The NBA and ChatGPT (Nerd Addition)

Alright, here's the deal. I love basketball. I like statistical analysis. And I am learning how to use AI to my advantage. 

I had an interesting interchange with Chat GPT about some of the greatest players in the NBA. I offer this for several reasons.

First, I find in fascination how changing parameters changers answers. Statistics are tricky things. They give answers that reflect that questions and parameters you set. They can give you a truth based on your rubric that is not the same at truth. Maybe there is a life lesson here? 

Second, I think it simultaneously shows the incredible opportunity AI provides (I got these answers in seconds) and the limits of computation (you are going to disagree with some of the answers because there is still some component that neither I nor ChatGPT thought of).

So, with no further ado, here we go.

When The Church Is At Its Best/Worst (Part Two: At Its Worst)

I have been using ChatGPT recently to help me do some research on church history. It's a handy tool. Previously, I typed in this question:

Throughout global church history, what has characterized the Christian church when it was most effectively acting as "salt of the earth" and "a city on a hill"?

Today, I typed in this question:

Throughout global church history, what has characterized the Christian church when it was least effectively acting as "salt of the earth" and "a city on a hill"?

ChatGPT responded this way - and I have to tell you, I think it's a pretty good overview. 

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"Throughout global church history, there have been several periods when the Christian church has struggled to effectively act as "salt of the earth" and "a city on a hill"—terms from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount that denote the church’s calling to be a moral preservative in society and a beacon of light and hope. In these moments, the church has often failed to live up to its ideals and mission, typically due to factors such as complicity with power structures, corruption, and a failure to prioritize justice, mercy, and truth. Here are some key periods and characteristics of the church when it least effectively embodied its calling:

When The Church Is At Its Best/Worst (Part One: At Its Best)

I have been using ChatGPT recently to help me do some research on church history. It's a handy tool. Today, I typed in this question:

Throughout global church history, what has characterized the Christian church when it was most effectively acting as "salt of the earth" and "a city on a hill"?

ChatGPT responded this way - and I have to tell you, from the bits that I know about church history, I think it's a pretty decent overview. It's skewed toward examples in the West, but it's insightful for how the church is present everywhere. 

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Throughout global church history, the periods when the Christian church has most effectively acted as "salt of the earth" and "a city on a hill"—terms from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13-16)—are marked by several key characteristics that reflect both the transformative power of the gospel and the church's moral and social engagement. Here are some key periods and traits that exemplify this influence:

The Prophetic Witness of the Church

Today's post is courtesy of Mike Eerie on his podcast Voxology, particularly episodes 491 and 492.  I edited for readability (podcast to prose can be tricky).

"Paul’s emphasis is on the church being transformed. The world could and may well be transformed through the church being transformed, but that’s the order. That’s the priority. The church is to be transformative by being the church. The role of me as a Jesus person is not to change other people as much as it is to be the one who is primarily changed.

The primary way the New Testament talks about sharing our faith is through the witness of the church community. The way the world is transformed is by being the church. Here are commandments to the church for how to do that from the epistles in the Bible.

Financial Devastation Will Follow The Mass Deportations Of Illegal Immigrants

Whether we like it or not, the United States has spent a long time building an economic infrastructure that depends heavily on illegal immigrant labor. 

In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid $75.6 billion in taxes, including $46 billion in federal taxes and $29 billion in state and local taxes. They also paid $25 billion in Social Security taxes, $6 billion in Medicare taxes, and $2 billion in unemployment insurance. They aalso can't access most social services, so they pay to support benefits they don't receive.

The proposed plan to deport over 10 million+  illegal immigrants would have a devastating impact, not just on the 4 million mixed families that will potentially be separated, but on the U.S. economy itself. 

What follows is a chronicle, a small sample from a barrage of warnings. 

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"A paradox has settled across California’s velvet green fields and orchards. California farmers, who are some of the most ardent supporters of Donald Trump, would seem to be on a collision course with one of the president-elect’s most important campaign promises. Trump has pledged to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants across the country, including, he has said in recent days, rounding up people and putting them in newly built detention camps.

If any such effort penetrated California’s heartland — where half the fruits and vegetables consumed in the U.S. are grown — it almost surely would decimate the workforce that farmers rely on to plant and harvest their crops. At least half of the state’s 162,000 farmworkers are undocumented, according to estimates from the federal Department of Labor and research conducted by UC Merced. 

