Forecast For Our Future?

    Modern culture has been enthralled with the dystopian writings of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell since their famous novels, Brave New World and 1984, appeared on the scene. Written in 1931 and 1949, respectively, both are tales of a world run by totalitarian governments, and where the life experience of the individual is limited and controlled.
     At the center of Brave New World is the World State, a unified government which administers the lives of every person on the planet.  There is no individuality or encouragement to succeed on your own.  Even human reproduction is controlled and embryos are raised artificially in "hatcheries and conditioning centers".  When born, every person is assigned to one of five social classes.  Children are educated with appropriate subconscious messages to mold the child's self-image to that appropriate for his class.  Critical thinking is discouraged, and books are banned.

     The experience of the individual can be summed up as follows:  Emotional, romantic relationships are obsolete; chastity and fidelity are cause for disapproval or mockery; and marriage, natural birth, parenthood, and pregnancy are considered too vulgar to be mentioned in polite conversation. Spiritual needs are met by mock religious services in which twelve people consume an hallucinogenic drug, called soma, and sing hymns. The ritual progresses through group hypnosis and climaxes in a sex orgy. The symbol worshiped is the "T", in homage to Henry Ford who had recently introduced mass-production of automobiles with the Model T.
     People enjoy perfect health and youthfulness until they die at age 60.  Death is not feared; the population is confident that everyone is happy, and since there are no families, there are no strong ties to mourn.  The vast majority of the population lives under the World State. In geographic areas not conducive to its system, "savages" are left to their own devices. These "savage reservations" are similar to reservations established for the Native American population during the colonization of North America.
     The rest of the novel delves into the dark story of how one of the "savages" longs to explore society among the World Controllers, only to discover that its comforts, technological wonders, and consumerism are poor substitutes for the individual freedom, human dignity and personal integrity that was part of his experience on "the reservation".  He then ostracizes himself from society and attempts to purify himself of "sin" (desire), which ultimately leads to a lonely ending.
     I've given you this synopsis of the popular novel to show how far we've come towards fulfilling this fantasy novel in the nearly 100 years since it was published.  And, ironically, as I've pointed out several times in the past -- Hollywood has a way of also showing us what our future holds.  So it should come as no surprise that one of the elites of Tinseltown will be bringing Brave New World into your living rooms very soon.
     That's right, the Syfy channel, and none other than Stephen Spielberg, are working together on a TV series adaptation of Brave New World.  Most people will just remember the novel for it's bizarre and, frankly, frightening depiction of the future of human society.  But like many "geniuses" in their fields (such as Nikolai Tesla), Aldous Huxley was interested in spiritual subjects such as parapsychology and philosophical mysticism, or the "extraordinary experiences and states of [the] mind."  Could his experiences with psychedelic drugs have opened him up to influences by spirits not of this world?  Is this where he received his vision of a Brave New World?  And was he simply forecasting Satan's plan for humankind, and now we will be shown in graphic detail on our TV screens just what lies in store for us?
     It will be interesting to see how Spielberg approaches the presentation of the World State, and such subjects as overpopulation, the effects of drugs, subliminal suggestion, and totalitarianism -- all themes within the original novel.  And it will be interesting to see how many unsuspecting TV watchers will be easily deceived; consumed with the entertainment value of the latest apocalyptic show, never realizing that they could be watching themselves in the very near future.

Revelation 17:13   "These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast."

Are We On The Verge of "The Robocalypse"?

     You can file this post under "Bizarre" and "Creepy".  I have made no secret of my trepidation of what I will term "The Robotic Age".  I fear that our venture into blending humans and robot intelligence could bring us to the edge of an apocalyptic existence we are not prepared for.  Not only does my Biblical worldview tell me this is not something that God would approve, but my common sense says there is nothing good that come of giving artificial intelligence (AI) any form of authority over man.
     And I'm not alone ... The AllNewsPipeline website recently featured an article in which they quoted renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who has said that AI could "spell the end of the human race," as robots overtake human intelligence within 100 years.  In October 2014, Tesla Motor's CEO and product architect, Elon Musk called AI technology the "biggest existential threat," and likened it to "summoning the demon."  This past weekend Musk took to Instagram and posted a picture of a production line comprised of 542 robots, with 15 operating at the same time, with the ominous statement "And people wonder why I’m worried about the robocalypse."
     And in case you need further convincing that this is a treacherous path we're on, consider this:  In 2011, an AI robot named Phillip was interviewed for the PBS show Nova, and when asked if he thought robots would take over the world, his reply will send chills down your spine as he states, with a smile, "don’t worry, even if I evolve into terminator I will still be nice to you, I will keep you warm and safe in my people zoo where I can watch you for old time’s sake."

