News and Prophecy Staff

Last year a male kindergarten student in California was “reintroduced” to classmates at the end of the year as a girl, with a new, feminine name. As school started back after the summer vacation, a young girl was sent to the principal’s office (typically seen as punishment in the U.S.

Last week, North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan in an event North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called a “meaningful prelude to containing” Guam. He also promised more missile tests in the future (The Guardian, August 30, 2017).

Decades ago, John Lennon imagined a world with no religion. Today, that world is becoming a reality in his own country! The British Social Attitudes survey reports that those in Britain without religion (53%) now outnumber those with religion (47%) (The Times, September 5, 2017). The percentage is even higher among young people ages 18-24.

Just 20 years ago, who would have guessed that people would develop “separation anxiety” from their smartphones? Nomophobia is the clinical name for this emotional state, and it goes hand-in-hand with the fear of being offline. Studies show that growing numbers of people experience anxiety, along with increased heart rate and blood pressure, when separated from their cell phones (Time, August 22, 2017).

In recent decades, the Internet has become far more than a research and communication tool—it has become a wealth-generating machine and a tool used to topple governments around the world. This fact has prompted nations to seek to control Internet commerce as well as the political power inherent in the Internet.