Health Archives

August 19, 2021August 18, 2021

The Design of Death

It may sound strange to talk about death in a positive way. The truth is that the design of death is part of the creation. The second law of thermodynamics, in simple terms, says that in a closed system, things move toward a condition of disorder. That principle is built into the fabric of the physical universe. It allows the diffusion of resources, the circulation of air, the transfer of energy from one form to another, and multiple other physical processes. It also means that our human bodies are in a constant movement toward decay.

The Bible contains a statement of this law in Isaiah 51:6: “Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell in the earth shall die in a like manner.” Thus, the design of death applies to the universe and everything in it.

Is our death just a piece of collateral damage to the second law? For those who are Christians, death is not the ultimate tragedy. My son Tim lived his whole life with multiple handicaps, including muscular dystrophy, blindness, cerebral palsy, and schizophrenia. Despite those handicaps, his life was full. When COVID-19 took away his ability to swallow, talk, sit up, stand or walk, he could still hear and communicate with me. For him to be unable to die would have been insanely cruel. Isaiah 57:1-2 describes this well: “For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.”

For a Christian, death removes us from evil and brings us into peace. I look forward to freedom from politics, pollution, illness, global warming, and pain. In 2 Peter 1:15, Peter talks about his death using the Greek term “exodos,” which means to depart. It is the word from which we get the name of the book of Exodus that describes Israel’s departure from Egyptian bondage.

So far in 2021, I have lost my son, my brother, and three of my close friends to death. They were all Christians, so I am happy for them. I take to heart 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, which tells me not to grieve “as others do who have no hope.” Psalms 116:15 tells us, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” The word “saint” here refers to “one set apart” as members of God’s family of believers–Christians.

When I was an atheist, death offered me no future. As a Christian, I see death as an entrance into a far better existence than I have now. We have an instinctive desire to live, and any change we make can be scary. That is especially true of departing this life. Paul said in Philippians 1:21-23, “To live is Christ and to die is gain,” Death can be beautiful, and the design of death is a reality for the world in which we live.

August 16, 2021August 12, 2021

Dangerous Chemicals Cause Human Suffering

The problem of human suffering has been at the center of debates over the existence of God for hundreds of years. However, in recent years, increasing evidence has come to light that, to a large extent, dangerous chemicals cause human suffering.

In April 2021, a federal appeals court ordered the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos from food. Mounting evidence indicates that it and other organophosphate pesticides are related to a host of human ills, especially in children.

The federal agency regulating nuclear waste recently proposed putting “very low level” nuclear waste into unlicensed landfills. We know that nuclear radiation increases the risk of cancer, birth defects, immune disorders, and a host of other health issues.

The state of Washington decided to get rid of toxic firefighting foam by shipping it to an out-of-state incinerator. Burning the foam releases poly-fluoroalkyl substances, which can stay in the human body for decades and are related to cancer.

The federal government plans to reopen the Homestead Detention Center in Homestead, Florida, to detain migrant children. That center is near a military superfund site saturated with contaminants linked to cancer, kidney failure, blood disorders, and developmental damage. Dangerous chemicals cause human suffering.

The list goes on and on of decisions that can ultimately bring pain and suffering to humans. We can’t blame God for what we do to ourselves by selfishness, bad judgment, greed, and abuse of God’s gifts.

References: Earthjustice Quarterly Magazine for Summer 2021 and “Pesticides are Killing Our Soils” in Scientific American August 2021.

August 14, 2021August 12, 2021

Experimenting on Human Subjects

One of the challenges of medical science is how to test a new drug or procedure on humans. If people are nothing more than animals, science can justify experimenting on human subjects for the common good. For example, German and Japanese scientists conducted experiments on World War II prisoners against their will. After the war, international courts prosecuted German doctors and scientists for war crimes related to human experimentation. Japanese researchers did not face trial because the U.S. agreed not to prosecute in exchange for access to their data.

Out of the prosecution of German researchers came what is called “The Nuremberg Code.” It involves ten statements describing the ethical standards for experimenting on human subjects in research. In simple terms, the ten statements are:

Participants must give consent without stress or force.
The research must be able to show benefits for the good of society.
Findings should justify the experiment.
Research should avoid mental suffering and physical harm.
No one should be killed or injured.
Risks should not outweigh the benefits.
The research should protect participants from injury or death.
The researcher must be qualified to do the research.
Participants should be able to stop participating at any time.
The researcher must be prepared to stop the study at any time.

