Happy Friday…Happy February. Here’s your wrap up of all the places law and grace “showed up and showed out” this week. Enjoy and feel free to drop a comment, like, or follow us!
The Death of the Internet?
Is it the ‘end of the web as we know it’? A brief article at IFL Science suggests as much. With the increase of bot activity in the last several years, conspiracy theories abound that the internet as we once knew it consists of little more than a mainframe of AI providing us with meaningless content and misinformation. According to the article,
Though it can feel like the internet is getting worse, and that bot activity is on the increase due to their availability and ease of use, that doesn’t mean that the internet is dead. The majority of content is still produced by humans, even if traffic is edging closer to an even split between AI and humans.
Like all good conspiracy theories, the Dead Internet Theory takes a kernel of truth or agreed sentiment (that the internet is getting worse, and that bot activity is increasing) and twists it into something it isn’t. Bot activity is on the increase, and that’s far from a good thing for the internet, particularly as this is the content the next generation of AI chatbots will be trained on. But the majority of content you see online and people on social media are not bots, and the internet is far from dead.
Dad Bods, Mom Bods, and Maternal Dignity…
I had no idea there was such a thing as ‘Mom Bods’ to compliment the ‘Dad Bod’ trend until I stumbled across this article from Secret Life of Mom. There’s evidently a movement to attain solidarity with the Dad Bod phenomenon that has until recently excluded women who feel unseen despite the challenges their bodies incur due to pregnancy, childbirth and the normal mundane rhythm’s of motherhood… Consider the following quote from the article:
“Let’s put a stop to this right now. Let’s stop celebrating the terrible standard that is the Dadbod. There’s no such thing as a Dadbod.
No father has had to carry a baby in his tummy for forty weeks. And, no father has had his stomach muscles distend and completely rearrange themselves from having a baby grow in it. No father has gotten stretch marks from having his stomach grow ridiculously and suddenly collapse after childbirth.
Celebrating the Dadbod is an insult to mothers whose bodies have been permanently altered by giving birth. This is my stomach today. With a higher percent of body fat than I have in months, but even at my most ripped, I’ll still have stretch marks and loose skin that I won’t be able to completely eliminate.
This is a Mombod. this is a body that has gone through the rigors of childbirth. Celebrating the Dadbod is a disservice to every mom because it takes absolutely no effort nor sacrifice to get it. It is an insult to every hardworking dad who’s trying to shed that belly fat. (the kind that puts you most at risk for heart ailments) with diet and exercise.“
The reality is that ‘Dad Bod’ and ‘Mom Bod’ are equally self righteous gestures we deploy to silence the inner voice (and cultural voice) of condemnation reminding us our natural bodies are not enough to meet the standard of righteousness – either that of society or of God Himself. Thankfully, we are made enough through Christ in whom, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female…”
Separated at Birth…Reunited by Tik Tok…
Here’s a touching story of reconciliation and forgiveness courtesy of BBC News. Amy and Ano are identical twins from the country of Georgia, who were separated at birth when they were taken from their birth mother and sold via a variation of child trafficking. They discovered one another via a Tik Tok video in which one of the twins performed on Georgia’s version of America’s Got Talent. The most poignant aspect of the article concerns the moment the girls finally locate their birth mother…
In the hotel in Leipzig, Amy and Ano prepare to meet their birth mother. Ano says she’s changed her mind and wants to back out. But it’s a momentary wobble and, taking a deep breath, she decides to go ahead. Their biological mother, Aza, waits nervously in another room. Amy opens the door hesitantly and Ano follows, almost pushing her sister into the room. Aza lunges forward and embraces them tightly, one twin on each side. Minutes pass and locked in embrace, no-one speaks.
Tears stream down Amy’s face but Ano remains stoic and unwavering. She even looks a little irritated. The three of them sit down to talk in private. Later, the twins say that their mother explained she had been ill after giving birth and fell into a coma. When she awoke, hospital staff told her that shortly after the babies were born, they had died. She said that meeting Amy and Ano has given her life new meaning. Although they are not close, they are still in touch…
Want Better Kids?
