianism). Others will allow any belief to exist in order to promote unity (doctrinal minimalism). And then there is the spectrum of people in between those two extremes. What is needed is some “theological triage”, where it is determined which doctrines are critical, which are important, which are less important, and which are unimportant. However, even then, different people will treat different doctrines differently, so what might be considered a critical doctrine by one would be considered less important by another.

Today, I believe, there are two big doctrines that divide people into many denominations. They are Baptism and Holy Communion (Lord’s Supper or Eucharist). 500 years ago during the Reformation, it was Holy Communion that prevented Protestants from uniting. (The anabaptists were few in number so baptism was not an issue like it is today.) We are going to take a look at the 5 major ways Christians view Holy Communion. Note I believe Holy Communion is an important doctrine, but a right understanding of Holy Communion is not critical for salvation.

I am Lutheran and because of that I am going to explain what theologically conservative (confessional) Lutherans believe and why. (At least how I understand it.) And we will compare that with the other 4 ways of looking at Holy Communion. You should expect some Lutheran taint since that is where I am coming from.

Let us look at what the Bible says, because it is the authority (the only authority for conservative Lutherans). Here is what Matthew 26:26-29 says:

²⁶Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” ²⁷And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, ²⁸for this is my blood of the^[^c^] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

For context see Matthew 26. There are also accounts in Mark and Luke and in 1 Corinthians. All four accounts are pretty much the same. The one important phrase missing from the Matthew account is “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19b). That phrase is found in the Luke and 1 Corinthians accounts.

Conservative Lutherans take the phrases “this is my body” and “this is my blood” literally. There is no scripture to suggest that the phrases only represent the body and blood. Lutherans believe that Jesus’ body and blood are physically present. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches also believe in the real physical presence of Jesus in Holy Communion. The Reformed Church (and Presbyterian Church) believe that Jesus is present in the bread and wine, but the body and blood are passed to the communicant in a spiritual manner. And the other belief of churches (hereafter referred to as Baptist) is that bread and wine only represent the body and blood.

Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ physically exists in, with, and under the bread and wine. So both, bread and wine and body and blood, are present as described in 1 Corinthians 10:16, which says “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” Roman Catholics believe that the bread and wine are changed into Christ’s body and blood while retaining the form of bread and wine. It is called Transubstantiation and uses some Aristotelian philosophy to define Transubstantiation. Eastern Orthodox has not doctrinally defined Holy Communion. It just calls it a mystery that bread and wine are turned into the body and blood.

Lutherans also believe that the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus’ death on the cross is given to us in Holy Communion (Matthew 26:28). The Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox

Churches also believe that the forgiveness of sins is found in Holy Communion. The Reformed Church sees Holy Communion as providing spiritual nourishment. The Baptist belief sees Holy Communion as only a remembrance of Christ’s death.

Conservative Lutherans also practice close or closed communion. This means that not all are welcome at the communion table. The scripture from 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 says

²⁷Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Holy Communion is serious stuff. One can eat and drink to their harm (v. 27, 29). One should also examine themselves (v. 28) before partaking of Holy Communion. That is why for Lutherans practice close/closed communion. Holy Communion is only for Christians who recognize that they are sinners in need of the sacrament and are willing with the help of the Holy Spirit to change their lives. They also need to recognize that the body and blood of Christ is present in the bread and wine (v. 27). Conservative Lutherans also believe there is a need for doctrinal unity/fellowship (Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 1 Corinthians 10:17).

It is out of pastoral concern that close/closed communion is practiced, so that no harm is caused. Some Lutheran pastors will only commune those they know. Many will commune only those in the same denomination that they are in. And others allow for more leeway, asking only those who believe what the Lutherans believe to commune.

All of the five different beliefs, whether open or closed communion beliefs, believe that Holy Communion is meant for Christians. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox also practice closed communion. Other denominations may or may not practice closed communion, even some Baptists practice close communion. However, most Protestant churches practice open communion, where they allow anyone to participate in Holy Communion.

In my very limited experience, these differences of closed communion has been the most offensive to other Christians. As Christians they are offended to not be able to share communion with their Lutheran brother as part of a united body of Christ. So where does this fall on the spectrum of doctrinal minimalism to doctrinal sectarianism. I do not know. It appears that the more theologically conservative you are the more likely you lean toward doctrinal sectarianism. I personally believe in the idea of closed communion, but I don’t want to end up as a sectarian. I want to allow for a broad view of Christianity with differing beliefs within the Christian boundaries, while holding strongly to my beliefs. That is why I am interested in “theological triage”.

Note there is a lot more that can be said about Holy Communion and the differences in belief, but I believe this is a decent summary.

Happy 21st Wedding Anniversary

You never know how things are going to turn out. When I headed off to college, I figured I would work for the National Weather Service somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, and I would settle down, get married and have a couple of kids. And this would all happen by the age of 30. Guess what? None of that happened as planned. As I grew older, I realized as a strong introvert that I liked being single and getting married was not going to happen. Again I was wrong.