Without sufficient workers, food would rot in the fields, sending grocery prices skyrocketing."

"California farmers were big Trump backers. They may be on collision course over immigrant deportation." latimes.com. November 25, 2024.

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Leaders in the construction business, including Republicans, are worried that Donald Trump’s plans to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants will crater their industry, given its reliance on migrant workers.

“We will absolutely have a labor shortage,” developer George Fuller, mayor of McKinney Texas, a Dallas suburb that’s undergone a construction boom in recent years, toldThe Wall Street Journal. “Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, these industries depend on immigrant labor.”

Builders are praying they don’t get hit with the kind of dramatic workplace raids the Trump administration has talked about reinstating, Stan Marek, CEO of a Houston interior contracting company, added in an interview with the paper. These businesses are “putting their heads down and hoping like hell it doesn’t happen,” he said.

Studies suggest roughly one-third of U.S. construction workers are foreign-born, and that undocumented workers make up some 13 percent of the overall construction business.

Mass deportation would likely have a similar impact on states like California, Nevada, Washington, and Massachusetts, which also have large shares of migrant workers in the construction industry.

"Construction industry ‘hoping like hell’ Trump won’t crack down on undocumented labor force."  independent.co.uk. December 3, 2024.

Children of the Dragon, Children of the Lamb #16: The New Heaven And New Earth (Revelation 21-22)

A quick reminder: Revelation is “A revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 1:1) “If anyone asks, ‘Why read the Apocalypse?’ the answer must be, ‘To know Christ better.’”To much of a focus on anything less will rob us of the goodness of the message of Revelation. 

The previous installment looked at the battles in Revelation, including the final one.   Here, finally, is the conclusion of Revelation.

The Bible is unified story that points toward the same conclusion. What we see in the final chapters of Revelation is the end to the unified story the Bible has been telling. One way we know the story is unified – and that this is the appropriate end – is the way the Fall in Genesis is reversed. 

Tariffs Will Have A Significant Impact On The Financial Stability Of The Lower And Middle Class In The United States

What follows are not my words. They are the words of experts in history, business, and economics. If I were to summarize it would be, “Buckle up. If you are a low or middle income family, your budget is about to get really tight.”  This isn't about concerns that we aren't financially comfortable. I am deeply concerned about how financial instability and poverty impact human flourishing in the United States. When our economy suffers, the financially stable experience hurdles and will largely be okay; the financially unstable experience devastation, and will not. That is not okay. 

I hope that all of these prognosticators are wrong. I doubt that all of them are wrong. 

 

If you want to leave a comment or provide links that counter this narrative, you are welcome to do so. Please, if you do so, read all the excerpts rather than just a few, and feel free to go all the links to see that my excerpts did justice to the articles. These are mostly in chronological order, just to record the history of what made the radar of people concerned about how tariffs will impact the average person.

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"Daniel Laguna of LevelUp warned that Trump’s proposed 60% tariff on Chinese imports could raise the costs of gaming consoles by 40%, so that a PS5 Pro gaming system would cost up to $1,000. 

One of the old justifications for tariffs was that they would bring factories home, but when the $3 billion shoe company Steve Madden announced yesterday it would reduce its imports from China by half to avoid Trump-promised tariffs, it said it will shift production not to the U.S., but to Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico, and Brazil...”

(Historian Heather Cox Richardson, November 8 email)

 

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“Automotive companies like Nissan and Stellantis are already bracing for cost increases and have announced impending layoffs to mitigate anticipated losses... Leaders from major U.S. corporations, including AutoZone, have confirmed that price increases are on the way, with some anticipating hikes as early as next year.”

 

“Some Trump Voters Already Regret Their Decision Amid Concerns Over Tariffs, Job Cuts, and Rising Costs." November 10, 2024. Meidas.com

 

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"Mexico’s economy minister Marcelo Ebrard said his country would consider retaliating with tariffs of its own should the incoming US administration impose taxes on Mexican imports. In the last days of the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump vowed toimpose tariffs of as much as 25% on Mexican imports should its southern neighbor fail to crack down on migration and the flow of drugs into the US. “If you apply tariffs, we’ll have to apply tariffs. And what does that bring you? A gigantic cost for the North American economy,” he said...

