Health Archives

March 10, 2021March 9, 2021

Indiana House Bill 1577 and Abortions

This month, the Indiana Senate is considering Indiana House bill 1577. In February, it passed the Indiana House of Representatives by a vote of 67 to 29. The bill would allow mental health providers to deny their services to a woman seeking an abortion if doing so would go against the provider’s ethical, moral, or religious beliefs. Present law allows other healthcare providers that option.

The bill would also prohibit an abortion-producing drug from being given to women who are more than eight weeks pregnant. Indiana House Bill 1577 would also require abortion clinics to provide the woman with a printed ultrasound image of the fetus. Promotors of ultrasound imaging say it is “the most impactful material used to change their minds.” Also, girls under 18 years could not get an abortion without notarized parental consent. Present Indiana law requires a consent form, but it does not have to be notarized.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) opposes the bill because it would add extra steps to women seeking abortions. They are threatening a lawsuit, saying the bill is unconstitutional. Perhaps the most controversial part of the bill is the requirement that doctors inform women that it is possible to reverse the effects of the abortion pill. An assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology testified to the Indiana House that it would be unethical because it is “untrue and potentially dangerous.” The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists support the requirement saying it is true and safe.

Our society’s rejection of God’s plan for sex, marriage, and family has caused this whole confusion about the requirements of Indiana House Bill 1577. When people reject God’s design for any aspect of human activity, there will be damage to the participants and even the innocents who are not part of the decision.

References: News and Tribune and Legiscan

March 5, 2021June 1, 2021

Beer Goggles and Young People

“Beer goggles” is a slang term that refers to how alcohol consumption lowers a person’s sexual inhibitions. The ignorance of high school and college students about sex and alcohol is appalling. Dr. Miriam Grossman M.D. has written a booklet titled “Sense and Sexuality” to help college and high school students better understand the relationship between alcohol and sex. It also advises women about “hook-ups” and their ultimate result.

The beer goggles phenomenon is not new. There is a scientific reason why a person seems more physically attractive after you have had a few drinks. Drinking affects the nucleus accumbens, the area of the brain that determines facial attractiveness. Both men and women may be more attracted to a member of the opposite sex at a party serving alcohol. Intimate behavior releases a hormone called oxytocin, which triggers “the biochemistry of attachment” making a person vulnerable.

Grossman references a study from Princeton University in which 91% of women admitted to having feelings of regret about a sexual relationship, and 80% said they wished the sexual experience had never happened. God created sex to be a special bonding agent in marriage. When used as God intended, it makes it one of the most positive experiences humans can have. When it is misused, the result is overwhelmingly negative. First Corinthians 15:33 tells us that “bad company corrupts good morals.” Associating with those who don’t follow God’s intended use of our bodies leads to destructive results.

Dr. Grossman’s book is available from the Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women, 112 Elden Street Suite P, Herndon VA 20170. Website cblwomen.org or phone 888-891-4288.

March 3, 2021March 1, 2021

Do Mutations Show Poor Design of Life?

During the virus pandemic, we hear a lot about mutations. Do mutations show the poor design of life? Skeptics use the flawed design argument as proof that there is no creator God.

Several misunderstandings are involved here. First, a virus is not living according to the usual definition of life. To be called living, something has to be able to move, breathe, respond to outside stimuli, and reproduce. Viruses don’t breathe, nor can they move or even reproduce on their own.

The mutations that are causing the COVID-19 virus to change have to do with spike proteins that allow the entry of a virus into cells. One recent mutation called E484K made enough of a change in the spike protein to allow a new attack on human cells. You can sort of compare a spike protein to a key to open a door into a cell. Various animal cells open to different spike proteins. The Journal of Medical Internet Research reported that “The ever-increasing interaction between humans and animals is one leading factor in facilitating the emergence of new pathogens.”

This is an oversimplification, but the point is that the body’s design keeps us alive. Medical science is advanced enough to understand this design and to do something about it. Scientists have been studying this group of viruses for many years, making it possible to develop a vaccine in less than a year instead of several years. It is only because we understand our bodies’ design and how the cells work that we now have a defense against COVID.

Do mutations show poor design of life? The answer is “no.” There are two messages here. One is to get the vaccine whenever it is available to you. The second is to understand the incredible design of living things. Once again, we are reminded of God’s design in creation. We are not a product of blind chance.

February 26, 2021February 25, 2021

Chemicals in Cosmetics – What Price Beauty?

A large percentage of the problems we have in life are our own doing. One of the places where this is becoming increasingly apparent is in the chemicals used in cosmetics.

The list of human problems is multiplying as more chemicals are used in beauty aids. Toluene is a solvent used in nail polishes and has been linked to miscarriages and some cancers. Foundations and eye shadows contain parabens, which disrupt hormones causing allergies and have been linked to miscarriages, cancer, and ADHD. Lipsticks and other cosmetics contain formaldehyde which causes cancer. Shampoos and conditioners contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can cause liver damage, thyroid disease, and developmental issues. Many perfumes and deodorants contain phthalates which contribute to asthma, diabetes, and ADHD.

