John N Clayton Archives

June 20, 2022June 19, 2022

Happy the Elephant Is Denied Personhood

Atheists claim that humans are just animals, so animals should have the same rights as humans. On June 14, 2022, the New York Court of Appeals denied a claim by a Florida-based animal rights group called “The Nonhuman Rights Project.” The group had claimed that an elephant named “Happy” in the Bronx Zoo was in illegal custody and should be released because the elephant was equal to humans. After four years of litigation, Happy the elephant is denied personhood by the New York Court of Appeals.

There have been stories by animal protection groups of elephants displaying emotions that they interpret as typical human responses to the death of a family member. Other people have ascribed similar arguments for humanizing a pet dog or cat. We call this anthropomorphism, and we have dealt with it before.

If you deny that humans are created in the image of God, then any animal can be considered equal to humans. However, because we are in God’s image, humans have spiritual characteristics that animals don’t have. For example, we can express creativity in art and music, feel guilt and sympathy, have a complete self-concept, appreciate beauty, and worship God. Some people may ascribe human characteristics to a loved animal, suggesting that it can do one of these things, but they would not argue that the animal can do all of them.

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore wrote, “While no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion, Happy, as a nonhuman animal, does not have a legally cognizable right to be at liberty under New York law.” She said that the legislature would have to decide to grant nonhuman animals the same legal rights as humans.

The court’s decision was five to two, with the two jurists strongly dissenting. So, at least for now, Happy the elephant is denied personhood unless the legislature decides to change the law. Interestingly, the New York legislature denies personhood for a human baby up to the moment of birth.

Reference: AOL News

June 17, 2022June 16, 2022

Do We Have Enough Water?

Parade Magazine published a question to Marilyn Vos Savant in which the writer asked, “If you had a cubic mile of water in a tank, and you start pumping it at 1000 gallons per minute, how long would it take to empty the tank?” Her answer was it would take over 2,000 years. There are many places on Earth where we have more than a cubic mile of water. The essential question is, “Do we have enough water?” The answer is that if we used what God has given us wisely, we would not have a water problem.

If we have enough water, why is there a water shortage as lakes dry up in California and Arizona? Also, why are people facing water shortages in drought conditions worldwide? God has given us enough water, but we are not doing a good job of distributing it. We can take the minerals from seawater to make fresh water. The energy cost to do that is high, but technology has greatly reduced it from what it used to be.

We have pipelines that carry liquid fossil fuels to enormous distances. If you think that building a water pipeline from the ocean to a destination hundreds of miles away is too expensive, consider how much money humans spend on war and weapons to harm others. It is disappointing to hear and read skeptics blaming God for the suffering involved in water shortages when they result from human ignorance, greed, and politics.

Genesis 2:6 tells us that a mist from the ground watered the planet in the creation process. Verses 10-14 describe four rivers coming from a source that flowed out of Eden. The area of the world where those rivers flow is part of the Fertile Crescent, which has a history of producing vast volumes of grain to provide food for humans and animals.

Do we have enough water? The answer is yes. Anywhere on Earth can be an Eden if we merely take care of our planet’s God-given water supplies.

Reference: Parade Magazine May 22-29, 2022

June 16, 2022June 15, 2022

By Their Fruits, You Will Know Them

Jesus Christ warned that false religious teachers could be identified by the results of following them. “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). The June 17, 2022 issue of The Week magazine contained several articles about problems in the world that are the fruit of false teachings.

One article addresses the application of the atheist “survival of the fittest” mentality to hospitality in Sweden. We have found that Christianity is not accepted very well in Sweden. That society prefers secular explanations of creation and a secular code of ethics. The article by Meryem Yebio on page 14 of The Week is titled, “Yes, Swedes Really Are So Unhospitable.” Yebio explains that by Swedish custom, when a family sits down for a meal, they will refuse to feed their guests. The defense of this behavior is that including guests would threaten their food supply.

Another article on page 15 has to do with a three-way conflict in India between secularists, Muslims, and Hindus relying on the teachings of their faiths. The dispute involves insults to Islam’s Prophet, the religious position of the Hindu ruling party Bharatiya Janata, and the Indian constitution. Finally, an article on the same page tells about water problems in Mexico, where the local wine production facility, with the backing of the area’s dominant religion, controls the water supply, leaving the poor without water.

Know them by their fruits as we see similar fruit problems in American denominations where materialism and racism have oppressed the poor and enhanced the rich. Some wealthy television preachers have flaunted a lifestyle few others can afford, including their contributors. No human-made religion has ever produced positive fruit, even though some claim to be “Christian.”