Trump’s tariff threats do not take into account the countries’ bilateral economic dependence, wrote Americas Quarterly: Mexico sends up to 80% of its exports to the US. Decoupling trade with Mexico would make the fight against Washington’s even larger target, China, more difficult: US imports from China totaled $536.3 billion in 2022, undercutting prices of US products and encouraging foreign manufacturing. Trump has stated that he will also introduce trade tariffs on China of up to 60%. However, too many tariffs risk increasing domestic prices.“[Trump] continues to make China the bogeyman and has indicated he will get more aggressive,” one expert told CNBC, leaving Mexico as a key trade ally to mitigate against the worst economic impacts of Trump’s hard line on China.

"Mexico mulls retaliatory tariffs on US." November 12, 2024. semafor.com.

My Values Voter List 2024

 God rolled out a vision for a just society through biblical revelation, starting with the Israelites in the Old Testament and moving into the church in the New Testament. As a Christian, I see a lot of issues to which the Bible speaks - issues which ought to guide my conscience and form my heart for the world. Justice is many splendored thing, and while some of issues will be more prominent in the minds of Christians than others - and should be - all of them are worth considering. Check out just a small sampling of verses. 

• “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.” (Psalm 82:3).
• “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and please the widow’s cause.” (Isaiah 1:17).
•  "When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers." (Proverbs 21:15)
• “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).
• "For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong..." (Isaiah 61:8 )
• "Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!" (Psalm 106:3)
• “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another." (Zechariah 7:9 )
• “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor." (Leviticus 19:15)
• "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." (Proverbs 21:3)
• “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (Deuteronomy 27:19)
• "Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place." (Jeremiah 22:3)
• "Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)
• "He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing." (Deuteronomy 10:18) 
• “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.” (Hosea 12:6)
• "A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge." (Proverbs 29:7)
• "Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." (Psalm 82:3)
• "I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy." (Psalm 140:12)
• “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the foreigner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” (Zechariah 7:9-10)
• "But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:17-18)
• "Who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!" (Isaiah 5:23 )
• "It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice." (Proverbs 18:5)
• “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 3:5)
• “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge." (Deuteronomy 24:17)
• "Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor." (Proverbs 22:8)
• “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit." (Exodus 23:6)
• "Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who write oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!"(Isaiah 10:1-2) 
• "The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice." (Proverbs 17:23-28)
• "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.“ Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?" The King will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."(Matthew 25: 35-40)

In addition to justice, we see a love of mercy in the bible, a concept integral to an understanding of God's dealings with humankind. It involves compassionate and loving acts expressed in tangible ways. Justice is intertwined with mercy.  Similar to mercy is grace, giving people more than they deserve irrespective of the cause of their need.  The gospels present Jesus as one who brought good news of gospel grace to all who would listen, but especially to those who lived on the periphery of society: lepers, slaves, the demon-possessed, a paralytic, a tax collector, prostitutes, idolatrous Samaritans, a young girl, the blind. Throughout church history, people whose hearts were transformed by God's spiritual grace inevitably expressed this change by extending grace in very practical ways: taking care of all the poor, nursing all of the sick, adopting all of the babies set out to die. 

Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31); do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Luke 6:31); when you help the ‘least of these,’ it is as if you helped God himself (Matthew 25:40). All of these biblical commands are wrapped up in notions of both justice and mercy. And here’s where we begin to see why these things need to merge in our thinking just as they are intrinsically intertwined in the nature of God. The following quote is from an article entitled "Eight Core Christian Values": 

 “Biblical justice… refers to very practical, down-to-earth actions which ensure that the weak, the poor and the socially disadvantaged are cared for, whether they ‘deserve’ it or not… Biblical justice… ensure[s] that the weak are protected from abuse, that the poor have what they need, that the stranger in the land is shown hospitality and that the socially disadvantaged are cared for. Even when this means giving them what they do not ‘deserve’… Justice is often interpreted in terms of seeking rights for oneself or one’s own group (‘we demand justice’) when biblically it is really an action on behalf of others… ‘Justice’ is not for ‘just me’. This means that Christians will be more keen to protect others than themselves.“

Justice, then "most simply, means putting things right again — fixing, repairing, and restoring broken relationships…That should be our justice lens for viewing any society — looking at what’s wrong and figuring out how to make it right. Justice is as basic as that.” 

This is what I want to guide my vote when I identify the values that guide my voting.  While the things on the the following list probably ought to be weighted, I believe they are all worth considering.