John N Clayton Archives

December 11, 2024December 10, 2024

The Divisive Media and America

Much of the conflict and violence we see today has been caused by the media’s tendency to promote its own agenda. When you turn to the divisive media for news, you don’t get a positive image of America; instead, you get a presentation of the particular view of the channel and its representatives. This is more than just promoting a political party. It is also a view that rejects faith in God, biblical teaching, and Christian values.

We received an anonymous written piece that expresses the divisive media issue. It is titled “I once was a normal person” and describes the situation in this way:

“I used to think I was pretty much just a regular person. I was born white into a two-parent household, which now, whether I like it or not, makes me privileged, a racist, and responsible for slavery. I went to school for 19 years and have always held a job. But now I find out that I am not here because I earned it but because I was ‘advantaged.’ I think, and I reason, and I doubt most of what the ‘mainstream’ media tells me, which makes me a right-wing conspiracy nut. I am heterosexual and believe it is the best foundation for raising children and having defined roles in family life, and that makes me homophobic. I follow the biblical teaching about money and morality, and I plan, budget, and support myself, and that makes me a fascist.”

Will America survive as a nation where we can worship God according to the teachings of the Bible, or will we collapse into another civilization with no moral standards and no personal rights, with democracy only a thing of the past? Ancient civilizations collapsed when the people accepted state-run control of right and wrong, and no fixed standard guided the state. Will we learn from history or repeat it?

The message of the divisive media today will only accelerate the demise of this once-great nation. Only if we “normal persons” refuse to listen to the bias of the media will the course of our country be different from nations of the past.

December 10, 2024December 9, 2024

Eye Design is Marvelously Complex

Eye design is marvelously complex. Human vision, with its rods and cones, is just one method of seeing, but other life forms have methods allowing them to see wavelengths we can’t see. Insects have compound eye structures consisting of individual units called ommatidia. Under the lens of each ommatidium, a transparent structure called a rhabdom stores photosensitive pigments known as opsins. Various types of opsins can detect different colors. The more kinds of opsins an insect has in its rhabdom, the more colors it can see.

Each insect has a different set of opsins depending on what it needs. Bees, for example, have a large combination of opsins, allowing them to see many colors of flowers. Some butterflies have opsins that enable them to see a particular plant. For example, monarchs can see milkweed plants, which their caterpillars need for nourishment. Dragonflies have a set of opsins that enable them to see ultraviolet light that human eyes can’t see. Dragonflies eat other insects, including some that are underwater, and ultraviolet vision allows them to see their prey.

The fossil record shows that insects used this method of color vision before the color vision method used by humans. Eye design is marvelously complex and highly designed to allow life to function in a world that needs balance and control. The more we see of the creation of living things, the more evidence we see for intelligence and design in the world around us.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: Smithsonian Magazine for December 2024, page 88.

December 9, 2024December 8, 2024

Title IX and Gender Problems

Legal cases have increased as more and more schools have forced children to accept members of the opposite sex in their restrooms and locker rooms, and no sport can exclude anyone based on gender. This is the result of politicians changing definitions in federal laws. Title IX is a federal law enacted in 1972 stating that schools could not discriminate based on sex. That was to give women the right to educational opportunities and sports participation previously open only to boys. I was teaching in a public high school then. To conform to that law, our school had to add a girls’ swimming, track, golf, and tennis team, all of which had previously been for boys only.

In the last few years, the government changed the wording of Title IX so schools could not discriminate “on the basis of gender identity.” That means boys who identify as girls cannot be prohibited from girl’s teams in any sport, locker rooms, or restrooms where boys would not be allowed. Also, no school activity could exist where only boys can participate. This is not an effort to accommodate trans girls and boys. We now have cases where boys who do not claim to be girls are visiting girls’ restrooms and locker rooms, and girls are entering programs for boys.

This ministry deals with evidence and facts. Churches need to pay attention to the fact that they will be unable to have male or female restrooms in their facilities. Because of redefining Title IX, all restrooms must be open to all genders. Personal privacy will no longer be allowed, and the biological differences between males and females will no longer be recognized. The fact is that males are generally taller, stronger, and faster than females. Denying biological differences does not change the fact that in the sport of shot put, a high school girl will not be able to throw the shot as far as a high school boy can.

