Jason Thacker's Blog, page 10

Should Facial Recognition Be Used in Policing?

In January 2020, The New York Times broke the story and raised public awareness of a little-known facial recognition startup called Clearview AI, which sells their controversial technology to more than 600 law enforcement agencies and police units around the nation. CEO Hon Ton-That says the benefits of the technology include allowing police to identify criminals quickly and efficiently, often from a single photo uploaded to the service.

Facial recognition technology is already used in varyin...

A conversation with Drs. James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky on science and morality

This is a transcription of the WeeklyTech Podcast interview with Drs. James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app to get new episodes each Monday morning or listen online.

Jason: In this episode of WeeklyTech, I’m joined by Dr. James Davidson Hunter and Paul Nedelisky, both professors at the University of Virginia and we talk about the nature of science and morality based on their book, The Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Foundation of Mo...

Why we need ethics to survive

Often when the secular world speaks of evangelicals, these Christians are caricatured as lacking education, social and historical awareness, and even a realistic understanding of the way the world actually works. In 1957, the esteemed theologian Carl F.H. Henry wrote Christian Personal Ethics to equip the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and to engage the apparent hostility demonstrated by elites toward evangelical thought. Henry wrote this comprehensive account of Christian personal ethics in a ...

A conversation with Dr. James Eglinton on Herman Bavinck, theology, and ethics

This is a transcription of the WeeklyTech Podcast interview with Dr. James Eglinton. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app to get new episodes each Monday morning or listen online.

Jason: Today, I’m joined by my friend, Dr. James Eglinton, who’s the senior lecturer of Reformed theology at the University of Edinburgh. We talk about the work of Herman Bavinck and how Bavinck can help us to think wisely about the modern challenges to our faith. Dr. Eglinton is the author of Bavinck: a Criti...

What we can learn about biblical ethics from the storyline of Scripture

The study of Christian ethics is an underdeveloped area within the evangelical tradition, as many of the resources on biblical ethics come from the Roman Catholic moral tradition. While this is an area that has seen a recent surge of interest in the last few decades, there are several older works that the church would do well to pick up and read with a discerning mind. One of these volumes, written in the 1950s, is Principles of Conduct by theologian John Murray. 

It may seem odd to look back...

Taking the Long View: Digital Culture and the Desire for Influence

This summer, I have spent a considerable amount of time in the wisdom literature particularly in the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the letter of James in the New Testament. It all began earlier this year as I was struck during my daily bible reading by how applicable these sections of Scripture are to our daily lives, especially in the digital age where we are constantly bombarded with digital distractions and an overabundance of information. As my pastor said a few weeks ago, the church has “an i...

Should the government regulate social media?

On Monday, May 24, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a new bill into law regulating content moderation and online governance in the state on social media platforms. This bill is the first state bill to become law on these issues, with other states including Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Utah currently considering similar legislation. 

DeSantis championed the bill as a collaborative effort at the press conference where he signed the bill into law, highlighting how these major social med...

How do we navigate conflicting values in the public square? Understanding the public nature of faith in a secular society

Beneath many—if not all—of the pressing social and cultural questions that our nation faces today sits a fundamental question about the nature and role of religion in the public square. From the often-fraught debates over abortion and sexuality issues like transgenderism to the increased discussions over online governance and the role of the technology industry in moderating public discourse, there lies a deep tension among ethical worldviews and disparate visions for the pursuit of the common g...

The Dehumanizing Irony of the Digital Age: Planned Parenthood, technology, and the longing for community

In January 2019, Planned Parenthood announced the launch of a sexual health chatbot named Roo, which is designed to help answer some of the most awkward or intimate questions that teenagers may have about their body, sex, relationships, and a host of other related issues. The chatbot is built on artificial intelligence (AI) and is available 24/7. It functions like text messaging a trusted friend, but with supposed expert advice coming from a host of medical professionals and adults. The bot’s sl...

How social media can impede our witness: The disconnect of the digital life

Recently, I was reading a book and was impressed by the scholar’s careful exposition, nuanced approach, and charitable engagement with critics. Naturally, in the age of social media, I decided to look up the author online and was surprised by what I found. It seemed that the scholar was acting a certain way on one medium and a different way on the other. Social media tends to tempt a number of us to post things that we would never publish in a book, much less say in person to another human being...