The fruit of Christ’s teaching includes sharing. Acts 2:41-47 describes the Church of the first century sharing what they had and even selling things their possessions to meet the needs of the less fortunate. Read chapters 5-7 of Matthew and see the difference between the teachings of Christ and what is happening in every other belief system on Earth. You can know them by their fruits.

Humans don’t have all the answers to a fruitful life. However, God does, and He has revealed those answers in His Word. So follow the teachings of Christ, and the fruit will be positive. But, on the other hand, following any human religion will only lead to negative results. You can see this in the current world situation and the struggles within America.

June 14, 2022June 13, 2022

Transgender Explosion and Gender Definitions

A Japanese man has decided he no longer wants to be a human and has chosen to be a dog named Toko. He had a professional dog costume designed for 2-million Japanese yen (more than $15,000). You can see him walking on four legs and rolling on the floor in YouTube videos. When inquirers asked why he wanted to be a dog, he said the question was difficult to answer. His case is an extreme example of people wanting to change who they are that has caused a transgender explosion and confusion of gender definitions.

The transgender explosion in the United States has now become a target for Bill Maher, Ricky Gervais, and other comedians who refer to it as “trans extremism.” Gervais says, “The worst thing you can say today is ‘Women don’t have penises.’” The comedians point out that the root of the issue is the belief that gender is purely an internal feeling often stimulated by peer pressure. The point of no return occurs when doctors perform surgery and prescribe hormones. Making irreversible decisions at age 14 opens the door to terrible problems when you become an adult.

What are the motivations for a gender change? Each case is different, and none of them is simple. For a male, the ability to dominate in female sports competition may be attractive. Others may have feelings of jealousy, inferiority, or distrust. That is especially true if they have experienced abuse. The breakdown of the family unit, the complete abandonment of morals, and the impact of the entertainment industry all contribute to the transgender explosion in America.

However, the transgender explosion is just another symptom of what happens when a culture discards God and His Word. Every past culture on this planet has gone through a similar path. After a period of growth and strength, humans start to rely on immorality, materialism, naturalism, and racism, and the culture eventually collapses. Will America learn from history or repeat it? Only Christianity offers any hope that we will not follow the civilizations that have lived and died in the past.

Reference: The Week for June 10, 2022, page 12.

June 13, 2022June 12, 2022

Ancient Trilobites Had the Solution to Focusing Problems

Most of us have faced the problem of focus when taking a picture or looking through binoculars. If you focus on something close to you, things in the distance are out of focus and visa-versa. Historians credit Benjamin Franklin with inventing bifocals to solve this problem, but researchers have found that ancient trilobites had the solution to focusing problems long before him.

Trilobites were sea creatures that needed to focus on prey up close without losing sight of predators approaching. Studies of fossils of a trilobite known as Dalmanitina socialis have led scientists to create a new camera lens. The trilobite’s eye was so well-designed that an object an inch away and another a mile away would both be in perfect focus. Amit Agrawal of the National Institute of Standards and Technology wrote, “To the best of our knowledge, this type of compound-eye visual system is unique…in contrast to the single focal vision system present in all-known living arthropods that exist today.”

The trilobite eye had two concentric lenses that could focus near and far at the same time. Based on that design, Agrawal and his team developed a “spin-multiplexed bifocal metalens array capable of capturing high-resolution light-field images over a record depth-of-field ranging from centimeter to kilometer scale.” The metalens is a flat lens made up of millions of rectangular nanopillars that bend light differently depending on their shape, size, and arrangement. A computer algorithm brings these multiple images into a single picture with all objects in focus.

Potential applications of this new technology are many and varied. For example, Metalenses could be used for 3-D photography, self-driving cars, and Mars rovers. Ancient trilobites had the solution to focusing problems, and scientists date these creatures to some 400 million years ago. Human technology and engineering are just now learning to mimic what the Creator did in forming the trilobite eye. Everywhere we look in the natural world, we see that a wonder-working hand has gone before, and the trilobite is one more example.

References: Science News for June 4, 2022 page 12 and Nature Communications April 19, 2022.

June 10, 2022June 8, 2022

Earth Is a Complex Living Planet

In 1883, an Indonesian volcano named Krakatoa, or Krakatau, erupted. In August of that year, the volcano exploded with such fury that 70% of the island collapsed into the caldera. The explosion was so violent that people heard it thousands of miles away. On January 15, 2022, Tonga’s Hunga volcano exploded. That island nation was devastated, and people heard the booms in Alaska, 6,200 miles (almost 10,000 km) away. Events such as those remind us that Earth is a complex living planet.

