MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Friday, February 2, 2024.
I would be happy if you could join me in today’s issue. the world and everything in it. Good morning, this is Myrna Brown.
NICK EITHER, HOST: I’m Nick Eicher.
It’s time for Culture Friday! My girlfriend, Katie McCoy, author and speaker, will be featured. It was so nice to meet you again! Good morning, Katie.
Katie McCoy: Hey, good morning, Nick and Myrna. I’m always happy to be with you.
NICK EICHER, HOST: In Washington on Wednesday, social media executives took to the Capitol for a heated hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
It’s nearly impossible to get Americans to agree on whether they want six more weeks of winter or spring just around the corner. But Americans seem to be divided on just about everything, except perhaps the impact of social media on children.
There is bipartisan agreement that something needs to be done to protect children from the harms of big tech platforms. From Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, to Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, Senate Democrats and Republicans crafted the most bipartisan piece of legislation, the Kids Online Safety Act. There are 45 co-sponsors, 23 Republicans and 22 Democrats.
That was the atmosphere tech executives stepped into.
But Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg saw the shadow of a grieving parent sitting right behind him as his children were being harmed by social media.
Sen. Josh Hawley was on his best behavior in court, peppering Zuckerberg with questions and always staying one step ahead of Zuckerberg, asking whether he fired Facebook or Instagram for proven harm. Asked.
Mr. Zuckerberg said: “I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about it.”” Holly: “You don’t think that’s appropriate? Do you know who’s sitting behind you? Has anyone compensated these people?”
Zuckerberg: Sorry?
Holly: Have you ever compensated the victims? These girls. Have you compensated them?
Zuckerberg: I don’t think so.
Holly: Why not? Don’t you think they should receive some compensation for what your platform has done? Can you help us with counseling services? Do you want to help address issues caused by your service?
Zuckerberg: Our job is to make sure we build the tools…
Holly: Are you going to compensate them?
“We’re building industry-leading tools to keep our platform secure,” Zuckerberg said.” Holly didn’t give up. “Have you ever said you’re sorry?”
Holly: The families of the victims are here today. Have you apologized to them? Would you like to do that now?
They’re here, you’re on national television, do you want to apologize right now to the victims harmed by your product?
Please show him the photo.
Do you want to apologize for what you did to these good people?
Zuckerberg turned around, stood up and apologized to the audience, saying no one should have to endure what he went through.
Katie, I think you saw it too. How important a moment do you think we saw that day?
McCoy: It’s really important, especially for Gen Z and how social media is impacting them in ways that we’re only just beginning to learn about. There’s a saying when it comes to social media: “If it’s free, you’re the product.” And this was a massive experiment that spanned an entire generation. I think wistfully of the days before Facebook. Facebook came out when I was in college. Social media is such a part of our lives that we can’t even imagine how it affects and shapes our minds and sense of self. your neural pathways. So just attention span and how it has changed, there are many other ways we can talk about this issue.
But you know, Nick, there’s a lot of confluence in this story. I remember tech billionaires having limited screen time for their children. They understood what this was doing. People like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. I think of celebrities like Jennifer Garner. She told her daughter: She says, “If you can find one article that proves that social media is good for you, you can have it too.” And celebrities who are deeply involved in our culture are restricting their children’s access to social media because they know that’s what social media is doing.
Last year, last spring, our Surgeon General announced on social media that parents had a warning. Currently, he stops short of drawing a correlation between social media use and the gender confusion prevalent among Gen Z, especially how it affects teenage girls. There wasn’t. But over time, it will manifest itself in the form of policy changes.
Zuckerberg never said social media was directly responsible. He had momentary sympathy and empathy for his parents, but realized that the algorithms they had created were not only causing addiction in so many young people, but also had a negative impact on their mental health. I still didn’t understand the fact that it was having such a negative impact. .
Myrna Brown: So, Katie, where do we go from here? Nick mentioned the bipartisan bill. Is that the answer? More government? Enact more laws? Leave it to mom and dad? what do you say?
McCoy: Well, that leads to the bigger question of the role of government versus the role of families and our society. Our government is designed for self-governance, for people to be connected to church and family, and to have parents who are active in raising children and parents who monitor social media use. So the conservative in me tends to avoid regulation. But at the same time, regulation seems to occur when other structures, relationships, and safeguards are not in place.
