MARCH 2021
THE
DARK SIDE OF OnlyFans
THE FINAL DIVIDE: UNITING THE POLITICAL LEFT AND RIGHT?
WHERE DID LIFE COME FROM?
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD TODAY
IN THIS ISSUE
MARCH 2021
THE DARK SIDE OF ONLYFANS
The shady ethics of an amateur pornography website PAGE 32
6
26
CURRENT
4 6
WHAT IN THE WORLD THE FINAL DIVIDE Uniting the political left and right?
WELLBEING
12 BEAT BURNOUT BEFORE IT BEATS YOU 24 BETTER HEALTH FOR
EVERY BODY Health news that makes a difference 60 CAN EATING BREAKFAST MEAN BETTER GRADES?
FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 2
SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • MARCH 2021
54
FAITH
26 IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY
TO GOD? 40 GOD LOVES THE LEFTOVERS The ones who will make a stand 46 QUADRATIC EQUATIONS AND JESUS A life-saving formula
BIG QUESTIONS
18 WHERE DID THE
UNIVERSE COME FROM? Evolution debunked by science
/SIGNSMAG
SCIENCE & TECH
52 THE CUTTING EDGE Engineering, science
and technology news
CULTURE
54 THE GOOD PLACE:
GREAT QUESTIONS, MEDIUM ANSWERS Reviewing the afterlife
FUN
62 CROSSWORD & SUDOKU Have you been
paying attention?
THE TOUGH TOPICS Signs of the Times has always been about tackling tough topics and answering difficult questions— providing a "Christian perspective on the world today". The current state of the world is certainly difficult to navigate—all the social, political and environmental issues make reading or watching the news an anxietyinducing activity! During one of my media law and ethics lectures at the University of South Australia many moons ago, after exploring a whole plethora of current news topics, the lecturer finished on one thought: the world is in bad shape. A despondent conclusion, perhaps, but one that many people around the globe share. How interesting that all these years later I've been humbly involved in sharing a hopeful—not a hopeless—future. So as we navigate some heavy topics in this month's Signs magazine—the murky ethics of rising amateur pornography website OnlyFans (p32), increasing polarisation in worldwide politics (p6) or the big question "Where did life come from?" (p18)—we remember that, yes, there is a hope for an end point! We also remember that God loves—and even prefers— the outcasts (p40) and how explaning the journey to God has become unnecessarily complicated over the centuries (p26). On the practical front, we discuss overcoming burnout (p12) and the link between a healthy breakfast and one's academics (p60). Hopefully there's something in our March 2021 edition that will grab your attention and provoke some discussion too. Enjoy!
Daniel
DANIEL KUBEREK Assistant Editor
VOL 136 NO 3 ISSN 1038-9733 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brad Kemp EDITOR Jarrod Stackelroth ASSISTANT EDITOR Daniel Kuberek COPYEDITOR Tracey Bridcutt GRAPHIC DESIGN Nerise McQuillan Theodora Pau'u Talia Valderrama PHONE +61 2 9847 2222 EMAIL info@signsofthetimes.org.au WEBSITE signsofthetimes.org.au ADDRESS Adventist Media PO Box 1115, Wahroonga New South Wales 2076 SUBSCRIPTIONS Kelli Geelan PHONE +61 3 5965 6300 Australia/New Zealand, $A26; South Pacific countries, $A41; Other countries $A51 Published since 1886, Signs of the Times is printed 11 times a year by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is registered as a periodical. Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ABN 59 093 117 689 NOTE The inclusion of a person or their image within does not imply their endorsement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church or its beliefs. Unless otherwise stated, Bible verses are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, Anglicised. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton. All rights reserved worldwide. COVER PHOTO: fanjianhua—Getty Images
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Divide
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THE FINAL
Bitter tensions between the political left and right are leaving people concerned about the future. Who can bring unity? BY DANIEL KUBEREK
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pledge to be a president who seeks at the time—was unavoidable due to not to divide, but to unify. Who Americans’ “cultural stubbornness” doesn’t see red and blue states, but rather than leadership's mishandling a United States.” Those were Joe of the crisis. The other side rebutted Biden’s words on November 8, 2020, that the economy was at its lowest after securing 270 electoral votes. point in years, and simple enforced After four years of bitter political measures like mask-wearing would’ve fighting within the United States potentially saved up to 100,000 lives. which saw division on issues like With both parties unable to find gun control, Black Lives Matter and common ground, the discussion Covid-19, Biden is charged with the ended without compromise. What hefty task of leading a divided nation forward. Many people around the world watched his inauguration curious 90 per cent of Americans to see how he will unite a political left were worried about the and right that seem country's political division, destined to move farther apart.
