Social Concerns Archives - Page 2 of 42

January 12, 2024January 10, 2024

The History of Scams

How old are scams, and how have they affected their victims? Some older folks believe that we live in a unique age of scams, but the truth is they have existed throughout human history. The history of scams began when Eve was scammed by the serpent. The Bible describes the consequences of many cases in which someone was lied to, scammed, or misled.

Scams offer to make the victims more intelligent or attractive or benefit them financially. The line the serpent gave to Eve was, “In the day that you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you shall be like gods.” The Bible says, “The woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:4-6). The history of scams shows the same approach used up until modern times.

In the 1860s, the vibrating exercise belt was advertised as a way to shake away fat and tone muscles (it does neither). In the 1920s and for several decades after, the Charles Atlas fitness regimen urged people to drink up to five quarts of milk a day to be fit. Today, there are many claims of ointments, devices, and programs designed to improve people’s looks or offset typical afflictions of old age. Today’s scams have popular names attached to them and make ridiculous claims of what they will do.

The tragedy of modern scams is that people spend money trying to look better when they could use that money to feed hungry people or relieve pain and suffering in the world. If their belief system is “survival of the fittest,” they might even lose their life savings trying to be “fit.” Falling for a scam is an exercise in futility that wastes time, money, and energy while producing disappointment, anger, and frustration.

God calls us to be more concerned with our inner beauty than our exterior beauty. Each stage of life is an experience, and we can enjoy the journey from birth to death if we rely on God’s plan for our lives. Just as Satan scammed Eve in the Garden of Eden, he is after each of us today. We must learn from the history of scams and avoid the forbidden fruit the scammers offer. We can use our time and money to obey God’s teaching to make this world a better place.

January 3, 2024January 2, 2024

Gender Reassignment Liability Laws

Gender reassignment liability laws are a significant challenge facing doctors. Those laws allow people who have been given gender-modification drugs or surgery as minors to sue for injuries many years later. In Mississippi, the statute of limitations is 30 years. The problem with transgender medical care is that the long-term effects of medication are unknown, and surgical actions are irreversible.

Feeling that you have the mind of a female in the body of a male (or vice-versa) creates all kinds of difficulties. There is a massive need for scientific investigation of the causes of trans behavior and alternatives that avoid medical intervention. The Bible says God created male and female (Genesis 1:27), and our bodies are not designed for gender changes.

It is a scientific fact that male and female bodies are not identical. We are not just talking about genitalia but also size, muscle distribution, strength, and respiratory capacity. The list of lawsuits from female athletes claiming that trans athletes have an unfair advantage over them is vast and growing. In one case, a girl was hospitalized when she was hit in the face by a volleyball spiked by a trans girl on an opposing team. The injured girl said she was used to spikes from girls on opposing teams, but the male body of the trans girl was beyond what she had seen before.

This whole situation is a mess. Before we saturate young people with drugs and surgery, we need to discover their real needs and address those issues. Years from now, gender reassignment liability laws may become a huge issue for medical personnel.

January 2, 2024January 1, 2024

Loneliness Crisis Is Deadly

A recent USA Today article gathered data from the University of Michigan and Harvard University, showing that loneliness has increased dramatically in the United States. According to the article, 61% of adults ages 18 to 25 feel profound loneliness. Harvard professor Jeremy Nobel has established an initiative called “Project Unlonely” to address this loneliness crisis.

Professor Nobel classifies three types of loneliness:
(1) Psychological loneliness – not having anyone to trust or confide in
(2) Societal loneliness – feeling systemically excluded because of such things as gender, race, or disability
(3) Spiritual loneliness – feeling disconnected from oneself.

The U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory report says that loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 26%, equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The American Heart Association says that feeling lonely increases a person’s risk of heart disease by 29% and stroke by 32%, indicating that the loneliness crisis is deadly.

The U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says that the solution to loneliness is to take 15 minutes a day to reach out to someone you care about or look for ways to serve others. He says that when we are with someone else, we must give them our full attention and put away our devices. He further states that schools, companies, and healthcare facilities must adopt strategies to reduce loneliness.

Nowhere in the USA Today article is the Church mentioned. The fact is that the teachings of Christ offer a real solution to loneliness. Read Acts 2:41-47, and you will see an excellent cure for loneliness. Read Matthew 25:31-40 and see what Jesus considers essential in how we live our lives. Christians can avoid the loneliness crisis by becoming active in building relationships and serving others.