Let me tell you, I’m still amazed that TikTok exists. That’s my word, not as mental health regulation, but in terms of what we’re learning about international security and all the other elements of Tik-Tok. Yes, that’s hard to predict. I think we can find some kind of law, but if we become a society that values strong families and involves parents, how many laws will we need?
Brown: They definitely need our support. One last question about what we heard at that hearing. When you travel around the country speaking to groups and meeting mothers and fathers and their children, what do you hear from them?
McCoy: One of the most memorable stories was told by a pastor’s wife about a couple in her church. They’re both doctors, they’re both highly educated, very intelligent people, and they do this one thing in terms of giving their kids a strong Biblical foundation and a strong church experience. I’ve done everything properly except:
These highly educated and highly intelligent parents gave their teenage daughters unlimited smartphones. Therefore, she was able to participate in social media without any kind of monitoring. Within a few months, she told her parents that she was transgender and an atheist.
Someone is shaping your child’s sense of self, worldview, gender identity, and source of happiness and meaning. The only question is who and whose parents have a great chance. They may consider themselves obsolete and unnecessary during this teenage period. Oh, no, your children are still listening to you, you are still having a major formative influence on your child’s worldview and sense of identity. And it’s that relationship that is most predictive of how children view the various messages they encounter on social media and across culture.
Eicher: Katie, this is a difficult question. It doesn’t really matter to me.
But I have heard that respected minister Alistair Begg has come under fire for recommending on a podcast that a grandmother who asked Begg for advice should attend her “transgender” grandchild’s wedding. It may happen. He said she should. Additionally, she should buy a present.
Begg’s Sermon Program truth of life Excerpted from American Family Radio. Oddly enough, it really blew up on social media.
Personally, Katie, I stand with my friend Rosalia Butterfield, who argues that Biblically, he is the exact opposite of Pastor Begg. I hate this because I love Alistair Begg and have benefited from his ministry. But what to make of this?
McCoy: You and I share a love for the Reverend Alistair Begg. Not only is he one of the best preachers, he has also been very shaping of my own spiritual growth. Therefore, everything I can say here I say with great respect. A few things come to mind when talking about this issue.
The first is Romans 14. And while Romans 14 is the kind of scripture we rely on when discussing what to do in situations where we can’t clearly tell from the Bible what to do, I I’m trying to do that. Walk in consistent and faithful testimony. And Paul told the Corinthian Christians, who, like us, were living in a morally decadent culture, that they had things that needed to come to a place of personal conviction. Masu. And these questions must be thought through as we search the scriptures, seek wisdom from the Spirit, and do so in community with other believers.
By the way, Nick, there’s one more thing that comes to mind as a background to all of this. 1 Timothy 5:1 talks about not rebuking an older man, but encouraging him, just like his father. So when we’re talking about this controversy, this debate, how we can be effective Christian witnesses, we need to make sure that we don’t lose our Christian witness. I think.
All of this is behind this. The Bible teaches that a wedding is a contract. This is a covenant between them and the Lord. When you attend a wedding, you’re not just celebrating. You are a witness to this contract. And our culture of no-fault divorce and, of course, same-sex marriage has diluted the true meaning of weddings. We cannot define what marriage is, just as we cannot define what this contract is. The Lord has given it to us. And he gave it to us to show who he is.
When Ephesians 5 speaks of marriage as reflecting Christ and his church, we see that it is not just a poetic metaphor. It speaks of the witness of God in creation, the witness of God in physical creation, the external witness of God’s reality, and the internal witness of God’s reality in our moral conscience.
So as we consider this question, where I end up is the advice that you shouldn’t attend gay weddings. To tolerate those who pervert the covenant created by God. Now, please know that I say this with the utmost respect and respect for Pastor Begg, and also that I am aware that there are some devout believers who disagree with my conclusion on that question. .
BROWN: Katie McCoy is an author and speaker. The title of her latest book is Being a woman: How Christians can respond to the confusion surrounding women’s identity.
Thank you so much, Katie. It was great talking to you!
McCoy: It’s been great talking to you all. Happy Friday.
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