Jason Thacker's Blog, page 21
January 26, 2020
Christians and the Cancel Culture
In June 2019, there was a Twitter backlash against the Black Hat security conference and its decision to confirm Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tx.) as a keynote speaker. Black Hat is a technology event series founded in 1997. Many within the national security and cybersecurity fields, along with many long-time attendees, voiced their disgust that Black Hat would choose to highlight Hurd given his pro-life convictions and voting record. Black Hat decided to rescind the invitation, bowing to public...
January 19, 2020
Kids and Technology
My wife and I have two young sons. Our oldest is nearly three years old and has recently developed a deep love for cars, trucks, trains, and construction vehicles.
Not only does he love to play his toys vehicles and pretend he’s a racecar driver or construction worker, but he also loves to watch shows on TV and online about these vehicles.
We’ve always tried to be cautious about what he watches and for how long. While we don’t have strict guidelines for screen time in our home, we don’t allow...
January 15, 2020
What does the Bible teach us about technology?
with Cameron Hayner
Not a day goes by that we don’t use some form of technology. Technology’s influence on our lives stretches back thousands of years to the use of shovels and spears. Whether it’s as simple as a chair or as complex as the systems proposed with brain-computer interfaces, technology is all around. In the last decade or two, we have seen exponential growth in technological innovation. This has led to many asking fundamental questions about how we use technology and what kind of...
January 12, 2020
4 technology issues to watch out for in 2020
The new year has already been a blur in many ways. From an international crisis to the continued focus on the presidential election this fall, 2020 has the potential to be a history-making year. But another set of stories that should capture our attention are those focused on the continued rise of technology and the influence it exerts on our daily lives. These tools have an outsized influence on how we communicate with one another, the type and quality of information we receive, and even how...
January 8, 2020
How to Help Parents in Your Church Protect Their Kids Online
My wife and I have two young sons. Our oldest is nearly three years old and has recently developed a deep love for cars, trucks, trains, and construction vehicles.
Not only does he love to play his toys vehicles and pretend he’s a racecar driver or construction worker, but he also loves to watch shows on TV and online about these vehicles.
We’ve always tried to be cautious about what he watches and for how long. While we don’t have strict guidelines for screen time in our home, we don’t allow...
January 5, 2020
Normalizing Pornography and Dehumanizing People
Recently, a tweet by Netflix that read something like “What is something you can say during sex and while watching Netflix?” went viral. I highly discourage you from checking the replies as nearly every major brand (as well as everyday people) degraded themselves for a fleeting joke. The whole exchange revealed how sexualized humor has become normal in our society. Even well-known companies like Wendy’s and Hulu responded to the initial tweet. But one reply in particular stuck out to me....
December 18, 2019
Is marketing moral?
You may notice a new tool on your Facebook profile in the coming months. A few weeks ago, the social media giantlauncheda new privacy tool called “Off-Facebook Activity.” This new tool gives you more control over the data that is captured and stored—from sources outside of Facebook—regarding your online activity. Currently, Facebook is able to track your internet activity, gathering valuable data, even when you are not using the platform, through the use...
December 16, 2019
Facial Recognition Technology and Our Souls
Last week theNew York Timesran an articlechronicling yet another authoritarian abuse of technology to oppress a minority people group in China. At times, it feels like the Chinese regime relishes these types of revelations because it gives them more reason to flaunt their power over the weak and remind the world of how they define morality and liberty down. Nearly every story of human rights abuses contains comments from a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member spouting off the fact China cares...
WeeklyTech #25 – Facial Recognition Technology and Our Souls
Last week theNew York Timesran an articlechronicling yet another authoritarian abuse of technology to oppress a minority people group in China. At times, it feels like the Chinese regime relishes these types of revelations because it gives them more reason to flaunt their power over the weak and remind the world of how they define morality and liberty down. Nearly every story of human rights abuses contains comments from a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member spouting off the fact China cares...
December 11, 2019
Do our bodies really matter in this technological age?
Imagine a future where we have convinced ourselves that everything we know and experience can be reduced down to some chemical process or explained away as ultimately insignificant. In this world, there is nothing truly unique about us, our families, or the world around us. We are merely highly-evolved sets of matter, and everything including our emotions, spirituality, and desires can be explained away as a chemical reaction in our brains. Our...
