Jason Thacker's Blog, page 8

Roundup of Top Conversations from 2021

I started the Digital Public Square podcast (formerly WeeklyTech) back in April 2020 with the hopes of furthering the conversation in the Church on the pressing issues of theology, ethics, and philosophy in our digital age. Over the past year and a half, I have had the honor of discussing these issues with a host of influential leaders and thinkers. It has been so encouraging to hear from many of you how these conversations have challenged or pushed you in your own contexts and how the Lord has ...

Roundup of Top Articles of 2021

As we begin this Advent season, I always find it helpful to look back over the previous year and think about the various ways that the Lord has blessed me and my family. This newsletter and the community we have formed through WeeklyTech is such an encouragement to me and I am grateful for the many who subscribe. It is truly an honor to have a small space in your inbox each Monday and I pray that the Lord uses what we do here to help you navigate the difficult theological, ethical, and philosoph...

Always Known but Rarely Loved: A Christian Ethical Assessment of Facial Recognition Technology

In January 2020, Kashmir Hill of The New York Times broke a story about a little-known startup company, Clearview AI, that developed a controversial facial recognition application for policing and government surveillance. The simple application allows users, primarily law enforcement, to upload a subject’s photo to the Clearview AI database, and then receive a name or identity as well as all known public photos of that person. These photos come from a host of locations across the internet includ...

3 words that will shape digital culture for good and cultivate virtue in the public square

It happens like clockwork. Often within a few moments of breaking news or some other major event happening in our culture, we see one of the most damaging effects of social media and digital culture. Our feeds are immediately filled with “expert” opinions, half-baked ideas, and reactionary takes that routinely fail to account for the reality of the situation and resort to partisan or cultural talking points. In these moments, it seems that everyone we know has a take on what is happening. It’s t...

Roger Scruton on art and morality

Over this past weekend, Saturday Night Live had a sketch on The Weekend Update with “Goober the Clown”, which was seemingly intended to confront a serious moral issue in our society through the use of humor. The sketch was not only distasteful given the abhorrent realities of abortion and the devastation of women, but even the intended comedic element was completely lost as the writers sought to push a chilling message of pro-choice propaganda and political correctness.

Whether you have seen ...

A new national strategy on gender and the public square

The Biden administration released the “first-ever national gender strategy” in our nation’s history Oct. 22. According to the administration, it is intended to bring about greater gender equity and equality for all people, whether in the United States or abroad. This strategy is made up of 10 interconnected priorities and will be led by the newly formed White House Gender Policy Council (GPC). It is designed to develop a roadmap for the entire nation on gender issues.

The White House release ...

Are robot pastors really the future of the church?

Editor’s Note: Last week, BBC World News released an interesting documentary on the rise of AI and robotic technology in faith gatherings around the world. This topic has been top of mind for a few weeks since I learned of the coming film. Back in February 2020, I wrote this article that sums up a few of my thoughts about how these dreams of robot pastors reveal a deficiency in the church as well as a faulty understanding of the role of technology in our lives.

As the conversation about the r...

3 crucial areas of ethical research in technology for the Digital Public Square

A new project seeking to equip the Church with wisdom for a digital age

Nearly every area of our lives has been technicized or digitized in one way or another during the past century. Technology has ushered in innumerable benefits for humanity, which often overshadow some of the damaging effects of these massive shifts in our daily lives. Smartphones have led to a growing culture of digital addictions and isolation, especially among young people. We see this fact clearly in the recent reports...

Herman Bavinck on the Christian Worldview

The term worldview often carries a lot of baggage in our culture today. Some dislike the term as it seems to paint the way we understand ourselves and the world around us in overly rationalistic terms. Others think that the concept is abused and misused, yet many Christians see the centrality of it to all of life and make it a central part of discipleship.

Rightfully defined, we all have our own worldview—whether we know it, recognize it, or are even able to articulate it. Nothing goes untouc...

Wired for Tyranny? The Concerning Rise of Digital Authoritarianism

In the West we often take technology for granted. We grow frustrated when the internet at home or the office goes down, even if only for a few moments. We grow impatient when we can’t quickly find what we are looking for online. We become outraged when technology companies seem to routinely misapply their content moderation policies. We speak out defiantly for all to hear on social media when we think our freedoms are being curtailed. We expect our elected officials to stand firm in the face of ...