Wednesday March 25, 2009
Tougher Sexting Laws
This article discusses new laws against cyberbullying. Some interesting facts: "A national study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy revealed that 1 in 5 teen girls or 22 percent say they have electronically sent or posted nude or semi-nude images online of themselves." and "Some area school resource officers and principals estimate that at least half of the students have an inappropriate photo on their cell phone."
Church Planting in WSJ
Wall Street Journal has an article about church planting. Rather an interesting place to read such an article, I thought...
Ligonier National Conference Video
You can watch the sessions from the recent conference which dealt with the topic of "The Holiness of God." There were some very, very good sessions and they are well worth watching.
The Real Population Threat
Dr. Mohler: "For well over a century, many prophets of doom have predicted world overpopulation would lead to ecological disaster, famine, poverty and other woes. As Philip Longman points out in the March 24, 2009 edition of USA Today, the world's population is expected to hit 7 billion by 2012, up from the 6 billion mark set in 1999. So, is overpopulation a real threat? Not hardly."
This article discusses new laws against cyberbullying. Some interesting facts: "A national study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy revealed that 1 in 5 teen girls or 22 percent say they have electronically sent or posted nude or semi-nude images online of themselves." and "Some area school resource officers and principals estimate that at least half of the students have an inappropriate photo on their cell phone."
Church Planting in WSJ
Wall Street Journal has an article about church planting. Rather an interesting place to read such an article, I thought...
Ligonier National Conference Video
You can watch the sessions from the recent conference which dealt with the topic of "The Holiness of God." There were some very, very good sessions and they are well worth watching.
The Real Population Threat
Dr. Mohler: "For well over a century, many prophets of doom have predicted world overpopulation would lead to ecological disaster, famine, poverty and other woes. As Philip Longman points out in the March 24, 2009 edition of USA Today, the world's population is expected to hit 7 billion by 2012, up from the 6 billion mark set in 1999. So, is overpopulation a real threat? Not hardly."
Comments (9) »
1. mike
March 25, 2009
8:42 AM
Tougher Sexting laws:
Perhaps they should just stop taking and sending nude photos of themselves and they wont have to be worried about them being forwarded and people bullying them.
This is akin to someone displaying their body for the world to see while on spring break, and then attempting to sue when someone videotapes it and distributes it.
The rights of citizens are going to continue to be eroded away because people are utterly unwilling to take responsibility for their actions.
2. J.P.H.
March 25, 2009
10:21 AM
One change I’d like to see is for kids to no longer be prosecuted for receiving or distributing child pornography (resulting in them being placed on a sex offenders list) when they receive or forward these pictures.
Also, and this may already exist, it would be handy if the cell providers would create some easy way for parents to view the pics on a kid’s phone. Probably via a web interface. Or better yet, provide a way to disable the camera and picture-sending/receiving functionality on the phone altogether.
As for Mohler…he’s a smart guy, but I’m not sure he’s qualified to make judgments about the ecological implications of overpopulation or the dynamics of age distribution. Neither am I, really. It’s a complicated issue. It seems like the ideal situation would be a stable population with a stable ratio of young-to-old. Mathematically speaking I think that’s possible, but it might require us to not live as long as we do now.
3. Michael Duenes
March 25, 2009
1:18 PM
Tim, and all,
I would highly recommend to you “Demographic Winter,” a documentary (not a Christian one) about the demographic issues that the world is facing. It is powerful and refutes the commonplace notion that the planet is overpopulated. Even secular sociologists are starting to realize the utter disaster that is coming due to our lack of having children, particularly in the west.
As I’ve said before, the last 60 years or so have seen an astounding lack of theological and sociological reflection by Protestants in particular on the consequences of widespread use of contraception. This is starting to change, thankfully.
4. J.P.H.
March 25, 2009
2:16 PM
I’m not so worried about the birth rate thing. All it means is that nobody can retire. People in ages past didn’t get to retire. I won’t cry so much if we lose that privilege.
5. Reg Schofield
March 25, 2009
8:01 PM
Tougher Sexting Laws:
The sad part about this whole affair is the tragic death of a young girl who made a very serious lapse in judgment . The sin found her out but its sad that no grace it seems was shown to her. I’m reminded of a woman publicly caught in adultery , paraded for all to see . The angry mob accusing and frothing at the mouth . But who stands and offers her grace and compassion , forgiveness and a new life , our amazing savior Jesus Christ.
In the world of instant access to info , pictures etc.. young people who do these things are naive to think it cannot get out. The sadder part is that sex is becoming so pervasive in youth culture it has lost its sacredness. We need to offer the youth a clear alternative to the jaded and depraved nature they are pursuing. Only the gospel of Christ can do this. Its one thing to point out the sin of another but grace is amazing and Christ waked with sinners and loved the broken reeds. This story just broke my heart .
6. humanitas remedium
March 25, 2009
10:37 PM
Mohler on point. Thank you for sharing this little bits with us, sometimes the small stuff is the most profound.
7. beatrice
March 26, 2009
12:42 AM
When Mohler goes to a biologist for spiritual advice, then I’ll accept Mohler as an expert in earth science. I’m rather astounded at how many Christians who wouldn’t consider allowing a preacher or televangelist to manage their investments or make their healthcare decision, then turn around and accept the pronoucements of televangelists on other matters of science.
8. Reg Schofield
March 26, 2009
7:18 AM
Dr.Mohler is not a “Scientist” the new high priest and so called dispensers of truth in this new age , and if you believe that I have moon rocks for sale . But Dr.Mohler is without doubt one of the best thinkers and well read and researched theologians on the planet . Plus since when has it been shown that science has ever been consistent even within its own grid of analysis, never. What he stated is a interpretation of the data or articles he has researched in light of biblical truth. Science can only give us data but beyond that it is open ended in terms of how we receive and apply that information when it is outside of what I call hard science like medical research , not speculative science , like theories of origins or even global warming etc…
9. J.P.H.
March 26, 2009
10:09 AM
As a side note…
Regardless of the birth rate, the fact that people are living longer (but still retiring at the same age) is changing the demographics of western societies such that they’re “less efficient”. Less people working, more people in retirement not working but still consuming resources (drawn at least partially from the state).
I’m not really going anywhere with this…but imagine if the retirement age were 65 and most people were dead by 70. Almost every adult would be “economically productive”.
What this makes me think is that the eventual “solution” to the low birthrate is going to be the revocation of any sort of “official” retirement age after which you can collect social security, etc. Retirement will become a luxury available only to those who can afford it.
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