Social Media

Over the past few weeks, we have been talking a lot about image.  We live in a culture where the perception of how we are viewed by our peers is more important than ever before.  Social media, phone apps and the ability for individual expression has made younger Americans more aware of not only outward appearance, but how others perceive what they believe. Some have labeled them as “thought police,” these are the folks that comment as if they know your very thoughts before a word is spoken.  These types of individuals have gone so far as to rewrite historical books in a way as to frame the content to their political narrative.  Thanks to the trend in using artificial intelligence, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has introduced their version of the Biblical account of the Creation story of Adam and Eve to give an animal rights message as viewed by ChatGPT. In PETA’s AI-overhauled Creation account titled “The Book,” the terms “beasts” and “creatures” are exchanged for “beings,” and the clothing that God provides for Adam and Eve is made of hemp and bamboo instead of animal skin. Additionally, PETA's version of Genesis includes Abraham and Sarah adopting a dog named Herbie from a shelter.
https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/peta-goes-biblical-with-chatgpt-vegan-rewrite-of- the-book-of-genesis/

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk explains in the statement, "The Bible has long been used to justify all forms of oppression, so we've used ChatGPT to make it clear that a loving God would never endorse exploitation of or cruelty to animals. It took God only six days to create the entire world, but we realized it would take us years to rewrite the whole Bible, which is why we've started with just the first book."

In Matthew 12 Jesus warns us, "But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

I find it interesting that groups like PETA believe that it is a good use of their time to rewrite a book they have never read.  If they would take the time to read the Creation account, they would see that God gives a specific task to the man and woman.  In both chapters 1 and 2 the first people are to work and take care of the garden they were placed in.  The animals were brought before Adam to name.  In chapter 3 it was not Adam nor Eve that killed an animal for the skins of covering, but God.  From the beginning it was God's command to people to take care of the Earth. It's always been the responsibility of people to take care of the Earth.  This includes the responsible harvesting of animals for food, management of forests to minimize the destruction of wildfires, proper use of natural resources to maximize the quality of air and minimize pollution.  If they would only read the Bible, according to God's commands, it is a sin NOT to do these things. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, the individual sin nature entered humanity.  Satan tells us that it is all about the individual, God says we are in this together.  We are here to serve the Creator, not the creation.

In this culture of image don't let the devil lie to you.  Whatever God wants, Satan will offer you the opposite.  I admire the passion by some in PETA, but not when they twist the message of the Bible to push their personal agenda.  Celebrate the fact that God hold us accountable in taking care of His Creation, a burden and a blessing when we view our role through the lens of Scripture.      

Serving the Savior,

Bro. Jonathan