I am no prophet, but based on the current trends in our culture, I think the following may be the cultural and moral battles of the near future:
- Normalization of sex between adults and underage teens (age ~14-17)
- Genetically modified designer babies (for health, longevity, intelligence, etc.)
- Sexual reproduction to be replaced by the scientific engineering of babies (babies created and grown in the lab – artificial wombs)
- Temporary marriages
- Marriage to robots and animals
- Normalization of adultery and open marriages
- Parental “ownership” of their children will be denied
- Some animals will be deemed “persons” with rights
- Nature rights will spread
- Infanticide
Do you agree or disagree? Any items you would add to or remove from the list?
Thinking to Believe 
May 17, 2016 at 3:27 am
Interesting.
I think no 5 marriage to robots is a bit extream but you could add
Sex with animals legal and accepted
Abortion for any reason up to birth with no questions asked (this is already being voiced in UK)
LikeLike
May 17, 2016 at 6:43 am
I would never agree with:-
No.1
No.4
No.5
No.6
No.7
No.10.
No.2 I think “Genetic Engineering” has possibilities for the good of mankind, in that it will lead to better health care, better medical care, eradication of many diseases and disabilities in births. I don’t like the idea of “creating” perfect human beings though. I think that we are meant to be different from one another – to ensure our creativity and progress. However, we perhaps pay a natural price for being different in that we suffer from physical and mental abnormalities.
No’s 8 and 9. I believe that all animals should be treated with respect and kindness. We kill them for food! so we should definitely give them a good life whilst they are alive, and the quickest, painless death when they are slaughtered. (I know this doesn’t happen in many cases – but we must always push for the utmost humane conditions for all animals). (I wish we could all be vegetarians and not want to eat meat – why did God create us this way?).
Regards,
An anonymous, questioning Christian.
LikeLike
May 17, 2016 at 9:15 am
1. “Underage” regarding sexual activity (age:14-17) is man’s arbitrary reach to offset natural design. Nature’s design for sexual activity is called puberty.
2. Genetic modifications will be prioritized such as medical interventions for health and quality of life which itself will lead to longevity. Designer babies? We have adults who want to design their own appearance with plastic surgery to look more like dragons, horns to look more like satan, tattoos, split lips, ears and piercings everywhere the sun don’t shine; some humans want to look like animals, and do; some want to act like animals, and do and possibly some animals might even want to be like humans.
3. Babies may well be grown in artificial wombs to augment reproduction but will more likely than not be transplanted into human wombs for development but will never replace the natural desirous drive for sexual reproduction pleasure. And if there is a rainbow here, it may be that lab grown babies, it is presumed at least, those babies would be “wanted” and not aborted.
4. Temporary marriage is already part of society; it’s currently called “prostitution” in western society and “temporary marriage” in Islamic culture(The temporary marriage, or nikah mut’ah, is an ancient Islamic practice that unites man and woman as husband and wife for a limited time. Historically it was used so that a man could have a wife for a short while when traveling long distances.) However, all consensual sexual relationships should be now called Temporary Marriages that may or may not lead to permanent relationships or perhaps the New Age Terminology called “Exploratory Marriages” that could begin in special sex education classrooms.
5. (legal) Marriage to Robots and Animals is ludicrous but sexual gratification is already happens in our civilized society, mainly because of all the cultural and religious restrictions placed on human to human sexuality.
6. Open marriages are already normalized between consenting couples but is not sanctioned by government or religion everywhere. Polygamy is the practice of taking more than one spouse. Polygyny is the specific practice of one man taking more than one wife: it is a common marriage pattern in some parts of the world.
7.Parental dis-ownership of their children is already enforced where couples are incapable or abuse their children or expose them to situations involving criminal behavior. Today we might say that parents do not even now “own” their children but are obligated to be responsible guardians until children become independent-capable. If the judge decides that the child is unsafe, the court takes responsibility for the child, and the child becomes a “ward” of the court.
8. Animal rights is the idea that some, or all, non-human animals are entitled to the possession of their own lives and that their most basic interests—such as the need to avoid suffering—should be afforded the same consideration as similar interests of human beings. And compassion does not begin or end at human interaction solely.
9. Nature rights will spread…..And so it should!
10. Infanticide has occurred in pre history, history and still happening throughout the world, in war, in individual homes, in minds who would kill family members of terrorists including their children. Since infanticide, especially neonaticide, is often a response to an unwanted birth, preventing unwanted pregnancies through improved sex education and increased contraceptive access are advocated as ways of preventing infanticide. Increased use of contraceptives and access to safe legal abortions have greatly reduced neonaticide in many developed nations. Some say that where abortion is illegal, as in Pakistan, infanticide would decline if safer legal abortions were available. In 2009, Texas state representative Jessica Farrar proposed legislation that would define infanticide as a distinct and lesser crime than homicide. Under the terms of the proposed legislation, if jurors concluded that a mother’s “judgment was impaired as a result of the effects of giving birth or the effects of lactation following the birth,” they would be allowed to convict her of the crime of infanticide, rather than murder. The maximum penalty for infanticide would be two years in prison; in other words, when it comes to abortion or infanticide, pick your poison.
LikeLike
May 17, 2016 at 11:20 am
While it is commendable that we engage in moral battles in society, I respectfully disagree that this is what we as Christians should be spending our energy and time battling.
While I certainly would not support or endorse these behaviors, this is not the core problem or issue in society. The core issue at large is a spiritual one that only the gospel of Christ can cure.
The end game is not to create a society that we would be comfortable living in as Christians, although that would be a good thing. The end game is to bring people to the saving knowledge of Jesus.
The extent to which Christians lobby or protest against such issues as gay marriage etc.. reflects the type of message we are conveying to society about the gospel of Christ. Are we trying to get people to perform good works and live morally ? Is that the gospel ? Seems like you don’t need Jesus for that, all you need for that is religion at most and a conscience at the very least.
We all know that the increase of these things will continue and I appreciate the content of this post and don’t mean to dismiss it. However, I would like my fellow Christian brothers and sisters to consider my view point.
IMHO.
Naz
LikeLike
June 14, 2016 at 3:26 pm
I think we’re already seeing the groundwork for #1 to come to fruition. In California, minors are provided by law, the same access as adults to abortion services without the need for parental consent or even notification (which is simply insane). It effectively makes a minor an acting adult that has been empowered by legal right to make decisions autonomously. I can certainly see ultra-progressives using this as a basis to take the next “logical” step in legalizing consenting sexual relationships between adults and young teens. People typically associate NAMBLA with a punchline to a bad joke, but it’s a real organization whose primary cause is to normalize these types of relationships.
LikeLike