One of my favorite email newsletters I read is from The Economist. It has become a go-to resource for world news. Each morning, they send a rundown called the Espresso. It highlights stories from other countries that many U.S.-based news outlets rarely mention or go in depth about because of their focus on domestic affairs. Routinely, I read about social trends affecting populations around the world or the various ways that authoritarian regimes are suppressing basic human rights through technology.
Being exposed to all these events has helped me see the vastness and gravity of world affairs, to break out of the isolation of American news, and more importantly, to understand the plight of so many people internationally who are created in the very image of God. This simple newsletter has expanded how I see the dignity of all people, no matter where they live or what they believe. It has allowed me to have a broader global mindset in my prayers and work as I think about the thousands of missionaries who are sharing the gospel, often in hostile places.
The Rundown
Can You Have Human Dignity without Christianity? – Nathaniel Peters | Public Discourse
When Christianity enters a society, it provides an understanding of inherent and equal human dignity that lifts up those whom that society has considered unworthy. But what happens when Christianity recedes? Christian human dignity is not founded on maximizing fairness or autonomy, but on the fact that all human beings are made free and in the image of God. If it becomes detached from that principle, then human dignity no longer makes sense.
Distrust in political, media and business leaders sweeps the globe – Sarah Fischer | Axios
People also don’t think media or business leaders are telling them the truth, and this suspicion of multiple societal institutions is pushing people into smaller, more insular circles of trust.
The Rise of A.I. Fighter Pilots – Sue Halpern | The New Yorker
Algorithms are already good at flying planes. The first autopilot system, which involved connecting a gyroscope to the wings and tail of a plane, débuted in 1914, about a decade after the Wright brothers took flight. And a number of current military technologies, such as underwater mine detectors and laser-guided bombs, are autonomous once they are launched by humans.
Yes, You Should Care About Ukraine – David French | The Dispatch
It’s important, however, to state why I believe America should attempt to aggressively deter Russia rather than merely sit back and meekly allow Putin to invade, dominate, and potentially annex significant parts of Ukrainian territory. And while part of that case is idealistic—rooted in concern for the human rights of Ukrainian citizens and their right to self-determination—part of it is also deeply pragmatic. It is bad for America if Ukraine falls.
The Forgotten Friend: (Re)Discovering Mary Midgley – Benjamin J. B. Lipscomb | Public Discourse
Midgley, writing from the margins of the discipline, was the first to present a positive proposal for the kind of moral philosophy recommended but never developed by Anscombe, Foot, and Murdoch: a naturalistic moral philosophy, grounded in the character and needs of the human animal.