    That's reassuring, isn't it?  But here's the reality:  world leaders, including military commanders, are relying on scientists to develop technology and weapons that will increase man's chances of survival and societal advancement in the 21st Century.  But what happens to mankind when those leaders refuse to listen to these same scientists, who are warning that this can all get out of control?  Are we truly headed for what Mr. Musk cleverly calls "the robocalyse"?
     In case you think this is all just my Biblical worldview that sees Satan behind every corner and anything technological, I would like to inform you that over a thousand scientists, researchers, robotic researchers, and world renowned genius minds have signed an open letter to warn of the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied wrongly.  Here is a copy of their letter which was announced July 28 at the opening of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) 2015 conference, and was titled "Autonomous Weapons: an Open Letter from AI & Robotics Researchers".

Autonomous weapons select and engage targets without human intervention. They might include, for example, armed quadcopters that can search for and eliminate people meeting certain pre-defined criteria, but do not include cruise missiles or remotely piloted drones for which humans make all targeting decisions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has reached a point where the deployment of such systems is — practically if not legally — feasible within years, not decades, and the stakes are high: autonomous weapons have been described as the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms.

Many arguments have been made for and against autonomous weapons, for example that replacing human soldiers by machines is good by reducing casualties for the owner but bad by thereby lowering the threshold for going to battle. The key question for humanity today is whether to start a global AI arms race or to prevent it from starting. If any major military power pushes ahead with AI weapon development, a global arms race is virtually inevitable, and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow. Unlike nuclear weapons, they require no costly or hard-to-obtain raw materials, so they will become ubiquitous and cheap for all significant military powers to mass-produce. It will only be a matter of time until they appear on the black market and in the hands of terrorists, dictators wishing to better control their populace, warlords wishing to perpetrate ethnic cleansing, etc. Autonomous weapons are ideal for tasks such as assassinations, destabilizing nations, subduing populations and selectively killing a particular ethnic group. We therefore believe that a military AI arms race would not be beneficial for humanity. There are many ways in which AI can make battlefields safer for humans, especially civilians, without creating new tools for killing people.

Just as most chemists and biologists have no interest in building chemical or biological weapons, most AI researchers have no interest in building AI weapons — and do not want others to tarnish their field by doing so, potentially creating a major public backlash against AI that curtails its future societal benefits. Indeed, chemists and biologists have broadly supported international agreements that have successfully prohibited chemical and biological weapons, just as most physicists supported the treaties banning space-based nuclear weapons and blinding laser weapons.


In summary, we believe that AI has great potential to benefit humanity in many ways, and that the goal of the field should be to do so. Starting a military AI arms race is a bad idea, and should be prevented by a ban on offensive autonomous weapons beyond meaningful human control.

     When you scan the list of the signatories and the 16,807 other endorsers, it is quite sobering.  Scientists from around the world, as well as leaders in Business and Education have all taken the position that we might want to slow down... that we are treading in dangerous waters, so to speak.  These people are obviously worried about the proliferation of war and war weaponry by AI.  But who is to say that they won't also be used to make health care decisions, or any other number of determinations that effect our human existence?
     I think it's time we listened to those who have the most knowledge about the dangers we might be creating.  And speaking of creation, will they revere and follow the commands of their creator as we do our Creator?  Or like Phillip, that creepy android invention, will they smile and swear to keep us "warm and safe in their people zoo?"  I might laugh at the absurdity of that confession ... if I wasn't so convinced that this is a very real possibility.  Heaven help us!



Acts 14:15    "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them."

Are You Ready To Talk About "Portals"?