In their winter edition of Solutions magazine, the Environmental Defense Fund published stories of women working in beauty salons who have had miscarriages. The list of diseases they link to beauty products includes many soaps and lotions.

We cannot blame God when we use chemicals in cosmetics that cause serious diseases or organ failure. The real issue here is that most of us don’t know what will harm us and what will not. We urge our readers to look at the product labels to see the chemicals in cosmetics and lotions to ensure that what we use to improve our looks doesn’t cause serious health issues.

February 24, 2021February 24, 2021

Practical Value of Christ’s Teaching on forgiveness

Many teachings of Christianity offer solutions to the problems we face in the 21st century. Skeptics claim that the Bible is an ancient book of myths with no relevance to life in the modern era. That is not true! The practical value of Christ’s teaching on forgiveness speaks to divine inspiration and validates the Christian life.

One area that relates to depression and mental illness is how we forgive people who have wronged us. The evolutionary explanation tells us to live by the survival of the fittest, and getting even is a key to survival. In reality, that doesn’t work, but Christ’s teaching on forgiveness does.

Trying to demonstrate your superiority by getting even contaminates all human relationships. I have seen unbelieving friends and family members spend much of their lives trying to get even with someone who wronged them. People are often estranged from siblings, parents, or children because they follow an unchristian approach to perceived wrongs.

Christ taught a different approach. In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus told his followers, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you do not forgive those who sin against you, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.” This is in such contrast to human nature that in Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asked Christ how many times he must forgive a brother. Peter thought he was generous by suggesting a limit of seven times. Jesus responded by saying seventy times seven. He didn’t mean 490 times. He was saying that forgiveness of a brother, friend, or even an enemy is unlimited.

The practical value of Christ’s teaching on forgiveness is proven by the fact that failing to forgive will eat you alive, mentally and emotionally. Most of us have no problem forgiving the mistakes of a small child an unlimited number of times. We need to have that same spirit in dealing with family members and others. If you are a Christian and someone has wronged you, don’t carry a grudge and build a wall between you and that person.

Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Our capacity to forgive is one of the most critical demonstrators of that love. If you are not a Christian, I suggest that there is help from God in feeling forgiveness, leading to better mental health and freedom from depression. The practical value of Christ’s teaching on forgiveness demonstrates that it is not based on human wisdom.

February 21, 2021February 19, 2021

Apathy May Lead to Dementia

Because we are living longer, the incidence of dementia has also increased. One form is frontotemporal dementia, which hits most of its victims between ages 45 and 65. There is a gene for frontotemporal dementia, but having the gene does not mean that the person is doomed to have the disease. Keeping our body and brain active may play a role in whether that gene will be expressed. Apathy may lead to dementia.

Researchers at Cambridge University have discovered that there is a correlation between apathy and frontotemporal dementia. Their studies show that people who are lazy, in depression, or have lost interest in life becoming apathetic toward their daily activities are potential victims of frontotemporal dementia.

God never intended for people to be inert. In ancient times, people struggled for existence, and life expectancy was short enough that dementia wasn’t an issue. In today’s world, that is not the case. Passively watching television instead of getting involved in activities, social interaction, or reading can make a difference in whether our gene for frontotemporal dementia will be expressed.

A person’s role in Church activities may also be a factor in frontotemporal dementia. We have seen “Golden Ager” programs in many churches where we have conducted workshops and VBS programs. The people were active, dynamic, mentally alert, and living into their 90’s with vigor and enthusiasm.

You can retire from your secular employment, but don’t retire from God. Apathy may lead to dementia, but staying active supports mental health and freedom from frontotemporal dementia.

Data from The Week, January 29, 2021, page 22.

February 20, 2021February 19, 2021

Even Christians Have Abortions

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court clearly stated that killing a baby is a choice women have the right to make. We have pointed out before that it is scientifically impossible to support the view that a fetus is just an extension of the mother’s body. Morning sickness happens because the mother’s body tries to reject a foreign object. Nearly 50 million babies, each with their own genome, have been aborted in the United States, and even Christians have abortions.

It is easy to carry a sign around opposing abortion or write an article condemning it. The fact is that if a woman finds herself pregnant and doesn’t want the baby, she has an excruciating decision to make. No one should trivialize an unwanted pregnancy or throw stones at a woman who has had an abortion.

It is essential to look at ourselves and see that we don’t become hypocritical when faced with a situation where abortion seems to be the easiest answer – either for us or someone we love. “40 Days for Life” is a pro-life movement claiming the involvement of over 20,000 churches and more than a million participants. Carmen Pate, working with that group, released disturbing statistics that even Christians have abortions. Of the women who have had abortions, 43% identify themselves as Protestants, and 27% identify as Catholic. One in four women has had at least one abortion by age 45.

The abortion dilemma continues to divide America and is a challenging problem to solve. The real answer is to stop endorsing promiscuity and provide better ways for couples who want children to adopt babies. As an adoptive father of three children, I am so thankful that my kids’ biological mothers were strong enough to allow them to live and grow into productive adults.