On January 14, 2022, the Hunga volcano erupted, apparently sinking the volcano’s main vent below sea level. That set up conditions for the volcano to explode the next day. Because of the capabilities of modern science, a team of 76 scientists in 17 nations studied the atmospheric waves created by the explosion, concluding that they were the strongest since the Krakatau explosion nearly 140 years ago. David Fee of the University of Alaska Fairbanks said, “Our hope is that we will be better able to monitor volcanic eruptions and tsunamis by understanding the atmospheric waves from this eruption.”

Earth is a complex living planet with massive forces at work, constantly changing its surface. The North American land mass is unusually stable, allowing us to build huge buildings and large cities, but much of the world is not that stable. In recent years, we have learned that the continents move, bringing to the surface new minerals and nutrients needed for life. In addition, in the ocean trenches, material is taken back into Earth’s core to be reworked and brought back to Earth’s crust.

The more we learn about our planet and the forces that have molded and shaped it to make life possible, the more apparent it becomes that life is extraordinary and the habitat that supports it is unique. Therefore, taking care of this beautiful creation of God is essential, and part of that is understanding that Earth is a complex living planet.

Reference: National Science Foundation and the journal Science.

June 6, 2022June 6, 2022

Aliens Are Controlling Planet Earth?

Seeing the design and wisdom in the natural world leads many people to realize it cannot be merely a product of chance. But, at the same time, they don’t want to attribute it to God because that would obligate them to live for God as Christ told us. So, they adopt the idea that aliens are controlling planet Earth as an alternative.

Enterprising hucksters have seized upon this thinking by offering a variety of claims about aliens from space. Nearly every day, someone claims evidence of alien visitation. Looking up at night, we can see much to fuel this thinking. There are roughly 3000 active satellites in orbit today, ranging from communication devices to military observation platforms and scientific research projects.

When you add to all of the active satellites, others that no longer function and all of the debris from various launches, the area around planet Earth is full of material to cause sightings. The term “Unidentified Flying Object” (UFO) has now become “Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon” (UAP). That seems more correct because many of them are reflections, ball lightning, auroras, and drones.

Nothing in the Bible says this planet is the only place where God has created life. However, the size of the cosmos and the distances to places where aliens could exist is so massive that alien visitation is highly unlikely. For an alien to travel from even the closest star system to planet Earth would require over four years if they could travel at the speed of light, which is impossible. Any alien affecting things on Earth would have to know how to manipulate time and space. If they are that advanced, it would be simple for them to avoid detection.

The bottom line is that we should not expect aliens to solve our problems. Humans need to find a way to get along and manage our relationships. The one system that has proven itself when followed is the teachings of Jesus Christ. Every human effort to find a successful alternative to Matthew 5 – 7 has failed. “Survival of the fittest” thinking has led to slavery, war, and the likes of Hitler, Mao, Stalin, and Putin. Instead of suggesting that aliens are controlling planet Earth, we need to turn control over to God.

June 4, 2022June 3, 2022

Critical Race Theory Won’t Solve the Problem

Critical Race Theory has become a hot issue today because one of the significant failings of America has been the way racial issues have been handled. My father had his first college teaching job at Talladega State Teacher’s College, an all-black college in Talladega, Alabama. I was the only white kid in the neighborhood and also in my first and second-grade classes at school. I never had a problem in Talladega, but when we moved to McComb, Illinois and people found out where I had gone to school, I experienced persecution because I was “a nigger lover.” I didn’t know what that word meant, but it began my education about race issues in America.

Today, we are being told about the “Tulsa Massacre,” something I had never heard of until recently. “Black lives matter” has made it impossible to avoid exposure to the entrenched problems facing all Americans, especially those of dark brown skin. Unfortunately, politicians have waded into this struggle and have made “race” the lens through which we view everything. They seem to think they have the power to legislate a solution to this issue. Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an ideology that says people are either “oppressors” or the “oppressed,” “good” or “bad,” based entirely on their race. The conflict over CRT has resulted from its inclusion in the school curriculum at a very early age. That has produced a strong reaction, both pro, and con, in every corner of our country.

Atheists and skeptics have jumped into the promotion of CRT, pointing to the poor history of race relations in religious groups. I remember the Klan burning a cross in our front yard in Talladega because of where my father was teaching. I remember a terrible experience when I had a tonsillectomy. The surgeon pushed me, a blood-soaked kid, on a gurney out to my mother and told her, “Here, nigger lover, you clean him up.” My family’s closest friends have been people of color, and I have seen what they endure. However, teaching Critical Race Theory to first graders is not a solution to racial prejudice in America.

The Bible makes it clear that Christians must treat all people as equals and that we are all one. Therefore, the Church must take the lead in educating its members about race while reaching out to the oppressed. Galatians 3:27-28 says: “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Changing the hearts of non-Christians is an uphill battle that can be won, but Critical Race Theory won’t do it.

