Take the red pill or blue pill. With the blue pill, you wake up and believe whatever you want. But … the red pill. Take that pill and you see how deep the rabbit hole goes, your eyes open to reality. But reality can be harsh, cruel, and difficult to navigate. The blue pill leaves you in your dream world without fears, but also clueless. The red pill … awareness.
If you never saw the Matrix movies, that last paragraph probably confused you. Let me elaborate … In 2022, there are very few people in our society that are not impacted by technology and the virtual world. I could discuss the MetaVerse, but let’s save that for another day. For today, the topic is ethical issues in the world of technology.
Jason Thacker, who serves as chair of research for the ERLC, wrote an article on 4 ethical issues in technology in 2022. If you continue to read ahead, thus taking the red pill, you will see some danger zones.
1/ Content Moderation and Free Speech … is the moderating of information protecting society, preventing divisiveness, simply done for altruistic purposes? Or is it unaccountable partisan suppression? Where is the line drawn?
2/ Misinformation/Fake News … this is not just in the political world, but I see it in religious circles too. Social media is too often one sided or partial point of view.
3/ Digital Surveillance and Data Privacy … do we really have privacy? Is Big Brother always watching? No web search, no pause on scrolling FaceBook goes unnoticed. And deleting a Snapchat, never gets deleted. And is facial recognition only in the movies?
Last year, I ordered some drama props for Easter about the persecution of Jesus. I ordered a leather whip and some handcuffs off Amazon. I got some really strange (and inappropriate) ads popping up everywhere I went online for weeks after that. No more handcuffs and whips for me.
4/ Digital Authoritarianism … will a few entities control all the flow of digital information? Don’t believe this is real? Check how the Communist Party in China is controlling the church – no online presence without their permission nor without restrictive boundaries on what the church can say.
We need to be aware of reality. We should fight for our rights. But I want to stress the best responses to these issues … if you stay in the Word, that’s not fake news or misinformation. Stay in the Word. And about surveillance … we should walk as children of the light. Let them see Jesus in you.
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What issues do you see concerning technology this year?
Muddy Shoes by Todd 
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