Having a relationship with Christ gives us an understanding of our purpose for existing. Loneliness results from a world dominated by “survival of the fittest” and “looking after # 1.” The loneliness crisis in America has become an epidemic and is just part of the collateral damage that comes from rejecting God.

Reference: “Americans are lonely, and it’s killing them” by Adrianna Rodriques in USA Today 12/27/23

December 14, 2023December 12, 2023

What the Future Holds

Many people question what the future holds for America, and they are answering that question in various ways. Surveys in 2023 report that 39% of millennials and 40% of Gen Zers have spent money on “prepping.” These surveys show that 30% of all Americans are taking steps toward emergency preparedness.

Election anger is one of the reasons cited for fear of destruction characterized by widespread looting. Retired Air Force Col. Drew Miller has established “Fortitude Ranch” with seven compounds around the country equipped with weapons and food storage to withstand societal collapse.

Obviously, we have no way of knowing what the future holds. But Christianity is not vulnerable no matter what happens. Christians were present when the Roman Empire collapsed, and Christianity grew during that period. Other countries have collapsed, but the Christians who lived there continued and sometimes did well.

In Matthew 24:6-7 Jesus said, “You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see to it that you are not troubled: for all these things shall come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places.” He went on to say that even His followers would be affected by all of this, but they would be saved in the end.

I hope that the followers of Christ in America are numerous enough and convicted enough to save what the politicians might destroy. Even if not, we are in a greater kingdom than any on Earth now or in the past. Our preparation for what the future holds should be to continue to do what Jesus called us to do in helping others and providing whatever we can for those in need. We must not become part of the problem.

Reference: USA Today

December 11, 2023December 10, 2023

Pain and Suffering Do Not Disprove God

Despite statements by atheists and skeptics, pain and suffering do not disprove God. Skeptics question how a person can believe in God when there is so much pain and suffering in the world. Several atheists have said that this is the best argument against the existence of God. This challenge is very weak, but many people use it as a tool to support their rejection of God. However, they are overlooking several vital facts:

1-Atheism offers no real alternative to the question of pain and suffering. If you have no purpose in existing, how do you deal with pain and suffering? All atheism can suggest is when pain is too severe, kill yourself. The massive increase in suicides, especially in older people, is because they see no purpose in their existence. Those of us who believe in God know that evil and good do exist, and we are part of the war between them. Chapters 1 and 2 of Job make that clear.

2-Pain and suffering do not disprove God because they are caused mainly by humans who reject God’s plan for life. War, murder, abuse, most diseases, and all socially caused pain are produced by humans. Do we really expect God to straighten out every mess we create? Blaming God for most of the pain in the world cannot be justified.

3-Atheism does nothing to relieve the pain in the world. Atheism calls for no sacrifice to battle pain and suffering because of its dogma of “survival of the fittest” and believing that humans are just animals. Ask yourself how many atheist organizations around the world are fighting disease, social problems, and the results of war and crime. Atheist groups don’t build hospitals and schools or operate shelters and offer food, water, and clothing to those in need. Read Matthew 25:34-40 and see what Jesus calls His followers to be and do.

4-Atheists and skeptics see nothing positive in pain and suffering. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul talks about his “thorn in the flesh” and its benefits to him. He says, “My strength is made complete in weakness” and “I am content in infirmities, ill-treatment, for when I am weak, I am strong.”

I have had a lot of pain in my life, including the death of a child and a wife and personal abuse from a wide range of sources. All of this has reinforced my life’s purpose and direction. I have seen the promise of God working in my life. “No trial will come your way but that which all mankind endures. But you can trust God not to allow you to suffer beyond your powers of endurance, but when you are tested, He will make a way out so that you will be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Pain and suffering do not disprove God. Nobody likes pain of any kind, but rejecting God because of it is allowing a false message to destroy our purpose for existing.

December 8, 2023December 5, 2023

Climate Change Is Controversial, but Not Rosalynn Carter

Climate change is controversial in America today. We can’t factually deny that the climate is changing and that the world’s climate has changed in the past in very dramatic ways. The dinosaurs lived in a very different climate than we have today. It is a fact that there has been climate change in the past five years, causing changes in ocean temperatures and precipitation, melting glaciers, and changing the behavior of hurricanes. Those facts can be easily documented. The debate is over whether human activity has caused these changes or is one factor in them.

