The Weekly is a highlight of the work the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is doing to strengthen you and our churches for God’s glory.

Explainer: Evangelical leaders issue statement on artificial intelligence

What just happened?

On Thursday, ERLC hosted an event in Washington, D.C. to unveil a new statement on artificial intelligence. The statement is designed to equip the church with an ethical framework for thinking about artificial intelligence and has been signed by more than 60 leaders and experts across the fields of economics, public policy, business, technology, ethics, biblical theology, and medicine.

“There are many heated debates in Washington, many of them important,” said ERLC President Russell Moore. “But no issues keep me awake at night like those surrounding technology and artificial intelligence. The implications artificial intelligence will have for our future are vast.”

“It is critical that the church be proactive in understanding AI,” added Moore. “It's also critical that the church insist AI be used it ways consistent with the truth that all people possess dignity and worth, created as they are in the image of God. This statement does just that, and much more. I'm honored to be a part of this important conversation and join these outstanding leaders on this excellent statement.”

This Week at the ERLC

• ERLC Creative Director Jason Thacker joined Russell Moore and experts from various fields in Washington, D.C. on Thursday for the release of a groundbreaking statement of evangelical principles on artificial intelligence. Read more from Christianity Today.
   

• Ruth Graham also has more coverage of the new AI Statement in Slate Magazine. Read her piece here. 
   

• Writing in Christianity Today, Jason Thacker highlights how artificial intelligence is being used to target religious minorities in China. Check out his piece here.
   

• How does our work to care for unborn lives imitate God? Chelsea Patterson Sobolik shares how we can share the love of Christ by caring for the vulnerable in her piece for Revive Our Hearts.

What You Need to Know

• Why do we need a statement of principles for artificial intelligence? Jason Thacker, who led our project on AI, answers that question and explains why human dignity is at stake. Read his article here. 

It is tempting for all of us to think that the impact of AI is far-off phenomenon that doesn’t affect your daily life. And that is the problem. AI already drives so many aspects of our lives that we often don't recognize it. But we sure benefit from the technology. AI and algorithms control our smart devices, social media feeds, entertainment choices, financial markets, criminal justice system, healthcare, military, policing, and soon to be our cars just to name a few. AI is everywhere in our society and is often working behind the scenes. As Christians, we need to be prepared with a framework to navigate the difficult ethical and moral issues surrounding AI use and development.

• As a mom with small kids, Sarah Welch struggled with making time to study God's word and cultivate spiritual routines. In this article, she shares practical advice on how parents can engage with God even with the busyness of parenting. 

Jesus did not wait for perfect, pristine, holy seeming moments to commune with his people when he was on earth. His entrance on to earth was in a messy, smelly, dirty, noisy manger with insufficient accommodations (sounds like most of my mornings) and his entrance in to our daily lives can be the same. The holy redeemed the mundane.

• The journey of adoption can be a difficult road, and adoptive families need your prayers and support. In this article, Laura DeClercq shares 5 ways you can pray for adoptive families.

Many of us bring to mind pictures of a family in the airport surrounded by balloons when we hear about adoption. Or, we picture a family smiling with a judge finalizing their adoption in court. Both are beautiful and true pictures of adoption. but they are not the full picture. The support an adoptive family needs does not end at the airport or in a courtroom. Indeed, their hardest days are still ahead.

News From Capitol Hill

On April 2, the House Judiciary Committee held its first hearing for H.R. 5, the Equality Act. This week on April 9, the House Committee on Education and Labor’s Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services also hosted a hearing on the bill. Both hearings dealt with the stated aims of the bill’s sponsors and the questions this legislation poses for civil rights law, the definition of sex, and religious liberty. The ERLC joined a coalition of 86 faith-based nonprofits, religious entities, and institutions of higher education in submitting letters to the committees (linked above) stating our opposition to H.R. 5.

For the ERLC, the beginning of any such conversation regarding the dignity of people begins with the truth we hold sacred from the beginning of Scripture, “God created man in His own image; He created Him in the image of God; He created them male and female.” (Gen. 1:26-27). At the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Messengers passed a resolution to “reaffirm the sacredness and full dignity and worthiness of respect and Christian love for every single human being, without any reservation whatsoever.”

The Equality Act fails to uphold human dignity in its attempt to codify the demands of the Sexual Revolution. As Russell Moore, president of the ERLC often notes, “A government that can pave over the consciences of some can steamroll over dissent everywhere.” H.R. 5 undermines foundational Constitutional freedoms in its pursuit of what may be momentary cultural affirmations.

These proposed changes to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would bring a dramatic shift in civil rights law, religious liberty, and the foundations of civic pluralism. The redefinition of “sex” in the list of protected classes as “sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity)” is as logically inconsistent as it is devastating to the generations of American effort to ensure the equality of all men and women. This legislation would make the situation worse for Americans who disagree to work together for the common good. Due to these concerns, among many others, the ERLC opposes H.R. 5, the Equality Act.

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