February 17, 2021February 16, 2021

Food Shortages and Starvation

One of the frustrating parts of the world situation today is the waste of food. Nearly every day, we get letters from relief organizations about hunger and pictures of starving children. The fact is that God has given us a planet that produces more food than we humans can eat. Food shortages and starvation result from mismanagement and failure to use all that God has given us.

The World Resources Institute tells us that 35% of the food produced in North America goes to waste. Most of this waste occurs at the consumption level in our homes and restaurants.

Some farming practices also contribute to the waste problem. In our area, people grow watermelons. When harvest time comes, hundreds of melons are left in the field to rot. The problem is that what sells at the market is melons of a specific size and weight, so melons that don’t meet those criteria are left in the field. Green beans are grown here, and the machines that harvest the beans cut off the plants allowing only one harvest. If allowed to continue to grow, the plants would produce many more beans.

Also, people are not fully using many food resources. We are just beginning to see the use of insects as a food source. Another developing area is aquaculture used for farming fish, as well as shrimp, clams, and lobsters. God has given us adequate food resources, and it is up to us to use them wisely so we can end food shortages and starvation everywhere on the planet.

February 10, 2021February 9, 2021

What Color Is Your River?

In my lifetime I have spent a lot of time on rivers. Living in Canada, I became acquainted with beautiful blue water with a clarity that allowed you to see the river’s bottom even at 20 feet. When my family moved to Bloomington, Indiana, I became involved with the White River, which was anything but white or blue. What color is your river?

In our 12 trips down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, I saw changes in the water from time to time. The river was sometimes brown and other times crystal blue depending on how much upstream water was being released from the Glen Canyon Dam. I now live on the Saint Joseph River in southern Michigan. I have read the notes of the first explorers who came through this area in which they tell of being able to see the bottom of the river through 20 feet of water. Now you can only see about a foot down. There has been a massive change in Americas’ rivers through the years.

In 1984, Satellites started taking pictures of rivers in the United States. Over 230,000 images have been taken and analyzed by the University of Pittsburgh, the University of North Carolina, and Duke University. The data shows that only five percent of Americas’ rivers are still blue. Twenty-eight percent are green, which in most cases is caused by algae. The remainder are yellow, with 11,629 miles of rivers having become distinctly greener since 1984.

As rivers change from blue to yellow to green, what can live in the rivers also changes. In the Saint Joseph River, where we live in Michigan, the kind of fish that live in the river today are far different from the native trout seen by the early settlers of this area. Today the river has large numbers of suckers and carp. There are some bass and panfish, and we do have salmon from Lake Michigan migrating up the river to spawn. Transplanted fish like walleye are popular, but the whole ecological makeup has changed.

What color is your river? More important is the question of what is causing the rivers to change color? The causes, according to the studies, are farm fertilizer runoff, dams, sewage, and global warming, which has raised the temperature so that cold-water fish cannot live in the river. This is more than the loss of recreational use of waterways. Numerous diseases, including cancer, are related to what is in the water we drink, bathe in, and provide to our animals.

The question of what color is your river leads to asking what you can do about it. Christians need to be vocal in encouraging our culture to initiate significant efforts to turn our waterways blue again. It is interesting that in Revelation 22:1-2, when the inspired writer wanted to portray some of the properties of heaven to mortal humans, he describes “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal.” In ancient times, when people wanted to worship and get away from the hassle of human activity, they went to a river. (See Acts 16:13.) Today most of our rivers are not that attractive.

Data from Associated Press article by Seth Borenstein, January 9, 2021.

February 4, 2021February 3, 2021

COVID Effect on the Natural World

One interesting facet of the pandemic has been the COVID effect on the natural world. Worldwide reports have shown that animal life reacted to the reduced human activity. Here are some of the interesting cases:

1) In the Welsh village of Llandudno, a herd of Kashmiri goats descended from the Great Orme Mountain. The goats settled into the town munching on hedges and eating flowers and vegetables as there were no people around to run them off.
2) Dolphins showed up in Sardinia’s canals even though the media erroneously reported that they were in Venice’s canals.
3) Elephants invaded a Tea garden in China’s Yunnan province and became intoxicated after drinking corn wine.
4) Sparrows in San Francisco changed their song, although the reasons for this are not clear. The birds sang more softly and began hitting lower notes.
5) Raccoons shifted their activity periods from being nocturnal to operating in broad daylight.

All of this tells us that these animals have built-in systems of behavior that human activities have altered. When humans are not present, the animals return to the behavioral patterns of their ancestors. COVID reduced some of the negative aspects of human activity as well. In the spring of 2020, there was a 17% drop in carbon dioxide emissions as people reduced their driving.

God has built into the natural world a strong sense of behavior patterns, but most animals have the flexibility to adapt their behavior. Humans also can adapt to act in ways that benefit the world in which we live. We are not programmed to selfishness and to a way of life that destroys what God has given us. Now that we see the COVID effect on the natural world let us learn from this experience to become better stewards of God’s blessings.

Data from Discover magazine, January/February 2021, page 30-32.