Genesis 2:18 tells us that God created a “help meet” for Adam. The Hebrew word for help in this passage is “ezer,” and is used repeatedly in the Bible. (See Deuteronomy 33:7, Psalms 33:20 and 121:2 for examples.) It refers to someone who fills in what a man cannot do. Eve was not inferior to Adam. She was biologically different and filled Adam’s needs or lacks. Making a law that denies a difference between genders is contrary to common sense and violates biblical teaching.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
References: Faith and Justice (a publication of the Alliance Defending Freedom)
for November 2024, pages 5-7, and The Federalist.

December 6, 2024December 5, 2024

The Reality of Satan

What is your view of Satan? Is he real or just a cartoon character? The Bible speaks of the reality of Satan 43 times with different names applied like Beezebub, adversary, tempter, prince of this world, etc. The atheist view is to deny that evil exists, and therefore, an agent of evil also does not exist. Richard Dawkins, in his book River Out of Eden (page 133), states the atheist view that there is no such thing as evil. My question is whether your experience backs up that statement of faith.

The reality is that evil is not an object but a choice of sentient beings capable of making a choice. There are two types of beings in existence – time-dependent sentient beings like us and beings that are not time-dependent, which we call angels. Ephesians 3:8-10 tells us God’s purpose in creating us, and Ephesians 6:11-12 tells of the spiritual war we are part of. The first two chapters of Job give us a small view of the reality of Satan, the nature of that war, and our role in it. Jude 6 speaks of the history of beings outside of time. Repentance, a change of thinking, is impossible for angelic beings because they are outside of time, and time is a prerequisite for change. When we die and become timeless, we also will not have the possibility for change. That is why change is essential in our present existence.

The New Testament gives us a clear picture of the reality of Satan’s nature. Sometimes, he works with brute force, as with Judas and Herod during the attack on Jesus as a baby. In today’s world, we have seen Satan’s brute force in the KKK, the Crusades, Islam, and Mormonism. Satan can operate politically, as in Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, and Putin. More commonly, we see him sowing seeds that grow into weeds of destruction. (See Matthew 13.) Sometimes, he tries to imitate God’s good things, as seen in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14.

If you choose, you can write all this off as fantasy, but life’s experiences tell you it is real. Matthew 13:30 tells us that God gives you a choice and time to make that choice. Revelation 20:7-15 describes what is possible for us. Recognizing evil and Satan’s role gives our lives meaning and purpose. Denying evil and the reality of Satan makes us robots driven by blind, meaningless chance with no purpose in our existence.

December 5, 2024December 4, 2024

God Has Used Animals to Teach Humans

Rattlesnakes are among the world’s most misunderstood animals. Bible skeptics refer to Genesis 3:1, saying that they don’t want to believe in a God who would create something as evil and useless as snakes. The passage reads, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.” Although He does not create talking snakes, God has used animals to teach humans.

The Bible has many stories of animals conveying a message to humans. Numbers 22:28-33 records a talking donkey redirecting Balaam. In 2 Kings 2:23-24, a group of teenage thugs who mocked the prophet Elisha were attacked by bears. In Jonah 1:17, we read that “the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah” to set him in a different direction. No matter what you make of those stories, animals that do terrible things to humans are not functioning normally. They are designed for a purpose, not to do horrible things to humans.

So, what possible value is there to rattlesnakes? They are designed to maintain environmental balance by controlling rodents of all kinds. A rattlesnake has a scent-detecting vomeronasal organ in the roof of its mouth, allowing it to smell a mouse or a shrew. In addition, a heat-detecting organ in the pits between its eyes and nostrils enables it to “see” a rodent in total darkness underground. This equipment is designed to eliminate small rodents, not humans.

The total number of people in the United States who die from venomous snake and lizard bites is five, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dog attacks kill many times more people than snake bites. Rattlesnakes have a warning built into their design that they use when threatened. I have personally been in situations where I have seen a rattlesnake within easy striking range of a human being that simply stayed in a striking position and never moved. Snakes do not want interactions with humans and are most abundant in environments humans do not frequent.