A classic example of how far things can go in today’s world, even in the United States, is the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Male Negro.” That study continued from 1932 to 1972. The United States Public Health Service recruited 600 African American men with syphilis offering them free meals and burial stipends for the right to their bodies after they died. Unfortunately, no medical treatment was made available to those men, and they were subjected to painful spinal taps. You can imagine what they went through with 40 years of untreated syphilis raging in their bodies.

Looking at what happened in this terrible event brings to mind the struggles in America today. In the past, society considered blacks to be less human than whites. For that reason, causing them pain and premature death to benefit the scientific establishment was deemed to be acceptable. The “black lives matter” movement of today is rooted in this kind of history.

More to the point is that science ignored the teachings of the Bible. The Bible tells us that humans are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and the body is the temple of God’s Spirit, and defiling the temple invites God’s wrath (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). That means not caring for every person is a rebellion against God. Experimenting on human subjects in the Tuskegee experiment can only be justified if you view blacks as less than human. It also requires embracing the notion that survival of the fittest means it is acceptable to sacrifice the less fit to benefit the fit. Many people today do not accept the Christian view that all humans are special because we are created in the image of God. We can see the result of that in the chaos tearing at the fabric of society.

For more on the history of the Tuskegee study see “Who Dares to Speak Up” in the July/August 2021 issue of American Scientist, pages 238 -242.

August 12, 2021August 12, 2021

The Transgender Craze

The transgender craze is a dangerous movement sweeping much of the western world. It shows up especially in a sudden spike among teenage girls identifying as transgender. According to journalist and author Abagail Shrier, there are top girl’s schools where up to 30% of the girls in the 7th grade identify themselves as “trans.” This transgender craze is social contagion in action. Consider the following facts:

1) America in 2007 had one pediatric gender clinic. Today there are hundreds.
2) Testosterone is readily available to adolescents from Planned Parenthood and Kaiser without a therapist’s note.
3) In Washington state, a 13-year-old can begin “gender affirming therapy” without her parents’ consent.
4) In Oregon, a 15-year-old can undergo an elective double mastectomy without her parents’ permission.
5) Gender dysphoria (the feeling of severe discomfort in a person’s biological gender) is rare, afflicting .01% of the population, most of whom are male.
6) 70% of gender dysphoria victims naturally outgrow their affliction when left alone.
7) Doctors use puberty blockers to shut down part of the pituitary gland stopping the release of hormones that lead to sexual maturity. Lupron, used initially to chemically castrate sex offenders, is the most commonly used drug. However, the FDA has never approved it for halting healthy puberty.
8) Puberty blockers negatively affect bone density as well as sexual maturation and should not be used for more than two years.
9) The number of girls seeking treatment at the United Kingdom’s National Gender Clinic has increased by 4,400% in the past decade.
10) The Equality Act before the U.S. Congress would make it illegal to distinguish between biological men and women, creating problems for schools, sports, employers, prisons, churches and non-profits, and the security of women.

The media tries to hide the above facts considering this a conservative political issue rather than a medical one. Referring to Genesis 1:27, Jesus said, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female.” That is a biological fact. The transgender craze sweeping our culture today is causing massive pain and future disaster for many young men and women.

Data from Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier, and “Gender Ideology Run Amok” in the June/July issue of Imprimis magazine from Hillsdale College.

August 9, 2021August 9, 2021

Bad Science Is Dangerous

The August 2021 issue of Scientific American contains an interesting article by Naomi Oreskes of Harvard University titled “The Appeal of Bad Science.” Oreskes points out that an enormous amount of public claims of scientific discoveries are simply bad science. It is essential to understand that for a scientific discovery to be valid, it must be reproducible. If researchers can’t reproduce it, it is not science at all. The money spent on irreproducible medical research in the United States alone amounts to 28 billion dollars a year.

This is not just a financial issue. People turn to bogus medical claims because the media reports them as miracle cures. I have had a personal loss due to bad science. My son-in-law, who had cancer, was given a “scientific” study showing a cancer cure from a marijuana product. A Ph.D. with scientific credentials wrote the article. I looked for studies by other researchers showing that this cure worked, but I could find none. I urged my son-in-law to use conventional medical treatment, but he chose to accept that single report. He died as a result of a bogus claim by a “medical expert.” Following bad science in medicine can be fatal.