“
divided
and 60 per cent felt it was unlikely the issue could be fixed
Polarity is defined as the division between two groups. It’s absolutism between opposing ideas that are not magnetic, but rather repellent. A heated discussion in my own household raged one night in the midst of the United States election. A sight to behold: an Australian dinner table discussion involving strong views on two different sides of US politics. One side asserted that the United States economy was booming under President Trump and that the coronavirus death toll—235,000 stateside 8
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was clear however, was that although thousands of kilometres away, people paid attention to the leader of the United States and that his actions— which influence international relations, trades and alliances—matter for everyone. This isn’t to say that the Trumpera of presidency is the first to invoke strong feelings in voters. America and many other democratic countries
inevitable
Earth’s history has plenty of examples where people have been divided into two groups, but the
Bible states it first began before Earth was even created. Lucifer (later called the “dragon”), the most beautiful and gifted angel in heaven chose disobedience towards God, creating division between angels in heaven. As a result, “war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough and they lost their place in heaven” (Revelation 12:7,8). This explains Satan’s presence in the Garden of Eden where he tempted Adam and Eve with a fruit; an act that Christians believe introduced sin and suffering into the world. Since then, the Bible says amidst all the various social, political and economic opinions that are being debated—and sometimes fought over—by millions of people around the world, ultimately all humans will be presented with a choice between allegiance to those two spiritual parties: Jesus Christ or Satan. At the close of earth’s history, MARCH 2021 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
KOSHU - UNSPLASH
have usually been narrowed down to two-parties vying for the ballot paper tick. It’s the manner in which those two sides fail to agree on key issues that has political and social commentators concerned that the world is heading into uncertain waters. In fact, a 2020 study by psychologists Gordon Heltzel and Kristin Laurin found 90 per cent of American citizens were worried about the country’s political division, and 60 per cent felt it was unlikely the issue could be fixed. Additionally, unfavourable feelings towards the opposing political views has tripled since 1994. Heltzel and Laurin state that “polarised citizens more often vote, protest, and join political movements, all of which are necessary for functioning democracy”. However, this also leads to confirmation bias: “Americans have trouble critically evaluating the flaws and merits of policies. Instead, they seek information that confirms their partisan preferences and disregard facts that counter them.” But while statements like “You’re either with us, or you’re not” negate the grey area of swing voting that has often determined the outcome of elections, there is coming a time when all humans on earth will need to make a stand for one of two sides.
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BIG
QU
E S TI O N S
?
WHERE DID
LIFE
come from?
BY JOHN ASHTON
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Evolution says life came into existence from nothing. Though now commonly accepted in high schools and universities, it ignores a fundamental scientific principle—life must come from life.
Puzzled by a "big picture" question and want an answer? In 2021, Signs of the Times magazine will be sharing fresh perspectives on life’s most contentious mysteries, with new authors each month examining objective evidence to present a case for Christianity.
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ost of us think baby animals are cute and flowers are beautiful. Travel and nature documentaries show us some of the dazzling variety of plants, trees, animals, fish and creepy crawlies that exist on our planet. Science documentaries show reconstructions from fossils of weird and wonderful creatures such as dinosaurs that lived in the past. In biology classes, we learn that plants come from a “live” seed—if they have been killed by heat or chemicals they will not grow. Similarly, baby animals come from “living” parents. But everything comes from something, so how did the first life start? You may be thinking, “Didn’t I learn in biology class that the first living cells formed in a pond and then over thousands of millions of years slowly evolved as a result of mutations into all the different types of living things including humans?” Yes, that is what we are usually taught, but high school textbooks tend not to explain how the first life started. In fact, it may surprise you to learn that scientists still do not know how the first life started and there is a good reason for this. It is actually scientifically impossible for non-living chemical molecules in nature to somehow form a living cell capable of reproduction and this science—called “biochemistry”—is now well established. Let me explain.
In sync
To form the building block for
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the first living cell, all the pieces have to form by chance in the same immediate location: including giant chemical molecules called biopolymers (ie. long chain peptides) to make proteins, long chain sugars and long chain fats, specific chemical compounds called enzymes, a special giant code molecule called DNA and a huge chemical code reader molecule called a ribosome. All those processes must happen at the same time. These molecules have to be assembled by random natural processes in nature into a very complex structure that protects the hundreds of different chemical reactions that constitute the metabolic processes; thereby sustaining life and reproduction in the cell. But there are insurmountable problems that prevent this from ever happening. Firstly, long chain biopolymers do not form by themselves in nature; they have to be synthesised by live organisms. The chemical reactions needed to form these compounds only work in the presence of special chemicals called enzymes that initiate the reactions. For example, the petrol in a lawn mower fuel container sits safely in the garage—it does not react with oxygen in the air and burn. But if you apply a high temperature from a burning match or a spark to the petrol, it will react with oxygen in the air and rapidly burn. The spark provides what we call “activation energy” for the chemical reaction to start. Similarly in nature,
only living systems provide the right tells molecular machines in a cell conditions to kickstart the activation what to do to keep the cell functionenergy for biopolymers to form. This ing. The sentence you have just read is a classic “which came first: the is written in a code we call English chicken or the egg” problem. language and uses 26 letters—a, b, But there is more. For a simple c, d, e . . . etc. Living organisms use cell to form, it’s not just one or a code which has only four letters to two biopolymer molecules which which we assign the symbols A, C, must form—but instead millions T and G. Instead of letters written of identical biopolymer molecules on paper or typed on a computer forming from dozens of different screen, this code uses small chemical types. Mathematical probability structures called nucleobases known calculations of the chemical reactions as adenine (A), cytosine (C), thymine involved tell us the probability of (T) and guanine (G). These are millions of idenchemically joined together so that tical just right they form long molecules sequences, like: forming altoCCTGTGTATgether is so low that it would TTCGTAC— Scientists still do never happen by which becomes chance. the coded not know how the Then there is instructions to the problem that make all the first life started many millions building blocks of chemical for the cell. molecules would Now imagine somehow have this task. I to be arranged by blind natural enwould like you to write this article in code using just the letters A, C, T vironmental forces to form the first and G. For example you might say functioning machine: a single-celled ACCCTA is the code for the word organism. Again, the probability of “where”, TATATATA is the code for this happening is so unlikely that it “did”, GTGTA is the code for “life”, would never happen by chance. GGGCTA is the code for “come”, ACCCTAAAG is the code for “from” the code and the code for “?” is GAT. So the But there is still more to this problem, and that is a giant molecule sentence “where did life come from?” becomes ACCCTATATATATAGTwe refer to as deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. It has to form by chance GTAGGGCTAACCCTAAAGGAT. in order to encode information that This code has a designer—me—I
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