One interesting modern value to rattlesnakes is that medical researchers have found hundreds of proteins and enzymes in their venom that block or neutralize pain pathways, offering an alternative to highly addictive opiates. The venom also can dissolve blood clots and lower blood pressure. Snakes are victimized and denigrated, but they are not evil, and they are designed for a purpose. God has used animals to teach humans.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: National Geographic for December 2024, pages 60-81.

December 4, 2024December 3, 2024

The Recreational Use of Cannabis

Cannabis use in the United States has skyrocketed as many states have legalized it as a recreational drug. It is essential to understand that cannabis can be used for medical purposes to treat pain, nausea, insomnia, and various other disorders associated with chemotreatments. The issue is the recreational use of cannabis.

Forty-eight million Americans use cannabis regularly, making it a 33-billion-dollar industry. Cannabis products go far beyond the 1995 joints of weed with 4% THC content. We now have vape pens, oils, drinks, gummies, and lollipops with THC concentrations as high as 70%.

Amazingly, people are doing this without attention to the harm caused by the recreational use of cannabis. Alcohol has been around for a very long time, and we are just now finding its damaging effects on humans. A recent study reported in Animal Models and Experimental Medicine shows that alcohol causes women to experience disrupted menstruation and ovulation, including fertility issues, and affects men’s sexual function and sperm production. If we are only now learning the harmful effects of alcohol, imagine what we will learn about cannabis when it can be thoroughly studied.

Research is already showing a high correlation between psychotic disorders and cannabis use. A recent Danish study has shown that as many as 30% of schizophrenia cases could be attributed to the use of cannabis. Canadian research has shown that teens using cannabis are eleven times more likely to develop a psychotic disorder than non-users, and more than 4.5 million teens use cannabis daily.

Why do people use recreational cannabis? Could it be because our culture has rejected God as a source of well-being and people are seeking solutions to their emotional needs? The substitute for following biblical instructions has been the use of various recreational drugs, and cannabis is the latest drug of choice.

People choose to ignore the scientific evidence for the destructive nature of drugs as a substitute for faith. Biblical passages like 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 make the consequences clear: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit has His home in you. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will bring them to ruin. For the temple of God is sacred, and that is what you are.” God does not prevent the consequences if we choose to abuse our bodies. We have seen that with previous recreational drugs, and it is already apparent with the recreational use of cannabis.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
References: The Week 11/8/24, page 11, and Reader’s Digest for November 24, 2024, page 40

December 3, 2024December 2, 2024

The Animal Understanding of Death

What do animals understand about death? That question has become such an area of interest that it has a name—comparative thanatology. Dr. Susana Monso has written a number of books and articles on the animal understanding of death, with special attention to opossums and chimpanzees. In her books, Monso provides information about the physiological changes in the opossum when it “plays dead.”

In a Time magazine article, Dr. Monso gave accounts of animals dealing with death. She told of a newborn albino chimp that other chimps were afraid of. When the dominant male killed the baby chimp, the behavior of the chimpanzee troop changed dramatically to a display of curiosity. Other cases cited are an orca who carried her dead baby over 1000 miles for 17 days and a gorilla who was weaned but attempted to suckle from its dead mother’s breast.

Dr. Monso argues that the animal understanding of death differs from human understanding. She says our human bias affects our view of comparative thanatology, but she believes animals understand death in their own way. Are the chimp, orca, and gorilla displaying grief, or are we interpreting them in light of what humans would feel and do? Do carnivores have empathy for the herbivores they eat? Those questions reflect what Dr. Monso calls an intellectual anthropocentrism bias.

That bias is reflected in some humans who refuse to eat meat because they feel empathy for the animal that died. To suggest that you won’t eat anything requiring death means you won’t eat anything. If you eat a plant or the seed of the plant, something has to die. Death is part of the design of life, and life would be impossible if nothing died. Either everything would die of starvation, and Earth would become devoid of life, or animal populations would overfill the planet.

The biblical understanding is that the Creator of life gave humans a special place in the creation. In Genesis 9:1-3, God tells Noah that all animal life would have the fear of humans and that humans would be responsible for managing all of life. Verse 3 also equates animal life with plant life. “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you just like the green plant – I have given you all things.”

God gave only humans the ability to comprehend life after death. Animals’ understanding of the death of one of their kind is rooted in survival. We see this in the biblical discussion of this subject and the evidence available to all of us.

