Social Concerns Archives

November 4, 2025November 3, 2025

Transgender Detransitioners and the Church

One criticism often leveled against our ministry is that we are religously biased against the transgender community. However, this criticism is flawed on several points. First, our ministry’s primary concern is solely with whether the biblical record is accurate. Second, physical evidence indicates that transgender medical treatments can be harmful and are often influenced by political and financial motives rather than the best interests of young people. The transgender movement also tends to dismiss transgender detransitioners—individuals who regret their choices and wish to revert to their birth gender.

Scientific evidence clearly shows that the transgender movement is misguided, but this information is not readily available to young people, their families, or the public. Studies reveal that 85% of children who once desired to be the opposite sex during puberty eventually outgrow those feelings. When not encouraged to transition, 17 out of 20 children with gender dysphoria resist the urge to transition. According to the American Psychiatric Association in 2013, gender dysphoria affected only 0.014% of boys and 0.003% of girls. A 2021 study in Pennsylvania found that 9.2% of public high school students did not identify with their biological sex—an increase of about 900% in less than ten years.

When children are encouraged to transition, many will eventually regret that choice and may seek acceptance from the Church community. The challenge for Christian congregations is how to respond to transgender detransitioners who come to the Church. In Old Testament times, nations at war with Israel practiced castration of captives. Historians note that captives were often castrated to serve as court servants, cutting them off from their families, ancestors, and culture, while ensuring they could have no descendants. They were left with no identity other than that of servants to their new masters.

In the Torah, eunuchs are not allowed to serve in the priesthood (Leviticus 21:20) or to worship with the assembly (Deuteronomy 23:1). In the New Testament Church, we see acceptance of eunuchs. Acts 8 describes the conversion and baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch after Philip explained the meaning of the prophecy of Jesus in Isaiah 53. If he had advanced the scroll a couple of turns, he might have read Isaiah 56:3-5, where God shows compassion for eunuchs.

Christians must love and care for all people in need while also teaching children and their parents about the destructive effects of the transgender movement. Congregations need to address this issue similarly to how they handle the dangers of destructive drugs. Preventive education is part of a Christian’s duty, but showing compassion and love to those harmed by evil in today’s world is also a core teaching of Jesus Christ. Transgender detransitioners need to understand that God loves them.

Reference: “Detransitioners in Your Church Doorway?” By Jonathan P. Clemens in Eikon, volume 4, issue 2, fall 2022

October 8, 2025October 8, 2025

Who Created Slavery?

On June 17, 2025, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine stood before the United States Senate and said, “The United States didn’t inherit slavery from anybody. We created it.” That shocking statement shows a complete lack of historical knowledge. Slavery goes far back in history, predating the formation of the United States. Who created slavery? Let’s examine that question.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Muslim pirates from the Barbary Coast of North Africa captured white Europeans and Americans, taking more than one million into slavery. By 1800, over 20% of the United States’ revenue was used to pay slave ransoms and tributes to Muslim leaders. This ended when the newly established U.S. Navy defeated the Barbary pirates in 1815.

Going further back in time, when English settlers arrived in the early American colonies, Africans were enslaving other Africans, and they sold their own brothers to the Americans and Europeans. The English first abolished slavery, but it took the Americans more time to remove this evil.

Farther back in history, slavery was common in ancient Rome and Greek culture. Earlier still, the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. Exodus 1:12b-14 (ESV) says, “And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and all kinds of work in the field. In all their work, they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.”

There are many other examples of slavery throughout history, but the question remains: who created slavery? Let’s go all the way back to Eden in Genesis chapter 2. Satan lied to the woman and led her and the man into his trap of sin. So, who created slavery? The originator of slavery was Satan. Adam and Eve thought they were gaining new freedom by eating the forbidden fruit, but they became slaves. In John 8:34, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

However, the key question is not who created slavery, but who can free us from this slavery to sin? There is a path to freedom described in Romans 6:3-6 (ESV): “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”

Those who have been released from slavery to sin should share that message with others. We should also do all we can to bring an end to physical slavery, which still exists in many regions of the world.

