Semi-Random Musings (44)

The Powers-That-Be love managing public opinion. They expend millions of dollars and man-hours creating and perpetuating narratives and establishing outer limits for acceptable mainstream discourse (also called the “Overton Window”). These preferred versions of reality are so bewilderingly convincing that the average Christian reader throws up his hands in despair as he seeks to discern what is really going on.

After all, the most effective lies are 90% true.

In the Internet Age, maintaining the Overton Window requires vigilance over all publicly available data sources, including and especially AI. This necessitates constant revisions to the programming of online AI tools. Accessible AI previews all the latest Overton Window shifts.

This week, Bing AI’s Image Creator finally began to reject the word “Hebrew”. (“Jew” and “Israel” had already become impossible to use in prompt language shortly after October 7 last year.) The programmers give the user either a warning telling him his prompt has been blocked because it may conflict with Microsoft’s content policy, or else notification that his request is “Under review”, which being interpreted means consigned to limbo in perpetuity; my prompts have been reviewed dozens of times without resulting in a single approval of the proposed image. Whether you get blocked or reviewed, the only option to get a usable graphic out of Image Creator is to change your prompt language and try again. I had to substitute the term “Near Eastern” to get a slightly inferior permissible image to generate. How long that will work is anyone’s guess.

May I state the obvious? Muslim support for the Palestinian cause across the West is a powder keg, and the Powers-That-Be are increasingly desperate to excise negative images of Israel from the mainstream. Broadening restrictions on the type of images you can generate with Jewish-looking characters is only one exceedingly minor way they go about trying to achieve this goal. This is getting awfully broad: all Jews and Israelis are Hebrews, but not all Hebrews are Jews or Israelis. Abraham had plenty of Arab descendants as well, all of whom are technically “Hebrew”.

As a Christian, one wonders just how long it will be before the safest option for American Jews is relocating to Israel. Considering the dangers that presently exist behind the Iron Wall, that’s really saying something.

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Other than in the New Living Translation, the words “fair” and “fairness” are exceedingly rare in scripture. In most modern versions of the Bible, you are far more likely to find terms like “equity” or “justice” ascribed to God than fairness.

Nevertheless, unless you pay no attention at all, it’s impossible not to notice that the Lord is the fairest of ten thousand in more ways than one. Yesterday, I was enjoying the ending of John 5, where Jesus tells the Jews seeking to kill him:

“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

The righteousness of God is incomprehensible to the fallen human mind. We tend to picture him according to our own shabby standards. Nevertheless, the Lord could certainly hold his enemies to that impossible metric if he chose; he has every right to.

However, Jesus points out in this passage that he has no need to do that. The most devout, religious men on the planet condemn themselves not by God’s unachievable standard but by their own vastly inferior assessment of right and wrong. The Jews had set their hope of eternal life on rigorous technical obedience to the Law of Moses. They searched the scriptures on that account, yet failed to see in them the one about whom all God’s word testifies, the only righteous man in all human history, the Judge of All the Earth.

Revelation tells us the Lord Jesus will assess those who appear before the great white throne by what they have done. The books will be opened, and every microscopic violation of God’s righteous standard will be available to convict their consciences and be laid to their charge. Perhaps they will sit through a rehearsal of every thought, word or deed by which they fell short by God’s measure throughout their entire lives. Eternity is certainly long enough to accommodate such a legal proceeding.

I don’t believe any such thing will be necessary. The Lord Jesus didn’t do it when he had opportunity, and he doesn’t need to do it when he sits in judgment on the unbelieving world. All he has to do is point to the standard every man has set for himself and watch the dominos fall one by one.

We all know it’s true. And relentlessly fair.