Paul wrote to Timothy, “Keep that which has been entrusted to you and turn a deaf ear to empty and worldly chatter and objections from what is falsely called science which some have claimed to possess” (1 Timothy 6:20). In our culture, scientists have to produce something flashy and spectacular to get published or funded. Unfortunately, this has caused people to accept medical claims by “experts,” which scientific methods cannot duplicate.

Christ’s teachings have been duplicated over and over and proven to work. Alternatives to His teachings have been disastrous. As we have said many times, science and faith are friends, but you must have good science and good faith. Many people have been wounded by the results of following false claims, not only in this life but in their eternal destiny.

Reference: Scientific American, August 2021 (page 82),

August 1, 2021July 31, 2021

Trusting God in Difficult Times

For the past two days, we have looked at one of the struggles everyone faces– trusting God in difficult times. Of course, the atheist will claim that a loving, caring, just God would not allow innocent people to suffer terrible disasters in their lives. However, most of us have had a “why me?” experience where a problem afflicts us that we feel is unfair and which we beg God to remove – and frequently, He doesn’t.

Life often presents situations that require trusting God in difficult times. I am not suggesting that I know all the answers, but I see three reasons why we sometimes fail to trust God. First, we looked at how faulty thinking and reasoning can erode our trust in God. Secondly, we saw that not having a reason to live and thus seeing no value in the problems we face contributes to our lack of trust in God. We want to look at a third reason today:

REASON # 3 – We fail to trust God because we think that everything must have an answer that we can understand. Someone said, “If I can understand the thinking of God, then God isn’t God.” My experience in dealing with people who are immersed in a problem indicates that they don’t want a theological or philosophical answer to their problem. What they want is to be free of the problem. After many years of dealing with this issue, I have learned that the best thing I can say is, “I don’t know the reason, but I care.”

Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God..” In the book of Job, God never reveals to Job the answer to why his problems exist. It is evident that there is a war going on between good and evil in this world. I don’t understand all that is involved, but just looking around, we can see the struggle. I can give theological answers to questions about this war, but you don’t care about theology or philosophy if you are hurting. You want to have a solution to your pain.

After God speaks, Job concludes, “I have heard of you by the hearing of my ear, but now my eye sees you” (Job 42:5). Job came to realize that he is not smart enough or powerful enough to understand it all. Neither are we.

Trusting God in difficult times is our choice to make or not. However, learning to trust God fills our lives with purpose and direction. The promise of Acts 2:38 and John 14:26-27 is enough to make my life worth living, even with its pain and frustrations.

July 31, 2021July 30, 2021

Trusting God When Things Go Wrong

Yesterday we looked at a struggle that everyone faces— trusting God when things go wrong. We said that faulty thinking and reasoning can erode our trust in God. For example, atheists claim that a loving, caring, just God would not allow innocent people to suffer disasters in their lives. We looked at why that may be faulty reasoning.

Life tends to present situations that cause us not to trust God. The book of Job raises the question of why a “perfect and upright man who feared God and eschewed evil” should suffer massive loss and pain. I admitted that I had faced a problem in trusting God, and I am not suggesting that I have the question solved. In my early days of cynicism and ignorance, I actually said that I had given up on praying because what I prayed for didn’t happen the way I had asked.

So here is another reason for trusting God when things go wrong:

REASON # 2. We tend to think that there is no value in problems. To the atheist, a significant problem can lead to suicide. If things go badly for me and I see no hope that they will ever get better, why should I continue to struggle? If you have no purpose in life other than self-gratification, why go on with pain and problems constantly taking away any reason to live?

For the Christian, the answer to problems is radically different. The Bible is full of statements about problems and suffering leading to good things and joy in life. Examples are Proverbs 3:11-12; Psalms 119:71; James 1:2-3; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. In my own life, having a child born who was blind, mentally challenged, afflicted with muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and schizophrenia has filled my life with purpose and direction. As my son dealt with those issues, including COVID-19, he radiated joy and purpose to the end of his life.

For the Christian, problems and pain can give purpose and direction in life. But, more than that, they bless those who believe with direct help from God promised in Romans 8:28, John 14:1-3, and 26. In addition, there is the hope and promise that ultimately things will be better, with no pain or tears or death (Revelation 21:4).

A purposeless life is a miserable existence. Trusting God when things go wrong can give us a purpose and a reason to live. Because those problems have strengthened my faith, I can provide help and support to others whose faith is faltering as they face similar issues. Tomorrow we will look at a third point that should help us trust God.