Back in 1995, I went on a mission trip to Latvia. I had felt the need to step out of my comfort zone and do something different, something “risky” for God. I was glad I went on the mission trip. It was a milestone in my life. Then in 1998, the wife of the couple who led the mission trip contacted me and said that Gail wanted an email pen pal. She had gone on the same mission trip 2 years before me in 1993. I realized the wife was matchmaking and because of that I almost did not email Gail. The only reason I emailed Gail was that I was certain nothing would come of this long distance relationship. She was in Oregon and I in Colorado. Thank God, I was wrong yet again.

We emailed. We met. No sparks flew, but I felt comfortable talking to Gail and I enjoyed her company. Then I belatedly realized I had fallen in love, and I was way out of my comfort zone. Seeing God’s hand in all of this, I again embraced the risk. We were married on August 15, 1999, and now I have been happily married to Gail for 21 years. I am thankful that God put her in my life. She is a wonderful woman and I am very happy to have her as my life partner.

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9; ESV)

Here are a few pictures from that day 21 years ago.

The New 21st Century Normal

The only thing constant is change or so they say. Big events like a major war, a depression, or a pandemic causes the change to new ways to accelerate, and the old ways to die off more quickly. The question I have been pondering is “What will the new normal look like after the pandemic is over?” Or will it ever be over? COVID19 might just be a part of the “new normal”. There are a lot of unknowns and many choices that will be made, but we can look at what is happening and be prepared for various possible scenarios that may occur. We need to prepare to be resilient and robust. We need to be flexible and adaptable to the changes around us. Being not willing to adjust to the new normal will lead to failure.

Some would say that the 21st century really started in 2020 with the pandemic. All those new 21st century ways of doing things are firmly taking root now. It happened before. World War I was the catalyst for the 20th century to “really start”. A lot of aristocratic ways were discarded after the war and the 20th century truly began.

How has the pandemic changed our lives? Are these changes part of the new normal? Or are they temporary? Looking at what has happened, we see a lot of changes. People are wearing masks. People are not shaking hands. People are working from home. People are buying online. Students are learning online, instead of in a classroom. Meetings are being conducted via video chat. Concerts are performed online. People are streaming videos to entertain themselves instead of visiting a movie theater. People are isolating with no large gatherings allowed. How much of this is temporary? How much will become part of the new normal?

Looking at Tourism and the Travel Industries, you can see they have been hit very hard by the pandemic. Tourism provides 1 out of every 10 jobs worldwide. How does the future look for them? One possible outcome is that the pandemic will end and people will begin to travel again. This will likely happen with assurances from the airlines, cruise ships, hotels, and other event centers that they have and will continually disinfect and clean everything to close to hospital standards. They would also monitor people for fevers and employ other disease monitoring equipment. They would be motivated because an outbreak would be very bad for business. Likely business would not return to the numbers they saw before. The worst case scenario would be if the pandemic continues and they are unable to fully open. They would go bankrupt, or would have to charge enormous rates for the very rich to travel and see the sites. The rest of us would view the sites from our home in virtual reality or by video. Travel would be very limited. That would be a disaster for the travel and tourism industries. The travel and tourism industries make their money by packing lots of people into close quarters. Unfortunately that is also the way disease spreads.

Already we see companies saying they will allow employees to continue to work from home after the pandemic is over. How many offices will be vacant because of this change? How many companies who rent out office space will be struggling financially due to too many empty offices? There are some adjustments that will need to be made.

Big box stores were in financial trouble before the pandemic. How many of them will be able to survive with the increased online purchasing? Many of them got their start with catalogs. Online shopping is nothing more than using an online catalog, and yet they are struggling to make that change. It seems to me that they are no longer flexible, and they can not change. I like to think I see there will be a return to catalog stores, where you can get advice and place an order, and also where you can return those things that were the wrong size, color, or whatever that was not right for you. I hope that will happen, if they are willing to make the change.

These big box stores remind me of Kodak. Kodak was the company that invented the digital camera. Yet Kodak was destroyed because it refused to adopt the digital camera until it was too late. Its film business was too valuable for them to make the change to digital. Today Kodak is only a shell of the original company.

So how flexible are you? How flexible is your favorite company or organization? Can they quickly adjust to the changing environment? I am amazed at the stories of how breweries and distilleries started producing bottles of disinfectant, and companies who changed their production line to produce face shields and even ventilators in a matter of weeks. These are the companies that are resilient and robust. They saw the opportunity and made the change.

Likely you have already adjusted a little to the 21st century. Do you own a smartphone? That is a 21st century device that is changing society. I admit I don’t use it to its full potential. It is more than just a phone and a camera that you carry around. Some 21st century thinking is needed to make better use of it. What adjustments will you need to make?

This post was inspired by a very interesting article by Tim O’Reilly, “Welcome to the 21st Century”.

