My childhood in a southeastern Pennsylvania suburb during the ‘80s and early ‘90s was largely based upon the familiar Judeo-Christian values that underscore our society: Respect your parents. Treat others as you would have them treat you. Don’t lie, cheat or steal. You know, the usual.
As machines take on more tasks formerly done by humans, these machines may soon have to make choices that are moral in nature. We all (mostly) appreciate the safety features added to newly designed cars to make our driving safer and easier, such as rear-view cameras and adaptive cruse-control.
In many ways it seems very strange to me that we can talk about something as connected to the nature of God at the level of human genes. In Genesis, one of the first things we learn is that God spoke, making language one of the things we know is part of who God is.
I have been tempted to send my saliva sample to Ancestry.ca and spend the hundred dollars or so to get a DNA analysis of my cultural heritage.
Our motivation to do science is different from non-Christians. But while this may change how we see science, it should not change how we do science.
In Canada, steadily rising energy costs can cause financial hardship. The Fraser Institute reports that over a million Canadian households now spend more than 10 percent of their income on electricity and heating, which, it says, “should be of central concern when policies regarding energy are being devised.” Globally, many people have no access to an electrical grid; if this affects their quality of life it’s known as “energy poverty.”
This perspective raises concerns for me. First, we believe that Christ is Lord over all creation; there is no square inch that is not our Lord’s. Therefore, science too is subject to our Lord’s ownership. Does this change how we do science? Do Christians and atheists approach science differently? Does our worldview matter in science?
The seemingly casual decisions we make about purchasing, repairing and disposing of our electronics are one way we respond to God’s call to care for the earth. After all, all of life is religious.
The Reformation reshaped our way of reading of God’s special revelation, the Bible, giving it primacy of place as a way to understand God’s relationship with us. In the intervening 500 years, science has enriched our understanding of God’s general revelation, his world. We see an amazing cosmos that stretches our imagination and demonstrates the grandeur of our Lord.
But I wonder: are we also paying attention to our responsibility for creation? The very broad consensus among climate scientists is that human activity is having a significant effect on the world climate.
An article in the New Atlantis titled “The Architecture of Evil” opens with the provocative statement: “Someone designed the furnaces of the Nazi death camps.”
My recent trip to the DR showed me another side of this picturesque country as I visited a number of fledgling Christian schools which are part of COCREF (Colegios Cristianos Reformados). This network of 15 Christian schools seeks to serve roughly 3,700 children, some of whom are among the most neglected children in the DR.
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