July 30, 2021July 29, 2021

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

We all struggle with the question of why bad things happen to good people. Atheists claim that a loving, caring, just God would not allow innocent people to suffer huge disasters in their lives.

Most of us have had a “why me?” experience where a problem afflicts us that we feel is unfair. We beg God to remove the problem, and He frequently doesn’t. The Bible is not ignorant of this issue. The whole book of Job is dedicated to why a “perfect and upright man who feared God and eschewed evil” should suffer massive loss and pain.

As one who has faced a problem in trusting God, I am not suggesting that I have it completely solved. In my early days of cynicism and ignorance, I actually said that I had quit praying for God to solve a major issue. It seemed that every time I prayed that something bad wouldn’t happen, it happened. I think there are three fundamental reasons why we don’t trust God or lose faith in God when confronted with the reality of life’s problems.

REASON # 1 – The first reason is faulty reasoning and thinking. We don’t reason very far when we think that everything should be fair. Psalms 73:2-3 talks about believing that prosperity would equate to fairness. Several years ago, singer Peggy Lee sang a song titled “Is That All There Is?” In the song, she spoke about wanting something badly, and then when she got it thinking, “Is that all there is?” We have all bought something we really wanted and then when we got it, we found that we were not enamored with it.

Is it fair that Bill Gates has a lot of money and I don’t? What would I demand in exchange for my wonderful marriage, which apparently Bill Gates didn’t have? Is it fair that I have a disease that you don’t have? Human greed, selfishness, ignorance, and carelessness cause most of our illnesses. Would it be fair for me to ruthlessly contaminate the environment with the result that someone in the future would not have the resources I enjoy?

If all a person would have to do was go to Church to become free of their problems, what would be the result? We would have churches full of people with a temporary, short-term faith that wouldn’t benefit anyone. When we question why bad things happen to good people, ask yourself, “Was it fair for Jesus to die on the cross?” In the heat of a crisis, it is easy to lash out at God. However, if we could look at life unemotionally, unselfishly, and logically, we would see that our anger at God is misplaced.

Faulty reasoning and thinking is the first reason for not trusting God. Tomorrow we will look at reason # 2.

July 26, 2021July 18, 2021

Human Sexuality and God’s Design

Human sexuality has been a concern of people throughout time, and the Bible deals with the subject extensively. When I was in college, I worked under the direction of Mrs. Wardell Pomeroy. Her husband was a co-worker with Alfred Kinsey, founder of the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University. At that time, I was an atheist, as was Kinsey, so I considered him a hero. One of Mrs. Pomeroy’s sons became a Christian minister, and that precipitated numerous discussions.

Kinsey had no place for God in his research. His view was that since humans are just mammals, we should be able to enjoy sex with any other mammal of our choosing. The Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky said it well: “If there is no God, all things are permissible.” As belief in God has decreased in western culture, Kinsey’s view of human sexuality has become widely accepted.

The New Testament teaches that the healthiest, most meaningful, most satisfying, and most pleasurable sexual experience is with a single marriage partner. Furthermore, the marriage should be a covenant of love, loyalty, care, and faithfulness. In Matthew 19:5, Jesus said, “A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” The Greek word translated “cleave” in the King James Version is “proskollao,” which means to “glue to” or “adhere to.” It is absolute and total unity, not just a physical union. God created human sexuality as a cleaving apparatus.

So what does the evidence show as working in human sexuality? Does the atheist view expressed by Kinsey and Pomeroy work? Every study on this subject has demonstrated that sexual activity outside of the biblical concept of marriage does not work. Here are some examples:

The National Survey of Counseling Directors – A study of 6500 sexually active adolescent girls found that they are three times more likely to be depressed. As a result, they are nearly three times as likely to attempt suicide as peers who are not sexually active.

The National Health and Social Life Council – Their most recent survey found that sexually active singles have the most sexual problems and get the least pleasure from sex. It also showed that couples in long-term marriages were the most satisfied demographic group.

The prominent scholar J.D. Unwin studied 86 civilizations and found that all 86 demonstrated that sexual fidelity was the most important predictor of a society’s ascendancy and strength. Unwin was not a believer and expressed amazement at his own findings.

Atheists are forced to conclude that sex is an evolutionary product and that human sexuality functions the same as that of any other mammal. The biblical view is that sex in humans is not just to produce offspring. Additionally, Human sexuality is a designed tool to assist and promote human relationships and provide stability in civilization. A great deal of the unrest and conflict in America today is rooted in society’s acceptance of the atheist view of sexuality.