Politicians have actively denied or supported the belief that the climate is changing. In Texas, climate change politics has created a war over what school textbooks should say about it. The Texas State Board of Education decides which textbooks the 1000+ school districts can use. Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, has said that some textbooks were removed from the approved list “because of their personal and ideological beliefs regarding evolution and climate change.” Politician Wayne Christian has urged the board “to choose books that promote the importance of fossil fuels for energy production.”

Economic issues are involved in the political wrangling about climate change. Many of the complaints about textbooks come from people who worry about how climate change hysteria will affect their incomes. Texas is “the oil-rich state,” and curtailing the use of fossil fuels would hit them in the pocketbook.

For Christians, this debate distracts from the spiritual message Christ has called us to bring to humanity. Words spoken by Tony Lowden at the recent funeral of Rosalynn Carter reminded me of the difference between the Christian message and divisive politics. The pastor said, “There’s no place on this earth that you can find anyone that has anything bad to say about Rosalynn Carter. Not one word. Not a news article. Not even one person on the left or anybody on the right. I believe … the reason why is because she did not worship the donkey or the elephant. She worshipped the lamb.”

Climate change is controversial, but wherever we stand, let us bring the love and caring of Christ to humanity while avoiding the politics of division.

Reference: Rosalynn Carter tributes on cnn.com

November 28, 2023November 27, 2023

Syphilis Epidemic and Its Costs

When people fail to follow God’s rules for sexual behavior, the result is always pain and suffering for themselves and collateral damage for innocent people. The clearest case in the United States is Nevada, which had a 44% jump in congenital syphilis from 2021 to 2022. The largest growth in adult syphilis cases has been in gay men having sex with men. This amounts to a syphilis epidemic.

In 2021, there were 77.9 cases of congenital syphilis per 100,000 live births. The problems documented in these cases included blindness, bone damage, and stillbirths. In many cases, the mother did not know she had syphilis until it showed up in her baby. Mississippi and Arizona had the nation’s highest rates of syphilis infections, with Arizona having the highest rate of birth defects – 232.3 cases per 100,000 live births.

The damage syphilis does to adults is less severe than infants, but we are all financially affected by this problem. The data on the financial cost in various states is astounding. The money came mainly from the federal government to combat sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), with Louisiana receiving 8.6 million dollars, Mississippi 9 million, and Houston slated to receive 10.7 million.

The real beauty and value of sex are lost when the sex industry takes over or when it becomes a recreational activity. The biblical concept of the sexual relationship is to form a unique bond between husband and wife, with each partner being concerned about the well-being of the other. Abandoning God’s plan leads to a syphilis epidemic as well as other STDs. In 1 Corinthians 7:1-5 Paul writes:

“Let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have sole authority over her own person, for she belongs to her husband, and likewise also the husband does not have power of his own body, but the wife. Do not withhold sexual intercourse from one another unless it is only temporary and by mutual consent so that your minds can be free for prayer, but afterward you should resume relations as before lest through your fleshly passions Satan should tempt you to sin.”

The pain of misusing sex is massive in our society today. As people drift further from God and the teaching of His Word, the syphilis epidemic will only get worse, and the cost in dollars and misery will increase.

Reference: South Bend Tribune/Associated Press by Kenya Hunter, October 10, 2023.

November 27, 2023November 27, 2023

Demonstrate Our Thankfulness

Last week, Americans celebrated Thanksgiving Day. I couldn’t help but think how blessed I am to live in the United States of America, where we have so much while people in many countries are born into poverty and turmoil. As Christians, we should demonstrate our thankfulness by our actions.

We spent the holiday in Texas with my daughters and our grandchildren. Living in Michigan and being able to travel to Texas impressed upon me the affluence that exists in some parts of our country compared to the circumstances in some other countries. One of my daughters lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where there are groups of people living in what we call poverty.

We went by one of the churches in that impoverished area, where they conduct a ministry to feed those who don’t have enough to eat. Laid out on eight-foot tables were trays of whole turkey meat, stuffing, yams, green beans, and pies. A sign above the tables read, “No questions asked; come and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal from your Christian friends.” The reason for “no questions asked” is that most of those living in the area are illegal immigrants who have come to America with nothing but what they have on their backs.

I am involved with several Christian organizations that provide food and water to needy people in African countries. They have pictures of emaciated children holding a leaf, which is all the food they will have for that day. The Carter Foundation, begun by Jimmy and Roselyn Carter, has been drilling wells and providing medical help to people suffering from dirty water and unsanitary food. The Carters make it clear that their work is because of their Christian faith.