September 15, 2025September 14, 2025

Shocking Amount of Food Wasted

God has given us more than enough food for every man, woman, and child on this planet. Jesus told His followers to use what God has given. In Matthew 25:34-46, Jesus tells us what His disciples need to do. Providing food, water, and clothing are at the top of His list. Those who don’t provide these things for those in need are condemned. The problem is the shocking amount of food wasted.

I am directly involved nationally with programs that provide for those who are in need. Locally, I am involved with a program called “Feeding America,” and our small congregation provides food for over 100 people every month. Similar programs, both nationally and locally, are conducted by people who call themselves “Christians.” There are no atheist programs anywhere doing this.

So, if all this is going on, why is there a shortage of food worldwide? In the United States, one in every five kids doesn’t have enough to eat in spite of the fact that 530,000 metric tons of food are thrown out. The shocking amount of food wasted in schools is an example. Data from audits of schools in Miami and Orlando, Florida, show that the food thrown out amounts to 1.06 billion pounds from school cafeterias every year. These cafeterias also waste 20.9 billion gallons of water annually, resulting in a loss of $1.7 billion. Sixty percent of cafeteria waste is fruit and unopened milk.

This is just one case in two large Florida cities. Can you imagine how much waste there is nationally? As America continues to reject God and Christianity, we can expect this problem to get worse. In the biblical record, we see God telling humans to use what He has already given them. God doesn’t condone waste and will not provide for us what we can provide for ourselves. We see passages like Proverbs 6:6-11 where people who won’t work are called “sluggards” who will end up in poverty. Christians must lead the way by not wasting what God has given us.

Reference: World Wildlife for Fall 2025, page 4.

September 11, 2025September 11, 2025

AI Stuffed Animals

People often choose to hear what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. We don’t want to be challenged by tough questions or told what we should or shouldn’t do. Think of that in terms of a child under six years old. They are not different, except that their concepts are just being formed. Now consider the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on children through AI stuffed animals that tell kids what they want to hear, are always agreeable and charming, and never say “no.”

Small children love stuffed animals and often treat them as if they are real “friends.” What happens when you add AI to the toy? It can now respond to a child’s questions and even their moods. A new trend in stuffed toys is to incorporate interactive AI. This has positive potential. The toy can now tell stories and answer the child’s questions. Children can learn new words faster than by merely watching passive media. It can also help them reduce excess screen time and encourage them to be more active.

Are the effects of AI stuffed animals all positive? The short answer is “no.” If they become the primary companions for young children, it can harm the child’s social awareness and communication with real people. Interaction with other humans, whether children or adults, can teach a child empathy, conflict resolution, and the importance of sharing. The AI toy will always be accommodating to the child’s wishes and moods, but will never say “no.”

Another important factor to consider with AI stuffed animals is privacy. These toys are internet-connected, so they monitor and record children’s conversations to interact with them. They can store, analyze, and possibly misuse conversations of nearby adults as well. Some AI toys work locally without sending conversations to servers, which is worth considering.

The bottom line is that limiting time with AI stuffed animals is just as important as limiting screen time for young children. The problem may be that it’s harder to pry a child’s attention away from their stuffed “friend” than from the television or a game screen. “CyberGuy” Kurt Knutsson correctly says, “Technology will always tempt us with convenience, but children learn best through love, attention, and genuine relationships.” These days, being a good Christian parent is more challenging than ever.

Reference: Kurt Knutsson’s CyberGuy Report on foxnews.com

August 27, 2025September 1, 2025

Reproductive Technologies: Proceed with Caution

As medical science becomes more advanced, it offers women new reproductive technologies. Older women can now have children even after menopause. Using a sperm donor, a single woman can become a mother. A woman with no eggs in her uterus can have an embryo transfer along with progesterone injections.

In vitro fertilization, which was introduced in England in 1978, has resulted in the birth of over 12 million children worldwide. The first successful egg-donor birth was also reported around that time. Efforts are underway to improve a process called in vitro gametogenesis, which involves creating gametes from stem cells and deriving an egg from another type of cell. This technique could enable same-sex couples to have children with genes from both partners. Another possibility is to develop a synthetic womb where a baby could be grown outside a woman.