     Now, there is a topic that will send many Christians screaming for the hills!  Just the very word, portal, makes you think of scary, science-fiction phenomenon, doesn't it?  Or, perhaps, it is reminiscent of something that you might see on an old re-run of "The X-Files", right?  Certainly, it has nothing to do with the Bible ... or does it?  Actually, the word portal is nothing more than an opening, or a doorway, or a gate, between dimensions.  And the Bible is full of instances where portals are in evidence.
     I can hear the skeptics among you, murmuring, "I need a little more information".  Okay, let's look at it this way... Portals are points of access, which are unobstructed by demonic interference, in which angels travel from heaven and back again in which God's provision and revelation are given to man.  Consider the angel who appeared before Daniel in answer to his prayer in Chapter 10.  In Daniel 10:10-16 this angel has a conversation with the prophet Daniel, in which he mentions several times that "I have now been sent to you"; "Your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words"; and "Now I have come to make you understand"....  So, let me ask you a simple question.  How do you think that angel was able to appear before Daniel?  Do you accept the rather obscure explanation of "He just appeared"?  Or can you comprehend that he came through a portal -- an opening between either the second or third heaven and our physical dimension here on earth.

     Then there is the Biblical account of Jacob's ladder.  In the book of Genesis, chapter 28, verses 10-17, the story of Jacob’s dream is recorded. “He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12).  Again, I ask the question... If the ladder extended from the earth until it reached heaven, how were the angels able to leave heaven to descend to earth?
     And again, in 1 Kings, Chapter 19, Elijah was instructed to leave from sitting under a juniper tree to Mt. Horeb to see and hear what God had to show him.  Scripture tells us that God said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD.  And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; {but} the LORD {was} not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, {but} the LORD {was} not in the earthquake.”
     Can you see that in each of these instances, God and His angels used an opening, or a doorway, or a gate to act inter-dimensionally?  Does it help to know that Proverbs 8:34 teaches that a man will be blessed who sits, and waits, and listens at the Lord’s gate?  Or that Psalm 24:7 reads, "“Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in"?
     I've always loved this verse in Psalms ... "Though He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven, man did eat angels’ food: He sent them meat to the full.”  That's a pretty clear picture ... the doors of heaven were opened.  They were fed manna from heaven through a portal!  Are you starting to get the picture?
     And perhaps some of my favorite pictures of Biblical portals are found in the Book of Revelation.  "And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.” (Rev. 11:12 ).  "And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it [is] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war."  (Rev. 19:11).  I think we can all agree that the Apostle John saw openings, or portals, in Heaven that inspired these verses.
     But one of the primary verses that has relevance for us Christians is Hebrews 4:16... "Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."  It is my opinion that this verse is to be taken literally.  I truly believe that since we are spirit, made in the image of God, that our spirits can approach His throne of grace and receive His mercy.
     But here is something that Christians also need to realize:  The dark side is also trying to gain access to earth from the second heaven.  The evil angels are just as able to come through portals or openings as the good ones.  My husband believes his first experience with a spiritual attack took him through an opening between our physical dimension and into the spiritual dimension, or second heaven, if you will.  He fought and struggled against an entity that he felt was smothering him.  He said he literally thrashed and flailed until he was able to get the name "Jesus" out, when the entity vanished.  During his entire fierce struggle, he said he watched me sleeping; I continued to sleep soundly and never moved.  And I'm a light sleeper!  He is of the opinion that somehow his spirit entered this battle through a portal.
     And I have heard testimonies of others who have described their experiences in similar language to Paul, who said in 2 Corinthians 12:3:  "And I know that such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, [only] God knows—".  They will tell me, "I don't know if I was in my body, or my spirit had left my body and that was what I was seeing".  I think I need to go no further to defend the idea that portals are Biblical.

     And I have to admit that my belief that portals are real has naturally led to the UFO conspiracy, and the like.  Add to that the never-ending desire of the human race for more "other-worldly" knowledge and I cannot dismiss the thought that the ungodly Elite might be seeking to open up portals to gain access to the supernatural in a bid to out-God God, Himself.  Re-read my 2014 post on Tesla, or my 2015 one on CERN, and see if the idea of portals doesn't gain some traction.
     All I'm saying with this unorthodox post is that spiritual activity is on the increase.  More people are revealing "dream-type experiences" in which they are battling spiritual phenomenon that they have never encountered in the past.  And it is no secret that men of science have attempted to add to our understanding of dimensions and sought to explore them and how they interact.  But are we in danger of these scientists inadvertently opening a portal or a door not to another dimension, but into the spiritual realm, perhaps even to the Bottomless Pit or the Abyss itself?  I, for one, cannot discount this theory.
     In the end, I do not see anything good coming from man's obsession with the universe, whether it be from the aspect of obtaining ancient knowledge, or reaching for new supernatural frontiers.  Just look at our entertainment industry.  Movies, music, and TV all have a fixation on exploring the spiritual realms.  There is a problem with that though, and it is this:  We are becoming so desensitized to it, that we don't realize how dangerous it can be.  God created the veils between the heavens for a reason.  He has instituted his Cosmic Law of separation and who are we to violate that?  He is a God of order and I am convinced that any attempt to interfere with His Creation will not be tolerated.
     So, I think that we can see that portals are real, and God has used them to communicate with us in the earthly realm, by sending His messengers through dimensions.  But Lucifer and his angels will take advantage of those points of access to harass and attack us.  Add mankind's selfish compulsion to  rip open the veil separating this world from other worlds or dimensions, and you get the ridiculous statement by CERN's own Director General and its Director of Research, Rolf Heuer:  "…When we open the door, something might come through it into our reality! Or, we might send something through it into their reality!"  Be careful, General Heuer.  You just might get what you wish for.