PS For different reasons many local churches have been in distress for years. They have lost the younger generations. I feel they have been living in the past, and have not been willing to change and reach out to the younger generations. Can they be resilient and still live out their calling? I think for some churches, if they are willing, they can make the change and survive. Unfortunately for many of them with only senior citizens attending it is likely too late.

You Disclosed!

There is a new phrase out there. It is “surveillance capitalism”. It is the way many companies in the 21st century make their money. Google was one of the companies that developed it. It wants to know all about you so it can show you targeted ads. What is valuable today for many companies is information about you. From grocery stores to tech companies, they all want information about you, and they are collecting it. There are data brokers who will buy and sell your information. These are private companies collecting data, like your location, your license plate information, and even your real estate information. They organize the data to sell it.

Let us look at the 5 big tech titans. Google and Facebook are really advertising companies that offer you free services so they can learn as much about you as possible so they can show you targeted ads and thus they make their money. Amazon is also in the business of collecting data on you, so it can better run the Amazon store and sell you its many services. And Microsoft is also collecting your data, but right now it is playing catch up. Apple is a hardware company so it has less reasons to collect data on you but it still collects data to help lock you into its ecosystem.

Cell phones can easily track you and with GPS they track you down to about 16 feet. For example, Google Maps is great for finding places, but that means Google knows exactly where you are. I realized how much Google Maps tracks you, when I saw Google Maps on my smartphone accurately reporting the speed of my car in the middle of nowhere. It made me realize that I am most likely always being tracked with my cell phone. It seems to me that the cell phone is the biggest surveillance device around. Here is a comic strip (Baldo) that drives home the point of “surveillance capitalism”.

In the last post, we saw all the surveillance that China uses on its citizens. In the US, your surveillance data is available to the government but it does require a warrant or money to purchase it. It is legal for the government to buy surveillance data and there are plenty of companies collecting the data. On the other hand, we also see that the police are more accountable due to all the cameras surveilling us today.

Is privacy a thing of the past? What should our expectations be? Should surveillance be regulated? Or are we past the point of no return and we need to accept that we live in a transparent society where privacy is no longer an important value? So how much privacy is really needed? Those are 21st century questions.

Authoritarian China

I have known several people who have done mission work to the Chinese people, and because of that I have developed an interest in China. Over the years, I have seen China open up and Chinese Christians worship without concern. Unfortunately that began to change about 5 plus years ago. The Chinese government has become more and more authoritarian. The Chinese ruling elite have become, in my opinion, increasingly concerned with potential rivals and threats to their power.

July 1, 2020 was the 23rd anniversary of the treaty of the British returning Hong Kong to China which set up the “one country, two systems” arrangement between Hong Kong and China. Unfortunately July 1, 2020 will also be remembered as the day China in the name of national security forced Hong Kong to enact a new law that greatly restricts freedom of expression. Secession, subversion of state power, terrorism, and collusion with foreign entities are now broadly defined illegal activities with up to life in prison if convicted. Due to “national security”, the trials can now be moved to mainland China where the trials may be done in secrecy. Hong Kong’s judiciary can now be superseded by China. A man with a flag calling for Hong Kong independence was one of the first to be arrested. The “one country, two systems” seems to now be “one country, one dominating system”.

Also the law empowers China to set up a national security agency in Hong Kong to oversee the investigation and prosecution of any violations. This law allows China to act outside the law of Hong Kong. The law also extends past Hong Kong, so that this blog post could be a reason for me to be arrested if I ever visited Hong Kong. I believe this law is designed to suppress dissent in Hong Kong. I believe it is already working with two political opposition parties disbanding and several activists resigning from organizations that might be considered subversive. At least one activist has left Hong Kong out of fear of being arrested.

As you can tell this new law bothers me. More information about the Hong Kong law can be found here. But this is nothing new. In China, you are tracked by many different means. You are not trusted. You show your ID card everywhere. For a couple of examples, you show your ID card when you mail something, when you enter or leave a university campus, and when you ride the subway. Also cameras are everywhere observing you and facial recognition is being used.

I believe that China is now the leader in surveillance technology, and may already be exporting the technology to other authoritarian regimes. China has the perfect test bed for surveillance technology. Right now in NW China over 1 million Uighur Muslims are in re-education camps. There they are monitored 24/7. With these camps China is implementing social and behavioral controls. They are using surveillance to try to predict behaviors. If you are in NW China and not in a camp, you are still very closely monitored. You could be arrested for a ‘pre-crime’ if your behavior and identity suggest a possible crime in the future. I believe their goal is to create a society where everyone is obedient to the authorities and there is no dissent. I am afraid that the rest of China could be next. I am especially concerned for the Christians there. They are viewed with suspicion because their allegiance is not totally for the State. The legal Christian churches have been given the task to change Christianity to be more Chinese, which I take to mean more beholding to the State. I am concerned! More information on Chinese surveillance can be found here.

If you think that is bad, there is talk of ranking people in China, so that if you are in good standing with the government you can go where you want but if you are in bad standing you might not even be able to ride a bus or the subway.