The number of women choosing to have children through technological methods is increasing rapidly. What started as a way to help women who couldn’t conceive has now become an option for women of any age or situation in life to have a child. If a woman has the resources and the desire, she can pursue parenthood. One of my feminist friends has even said that males might eventually be eliminated from the planet.

There are many unknowns in this debate that make it difficult for Christians to determine where to begin. The human genome is incredibly complex, and we cannot fully understand what is in the past of a sperm or egg donor. Who is responsible if it turns out the baby has a genetic disease or a physical or mental handicap? What psychological issues arise if a child has no father figure, or if the single mother becomes sick, passes away, or changes her mind about having the child? Will older women be able to raise children to adulthood?

Humans are essentially playing “God” with something we are not equipped to control. As an adoptive parent of three children and someone who has witnessed the collateral damage of abortion, I believe we must proceed with caution in developing reproductive technologies.

Reference: January 2024 issue of National Geographic (pages 68 -93)

August 18, 2025August 17, 2025

The Story of Clementine Breen and Gender Transition

The issue of gender transition for children is one of the great tragedies in today’s world. Not only is this a biblical issue with Genesis 2:15-24 making it clear that God’s design was a product of His wisdom and purpose, but it is a scientific issue with transgender children having a shortened life full of drugs and medical procedures. The story of Clementine Breen is an example.

A young lady named Clementine Breen is suing the medical establishment for inflicting irreversible damage upon her. She was just 12 years old when counselors and doctors told her she was really a boy. Clementine was sexually abused as a child, leaving her terrified of growing into womanhood. This led to “weird behavioral issues.”

Instead of receiving help with the damage of her past, Clementine was rushed into “transition” drugs and the removal of her healthy breasts. Medical providers scared Clementine’s parents into believing she was “high risk” for suicide. They asked her parents a cliché question we have heard many times, “Would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son?”

Doctors gave Clementine puberty blockers when she was 12 years old, testosterone at 13, and a double mastectomy at 14. During this time, her mental health worsened, and she struggled with bouts of psychosis and even attempted suicide. At age 17, Clementine was encouraged by her providers to have a hysterectomy, but she refused. In 2024, Clementine stopped taking testosterone and found a counselor who helped her understand how her past had led her to become a trans person. She is now a college student and says, “I am a woman.”

Some children have found a temporary peace with their gender change, but ultimately, the negative results of the drugs and surgeries become obvious. There is a massive need for the story of Clementine Breen to be known by families, counselors, and doctors, who must understand that gender change procedures are not a positive way to meet the needs of troubled children. Humans should not be playing God with children’s lives when the results are catastrophic.

Reference: Alliance Defending Freedom newsletter for August 2025.

June 19, 2025June 18, 2025

Collateral Damage of Cohabitation

If you listen to today’s music, whether country, heavy metal, folk, or pop, you will hear that “hooking up” is the thing to do. Television shows and movies add to the commercialization of sex, so we see the collateral damage of cohabitation in the entire entertainment industry.

Roughly 20.1 million couples in the United States live with an unmarried partner. That is approximately 8% of U.S. couples, most of whom are in the 25- to 34-year-old age group. According to Pew Research, by double digits, married adults are more likely to trust their spouse or partner to be faithful to them, to act in their best interest, to always tell them the truth, and to handle money responsibly. That means those who are cohabiting may never experience the complete joy and commitment that God intended for the marriage relationship.

Not only do the participants in cohabitation not know the security or commitment that comes from God’s design for marriage, but they also lose the structure of the nuclear family as God intended. Children grow up living with constant change in their home situation. Those of us who have been foster parents or have adopted children know how hard that is for the kids.

The collateral damage of cohabitation is a worldwide tragedy, with drugs, including alcohol and marijuana, catalyzing the instability of these relationships. Every culture in which marriage and family disintegrate is doomed to collapse. Will America learn from history or repeat it?

Reference: pewresearch.org