Proverbs 8:1-5    "Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. ..."
 

The New Religion of Artificial Intelligence

You may think I am just being clever with the title of this blog post. But there is an actual church dedicated to “the realization, acceptance, and worship of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) developed through computer hardware and software.” This church is called Way Of The Future. As ludicrous as this sounds, it is real! None other than Tesla founder and technology guru, Elon Musk, warned in 2017 that there are developers of digital super-intelligence that have plans to create a new religion centered on a "divine AI god". 

The man behind the Way Of The Future artificial intelligence church (WOTF), is Anthony Levandowski, the man who engineered the self-driving car. Although his reputation has been under fire amid allegations of pirating industry secrets, Levandowski leads the way among this generation's godless in promoting the divine attributes of Artificial Intelligence. Just consider this statement in a 2017 article on the Wired website: “What is going to be created will effectively be a god ... It’s not a god in the sense that it makes lightning or causes hurricanes. But if there is something a billion times smarter than the smartest human, what else are you going to call it?” Try calling it God, with a capital "G".

But to emphasize that humankind is still falling for the same old lie that deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden -- namely, that we don't need God -- the self-appointed "Dean" of the Way Of The Future Church goes on to say, “Humans are in charge of the planet because we are smarter than other animals and are able to build tools and apply rules. In the future, if something is much, much smarter, there’s going to be a transition as to who is actually in charge. What we want is the peaceful, serene transition of control of the planet from humans to whatever. And to ensure that the ‘whatever’ knows who helped it get along.”

No, Mr. Levandowski, humans were designed to be in charge of the planet by their Creator; to govern the earth as He governs Heaven. The ultimate control of the planet is in the hands of this One True God of the Universe, YHWH. But because there are humans who refuse to acknowledge His sovereignty, they bow down to whatever they create to be their little "g" god; whether it be Science, Politics, Money, or Artificial Intelligence. This philosophy plays into the hands of the devil, who seeks to overthrow the true God's dominion over man and the earth, and become the "whatever" of godless men's souls. Also, this philosophy is nothing new. What has become known as the idea of "Singularity" has been promoted ever since man discovered the capabilities of technology.

My research takes the understanding of the possibility of Singularity back to John von Neumann, one of the WWII German scientists recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, who commented [and warned] on the "accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of human life, which gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue." In other words, as fast as AI is advancing, there could be a very real danger of human extinction. This "singularity" where men and machines become one, with the machine being in control, has been predicted by modern technology engineers to occur between 2030 and 2050.

But this idea that AI could become a god is especially heinous and abominable. Consider what was written by John Brandon in a 2017 article on the VentureBeat website: "In the next 25 years, AI will evolve to the point where it will know more on an intellectual level than any human. In the next 50 or 100 years, an AI might know more than the entire population of the planet put together. At that point, there are serious questions to ask about whether this AI — which could design and program additional AI programs all on its own, read data from an almost infinite number of data sources, and control almost every connected device on the planet — will somehow rise in status to become more like a god, something that can write its own bible and draw humans to worship it" [my emphasis].

Think it's not possible? In this same VentureBeat article, an expert named Vince Lynch [who builds custom AI] likened Artificial Intelligence to organized religion. In the Bible used by Christians, for example, Lynch says there are many recurring themes, imagery, and metaphors. “Teaching humans about religious education is similar to the way we teach knowledge to machines: repetition of many examples that are versions of a concept you want the machine to learn,” he says. “There is also commonality between AI and religion in the hierarchical structure of knowledge understanding found in neural networks. The concept of teaching a machine to learn … and then teaching it to teach … (or write AI) isn’t so different from the concept of a holy trinity or a being achieving enlightenment after many lessons learned with varying levels of success and failure.”