November 29, 2024November 19, 2024

Christ’s Unique Nature

The events of the last week of Jesus’s life show us how different He is from other historical religious leaders. Hebrews 4:15 says it very well: “We do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was tempted in every way as are we, yet without sin.” Consider what the Bible tells us about Christ’s unique nature, even during His crucifixion.

GRACE – Luke 23:34 Jesus prays for those killing him. Some other religious figures encouraged retaliation and violence.
MISSION – Luke 23:43 Jesus promised paradise to the thief on the cross. He told Paul in Acts 9:15 that there was a stated purpose for his life. From the very start, Jesus came to fulfill prophecy and to build His Church.
STRUGGLE – Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 Jesus had a very human response to what was happening to Him.
FAMILY – John 19:26-27 One of the last acts of Christ on the cross was to assure the care of His mother.
HUMAN NATURE – John 19:28 Jesus was thirsty. Luke 22:44 Jesus was in agony over what was going to happen to Him. Luke 24:30-43 Jesus ate with his disciples, proving that he was alive.
TRUST – Luke 23:46 Jesus commended His spirit to the Father. Paul reflected this trust in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 and Stephen in Acts 7:59-60.
PERSEVERANCE – John 19:30 Jesus said, “It is finished.” He had completed the sacrifice that had been His purpose from His very birth.

When we stand before Jesus on the day of judgment, we cannot say, “Lord, you don’t know how it was,” because Jesus endured everything we experience. He came from a poor family and was not part of the religious hierarchy. Because of Christ’s unique nature, He refused to use violence, political power, or military force. He left us–His disciples–with a platform to change the world and gave us the tools to do it. Read Matthew 25:31-46 and see what Christians should be doing to help others. Understand that Jesus was different from all other religious figures and that following His teachings can change us–and the world.

November 27, 2024November 19, 2024

A System Benefiting Birds, Ants, and Trees

Birds have an interesting method for keeping ants out of their nests and away from their eggs and chicks. Many ant species will eat everything in their path, and often, ants infect trees where birds build their nests. From a design standpoint, how can you build a system benefiting birds, ants, and trees?

Scientists have discovered that in tropical and subtropical areas, birds use fungal organs known as rhizomorphs to build their nests. Rhizomorphs are cord-like filaments that fungi use to capture nutrients, and they grow web-like in the canopy of tropical forests. These filaments repel ants to keep them out of the birds’ nests. Researchers have found that over 176 bird species use fungal rhizomorphs in their nests. Two bird species in Costa Rica build their nests almost entirely using rhizomorphs of horse hair fungus (Marasmius).

Researchers in Costa Rica found a symbiotic relationship between thorn acacia trees and ants. The ants collect nectar from the acacia, repel any invaders, and even trim back encroaching plants. The thorns of the acacia protect the ants from predation, and the rhizomorphs protect the birds. This complex system benefiting birds, ants, and trees is very difficult to explain by any chance process. The concept of God building a system that protects all three participants is simply an argument for His existence.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: “Fungus-laced bird nests repel ants” in Science News for November 2, 2024, and Animal Behaviour October 2024.

November 26, 2024November 19, 2024

Macro-World Micro-World

We live in a macro-world in which we see and touch large things. Most of us don’t recognize there is a micro-world made up of very small things. Without the small things, the large things could not exist. The most obvious example of the need for small things is the food that animals need to survive.

Food chains start with the very small. Carnivorous insects that don’t eat plants provide the starting point for food chains. As technological tools become available, scientists discover more and more small animals, even some that are vertebrates. One example is the discovery of tiny Brachycephalus pulex frogs, also known as Brazilian flea toads, because they can jump 30 times their body length. They are only 7 millimeters (.3 inches) long, and unlike other frogs, they don’t go through a tadpole stage. Their eggs hatch directly into tiny frogs.

Scientists have found tiny animals in desert environments providing a basis for life in what would appear to be a sterile environment. Tardigrades, known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are another example of very small creatures that are important agents for life in the macro-world.

Many plants and animals that allow life to exist are not perceived through our senses. Everywhere we examine the macro- or micro-world, we find a design created by God. Romans 1:20 tells us, “..the things of God which the eye is unable to see ever since the world was made are clearly perceived through the things that are made.” The things we can’t see include the spiritual things of God and the small things in the material world as well.