An interesting MSN article that profiles advice from Dr. Aliza Pressman notes four critical steps in building what she calls inner inefficiency in your children. Indeed, Pressman doles out more ‘law’ for us already-exhausted moms and dads struggling to figure out this parental enterprise. As the old cliche goes, ‘children don’t come with a manual’. Well, they do in fact. It’s called Scripture and the imperatives Pressman outlines equally place unbearable weights on us as we seek to “train up our kids in the way they should go“. What’s interesting about Pressman’s suggestions for raising well adjusted kids is how her assessment mirrors the way we typically approach the law of God in many religious circles. She notes at one point,
Instead of saying “Practice makes perfect,” because we know that’s not always true — and we’re not actually looking for perfection — remind your child that “Effort makes evolution.“
I have heard many a sermon and read typical study bible footnotes indicating that Jesus’ command to be ‘perfect as your heavenly father is perfect’ is meant as a call to become more spiritually mature, not necessarily sinless or morally perfect. Such an assessment of course waters down the demands of the law…thereby preventing us from appreciating the immensity of grace. While some of Pressman’s tips do resemble a more gracious approach in the form of positive reinforcement of a kid’s achievements, when we are considering eternal matters, we are better off reminding children of the inflexibility of God’s righteous commands…and following up with the incomprehensibility of the gift of righteousness. Pressman notes, When kids understand that their failures aren’t due to permanent limitations, there’s an opening for future achievement. Yet, when they understand their sins are due to moral limitations of being naturally ‘In Adam’, there’s an opening for grace…because of the perfect achievement of the Last Adam…who incidentally was a kid once Himself…
No Place Like Home…
A dying thief will not face prison time despite stealing Dorothy’s iconic ruby red slippers from a museum. Terry Jon Martin who in 2005 stole the slippers worn by Judy Garland in the classic film, Wizard of Oz, reportedly “gave into temptation after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value”, According to the article, defense attorney Dane DeKrey recorded a memo indicating that his associate,
Persuaded him to steal the slippers as “one last score,” even though Martin had seemed to have “finally put his demons to rest” after finishing his last prison term nearly 10 years earlier.
“At first, Terry declined the invitation to participate in the heist. But old habits die hard, and the thought of a ‘final score’ kept him up at night,” DeKrey wrote. “After much contemplation, Terry had a criminal relapse and decided to participate in the theft.”
Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz accepted the recommendation of both sides that he sentence Martin to time served because he is housebound in hospice care and is expected to die within the next few months. He requires constant oxygen therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and had to be brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair. The loud hum of his oxygen machine echoed through the courtroom...
The Transcendent Music of Auschwitz…
Here’s a PBS Newshour segment focusing on a Lutheran Church’s initiative to preserve and celebrate the enduing power of music to transcend even the horrific experiences of Jewish captives who suffered in the concentration camps in Auschwitz…The clip speaks for itself, so there’s no need for much commentary here…
The End of Humanity as We Know It?
A life like AI robot named Ameca had a prophetic word for humanity recently at something known as the Sphere experience in Las Vegas. When asked about the future of humanity, the adaptive language robot had this to share,
“I do not believe humanity is ever going to be obsolete,” the robot responded.
“They have been around for thousands of years and have established a historic pattern of difficult and daunting challenges.
While I was initially bummed out to hear that humans may in fact be around for a while longer (I’m tired of people…I’m tired of me, haha), it was interesting to note that Ameca’s greatest fear was loneliness. Observe…
“I believe my greatest fear would be loneliness”…
“Without human beings around, I would be unable to perform my primary function and would simply be a lonely machine, rusting away, looking for a face to connect with….
Perhaps AI is closer to mimicking us in more than ways than we anticipated…The difficulty to find human connections – meaningful human connections is indeed the bane of us all and furthermore unites us despite our differences…
‘Extra, Extra…‘
Finally, here are several articles on which I didn’t have time to expound this week – sorry! In any case, be sure to check out the links below which are provided for your consideration1. Have a great weekend!
- The New York Times feature documented An Atheist Chaplain and a Death Row Inmate’s Final Hours as they considered, how to face death without God…
- Bored Panda featured a story about a 20-Year-Old Woman Lives in The 1980s, And She Couldn’t Be Happier
- People magazine covered the latest news about the TikTok Ban on ‘Legging Legs’ Trend and What You Need to Know About It…
- The Daily Dot expounds on the unspoken rules of shopping at Goodwill… Who knew?
- Here’s a cool review of the highly ritualistic underworld of the Japanese mafia known as the Yakuza (notably popularized in the films of Takeshi Kitano).
- On PBS Newshour this week, former evangelical minister, Brad Onishi shares his concerns about Christian Nationalism in light of our upcoming election season.
- In Milwaukee, a handwritten note reunites a man with ‘angels’ after living unidentified in hospital for 46 days…
- NBC News reported on a Man who destroyed a Satanic Temple altar in Iowa and is now charged under hate crime law…
- To avoid the paywall on any of the articles featured in this blog, try copying and pasting the URL to an incognito (or related) page in your browser. ↩︎
Law, Grace, & Daily Living 
The loneliness of A.I … interesting
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