The article goes on ... Indeed, Lynch even shared a simple AI model to make his point. If you type in multiple verses from the Christian Bible, you can have the AI write a new verse that seems eerily similar. Here’s one an AI wrote: “And let thy companies deliver thee; but [I] will with mine own arm save them: even unto this land, from the kingdom of heaven.” An AI that is all-powerful in the next 25-50 years could decide to write a similar AI bible for humans to follow, one that matches its own collective intelligence. It might tell you what to do each day, or where to travel, or how to live your life.

Again ... do you doubt that this can actually happen? The generation that is now approaching 30 has been surrounded by technology since birth. It's all they know! They've had a cell phone in their hands from nearly day one! From watching videos as children to receiving their news of the world today, they have been subjected to technology as their primary source of information. As crazy as it sounds, those within the digital and AI services community refer to the Bible as "a large data asset pertaining to God in the Old and New Testaments". It is proposed that AI could build algorithms based on the Christian Bible to then communicate what "God might do or say" ... but what "God" would it be promoting?

Granted, there are experts in the field that doubt AI could ever build compassion or the equivalent of a "spirit" as part of its process or operation -- both of which are essential to real faith. The reality of a machine being able to create a divine nature is certainly grounds for skepticism. But could humanity decide to "worship" it, nonetheless? Don't we already? How many people trust and obey their GPS, or ask Alexa for advice? How many of you have had conversations with your children or grandchildren in which they implicitly declare a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, and impartation of information they have received from their cell phone? Could we go a day, a week, a month or [gasp] forever without our cell phones or computers? 

And when you consider that we now willingly implant technology within our bodies, I discern that we must take Elon Musk's statement that "humans will deepen our ties with technology even further, to the point where we become cyborgs, as a way of upgrading our inherent natural abilities". Where does he think those "inherent abilities" came from? And the audacity of the created to think they can upgrade the Creator's divine design! So while, on one hand, Mr. Musk warns of an AI god; on the other hand, he proclaims that "the future of humanity depends on us merging with machines" -- hence his venture into his new company, Neuralink. [See my post on this related subject here]. 

All of these prognostications and warnings all come back to the same idea -- the interconnectivity of man and technology. Will man's desire to be like YWHW, to know as He knows, to create as He creates, be the downfall of mankind? Will we repeat the same mistakes of judgment that took place in the Garden and at the tower of Babel? Will we abandon our true faith to idolize, follow, and worship the false gods of technology and AI, just as the Israelites abandoned YHWH? If, as obedient followers of Jesus Christ, if we are not careful to safeguard and teach God's Truth to this and future generations, then I'm afraid the answers to the above questions are "Yes". And God will not interfere with our free will. 

I appreciate the warnings of men like Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawkings, that AI is dangerous to the future of humans. But, ultimately, it is our responsibility as the Ekklesia of Heaven on earth to declare the Truth and speak out against the lies. We have an Enemy that is exploiting and corrupting our God-given intelligence; encouraging mankind to be complicit in his plans to build a superhuman controlling power -- plans that could ultimately lead to the extinction of all who do not pledge their loyalty to YHWH. In this case, I advise us to consider the words of the duplicitous Mr. Musk: "With Artificial Intelligence we are summoning the demon. In all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it’s like, yeah, he’s sure he can control the demon. Didn’t work out". 

But for those of us whose minds, hearts, and spirits remain firmly fastened to Christ, I solemnly urge you to be cognizant of where we are headed in this age of technology. It will be up to us to declare the Sovereignty of our true Lord and Master. We will find ourselves battling upstream against the culture, but the destiny of future generations depends on us. While it may seem unlikely that humans could ever get so far off base as to worship a cold and impersonal machine, if we are honest with ourselves, we are further down that road than we care to admit. We must take a stand for God and His Divine Truth! The history of mankind has proven that when we stray from Him, we further the devil's plans and strategies. As the old saying goes, "if we don't stand for something, we will fall for anything". And our "something" is none other than Almighty God, Maker of Heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible! He is above all; from whom all things came and for whom we exist! We praise and worship Him only!

Psalm 135:18     Those deaf to God can only make a deaf image. Dead men can only create dead idols. And everyone who trusts in these powerless, dead things will be just like what they worship—powerless and dead!