Jesus answered the question of who has truth and who does not by telling His followers, “By their fruits you shall know them.” I don’t see atheist organizations or skeptical groups supplying food for needy people. I have seen these groups push for social rights, but the basic need of most people on planet Earth is food and water. Atheists and skeptics are concerned with racism and various human rights, as we all are, while doing nothing to address the fundamental needs of most people.

I hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving and that you are genuinely thankful. Having an attitude of gratitude is fundamental to being a Christian. Seeing and acting on the needs of the less fortunate is a way to demonstrate our thankfulness.

November 16, 2023November 14, 2023

Alzheimer’s and Other Dementia

The Alzheimer’s Association reported that between 2000 and 2019, deaths from Alzheimer’s disease increased by 145%. More than six million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, and the disease kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, and in 2023, Alzheimer’s will cost the nation 345 billion dollars. Eleven million Americans provide unpaid care for people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia.

These numbers highlight what many of us already know, that Alzheimer’s and other dementia issues are a major problem in America today. By 2050, experts predict the cost will reach the trillion-dollar figure. Medical science is making great strides to find answers for this issue, but how to care for people with Alzheimer’s is a significant problem now.

I recently read about a man whose wife was in an Alzheimer’s care unit in the advanced stage of that terrible disease. She didn’t know who she was or who he was or recognize any of her kids or friends. Despite that, this man arrived at the facility every morning to get his wife out of bed, wash her face, comb her hair, dress her, and ensure she ate breakfast. One of the nurses in the facility asked the man, “Why do you come every morning and do this? She doesn’t know who you are or understand what you have done for her. She doesn’t know that you are her husband.” The man responded, “No, she doesn’t know any of that, but I know she is my wife.”

This story is not unusual for a Christian who values marriage as a creation of God. However, I have visited Alzheimer’s care facilities where the person was deposited and rarely, if ever, visited. I know there are times when a caregiver is physically unable to meet the needs of a patient with Alzheimer’s and other dementia at home.

Any disease of nerve cells has tremendous consequences for the victim. God did not create this disease, and medical science is still searching for the cause. Those who reject Christianity or promote a “survival of the fittest” belief system will side with Dr. Peter Singer, the Decamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, who claims that euthanasia is the only answer.

Jesus said, “By their fruits, you will know them,” and we praise those who are caring for someone wrestling with Alzheimer’s or any form of dementia. God’s blessings will be upon you. Jesus also said, “Come you who are blessed … I was sick, and you looked after me …whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:34-40).

Reference: Alzheimer’s Association

October 26, 2023October 25, 2023

Is Moderate Drinking Good for You?

Have you seen media reports claiming that alcohol is good for you? It turns out that the studies that led to those headlines were severely distorted by poor sampling. Those studies linked all nondrinkers together and called them all “abstainers.” Some of them were recovered alcoholics who had quit drinking. Others were non-drinking substance abusers or those suffering from chronic illnesses. Meanwhile, the “moderate drinkers” in the study could include those who ate healthy and exercised. More balanced modern studies answer “Is moderate drinking good for you?” with a “NO!”

Based on more non-biased studies, by 2022, the World Heart Federation stated that alcohol did not protect people from cardiovascular diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) has now stated that any amount of alcohol is dangerous. U.S. and Canadian authorities have lowered their definitions of “moderate-risk drinking.” A growing body of research says that any amount of alcohol raises the chance of premature death from various causes. Here is what is now known:

Half of all cases of liver disease are attributed to drinking.

Alcohol is a potent carcinogen because it breaks down in the body to form a compound called acetaldehyde, which damages DNA.

Fifteen percent of breast cancers are linked to alcohol.

In Europe, 50% of all cancers linked to alcohol are caused by “light” or “moderate” consumption.

The distressing thing about this is that young people are bombarded with messages and music glamorizing drinking. Television shows encourage drinking by showing a glamorous picture of people drinking alcohol. The health damage and risks from alcohol consumption are not presented to young people in any educationally sound manner.

Biblical teaching tells us that the body is the temple of God’s Spirit and must be cared for and protected (1 Corinthians 3:16). The Church should lead in education, especially with teens and young adults. So far, that has not happened, and the whole basis for not drinking is frequently lost in discussions about “moderation.” Is moderate drinking good for you? No, and beyond that, “There is no safe amount that does not affect health” (WHO).

Reference: Scientific American for October 2023