June 2, 2022June 2, 2022

Climate Change Is Not New

The author of Ecclesiastes wrote a great deal about the futility of life and the failing of human knowledge. In the first chapter, Solomon writes, “What has been will be again, … is there anything of which one can say ‘look this is something new’? It was here already long ago. It was here before our time.” With that in mind, climate change is not new and should not be a cause for religious fervor.

Many historical passages in the Bible tell about drought, famine, and changes in the weather. Why did the brothers of Joseph go to Egypt? (See Genesis 41:56-57.) Why did the ancient prophet pray for rain? (See 1 Kings 18:41-44 and James 5:17-18.)

Those of us trained in geology who know how to read the rock layers and understand what environment produced them can clearly see that Earth’s climate has changed throughout time. For example, in Zion National Park, petrified sand dunes tell us that area at one time experienced warming far greater than what we see today. Where we live in Michigan, glacial moraines, eskers, and lakes abound, giving solid evidence that the climate was very cold at one time in the past.

Earth’s design is amazing. Because our area experienced glaciers, we have no shortage of water. There is no bedrock visible because sand and gravel make up the terrain, and water seeps into the ground rather than running off. Climate change melted the glaciers, leaving an ideal environment for human habitation. Thus climate change is not new, and God’s design of Earth is alive and active, allowing a constantly changing environment to support life.

In 2022, we find climate modifying Earth again. The polar caps are melting, and the sea level is rising, resulting in wind and ocean current changes. As in the past, God’s design is bringing water to places that have previously been desserts, allowing crops to grow in areas that could not support them. Climate change is not new but has always been part of our planet’s design.

Will we need to make adjustments to these climate changes? Yes, of course, but God has given humans the ability to do that. We can change crops, adjust waterways, control wildfires, and even move populations when necessary. Let us not wring our hands and treat God’s design for replenishing the planet as if it were something evil. Today, our major problems are human problems of immorality and a refusal to live as God has called us to. By our actions, we can reduce the severity of global warming and use its change to our benefit.

June 1, 2022May 31, 2022

Where Do We Find Dinosaurs Mentioned in the Bible?

Yesterday, we pointed out that words like “behemoth” in the original language of Genesis 1 would not have included animals like dinosaurs but referred to animals the ancient Israelites knew. So the next logical question would be, “Where do we find dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible?” The answer to that question is “nowhere.”

Why would the Bible mention dinosaurs? Consider how you would explain bacteria to a man with no microscope, or how could a person living in the jungle make sense of an octopus? When an explorer brought a stuffed platypus back to England for the first time, people thought it was a fake. Millions of different plants and animals have lived on Earth, and many of those still exist today. The purpose of the Genesis account is to say that God created everything, not to identify the millions of species that have lived on Earth. Genesis mentions only the animals the Israelites could identify and name.

So from today’s perspective, when did those animals exist? Some fundamentalists have suggested that we don’t find dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible because they didn’t exist. They say that God miraculously created dinosaur fossils to give the appearance that the animals lived when they did not. That explanation makes God a liar trying to fool us into a false conclusion.

Others suggest that dinosaurs were there but simply weren’t mentioned in the Bible. There is no evidence that animals like T-rex lived at the time of Adam and Eve. In reality, the atmosphere and temperatures necessary for such an animal to survive would be detrimental to humans.

Since we don’t find dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible, what was God’s reason for creating these huge animals? God knew that humans would need an environment optimized for their survival. In Alaska today, the survival of various life forms depends on salmon bringing nutrients into an environment lacking those essentials to support life. Like the salmon, the dinosaurs were the vehicles that provided resources needed for humans to exist and flourish later. The plant-eating dinosaurs consumed massive amounts of vegetation and excreted processed plant materials and seeds. They spread the vegetation and produced topsoil and critical elements necessary for human life. No animal living today could accomplish that task.

When Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created the heavens and the earth, the result would be a functioning universe and a dynamic planet where humans could eventually live. Earth was not a blob of molten rock or hydrocarbons but a functional planet, and dinosaurs were one of the tools God used to prepare it for humans. The big animals and plants helped create topsoil, coal, and a variety of trace elements human life would need. The oceans nurtured diatoms that produced the massive amounts of hydrocarbons humans would need for oil and gas. We don’t find bacteria, diatoms, or dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible because they are included in Genesis 1:1.

God could have zapped the hydrocarbons into existence, but if He had done it that way, humans could never have located them. God not only created the resources we would need, but He did it in a way that we could find them. He gave us the intelligence to study His methods to find the resources and obtain them for our use.

The wisdom of God in designing Earth to sustain human life is incredible. Every day, science finds new clues about how the planet was designed and how things we might consider insignificant are critical to our existence.

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