25AR30-33

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AR 30:33 - How the genetic revolution fundamentally warps parenthood

In this issue:

BIOETHICS - when "the parent-child relationship is fundamentally warped"

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES - UK academic study on severe struggles of those who leave the Watchtower

OCCULTISM IN AMERICA - "no single phenomenon receives endorsement from a majority of Americans"

Apologia Report 30:33 (1,722)
September 26, 2025

MINISTRY UPDATE

Due to unexpected health issues on my part (RP), we've been unable to get this issue out until now. And, have already sent out AR 30:34 by mistake. (It all shows that I've been off my game for most of this month.) For more details, please visit: <www.tinyurl.com/2js9tbd2>

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GENETICS

"Optimizing Ourselves to Death" by Bethel McGrew (Further Up Substack, Aug 20 '25) -- Ross Douthat has been interviewing "public figures with appalling ideas" using his new podcast <www.tinyurl.com/bdfxj7yr> Interesting Times. "The results have been intriguing, if terrifying.

   Douthat's August 7 guest <www.tinyurl.com/mrx2s94e> was Noor Siddiqui, "founder of Orchid, a cutting-edge whole-genome sequencing technology <orchidhealth.com> offering parents the chance to ... send a batch of embryos through the screening process, receive a comprehensive report on nearly 100% of each child's genetic code, and proceed to, quite literally, swipe right on your own children" - currently for the price of just $12,500. (Can you imagine someone asking about a money-back guarantee?)

   McGrew suggests "as one can already hear in Siddiqui's rhetoric, the social pressure will take on a tone of moral pressure: If you could ensure that your child had lower risk of X, Y and Z conditions, surely you should. How, she demands to know, could any good parent "spend hours researching skincare or where to eat lunch, but shrug at leaving our own child's potential *lifetime of suffering* to chance"? [Emphasis *is* McGrew's.]

   "The dystopian horror of a future where "defective" embryos are targeted for destruction should be obvious, though to many it is evidently not."

   McGrew notes "not all embryos once created can be implanted" and "embryos in general are discarded all the time." Adding: "Perhaps ... people are unbothered about the inevitable consequence of IVF precisely to the extent that they don't think about it. ...

   "Martin Heidegger, in his essay "The Question Concerning Technology," <www.tinyurl.com/5n6uz255> proposes that technology in its essence reduces whatever it touches to "standing reserve." Forests, rivers, and all natural things are converted to mere resources. The forest becomes fuel. The river becomes hydroelectric power. So it is, or so it can potentially be, with human beings."

   McGrew explains that "when a child is engineered, designed, sculpted towards anticipated "perfection," then the parent-child relationship is fundamentally warped. In losing the blessing of surprise, we will lose the blessing of humility. Our sense of wonder will die." 

   She notes that as philosopher Michael Sandel put it: "the genetic revolution came, so to speak, to cure disease, and stayed to tempt us with the prospect of enhancing our performance, designing our children, and perfecting our nature. That may have the story backwards. It is more plausible to view genetic engineering as the ultimate expression of our resolve to see ourselves astride the world, the masters of our nature. But that promise of mastery is flawed. It threatens to banish our appreciation of life as a gift, and to leave us with nothing to affirm or behold outside our own will." <www.tinyurl.com/4yx4dzm5>

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JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

"Groundbreaking Study Exposes Hidden Struggles of Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses in the UK" (no byline, Humanists UK, Aug 6 '25) -- "A groundbreaking study published in The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion has shed light on the profound and long-lasting challenges faced by people leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses and ways in which targeted support can assist their recovery.

   "Conducted by a national group of academic researchers in collaboration with Faith to Faithless <faithtofaithless.com>, the Humanists UK programme supporting people who leave high-control religions, the research involved in-depth interviews with 20 ex-Jehovah's Witnesses in the UK. Participants described significant emotional, social, and practical struggles after leaving - often compounded by shunning, loss of identity, and a lack of understanding from professionals.

   "The study found:

• Many experience acute mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD, linked both to life inside the religion and to the process of leaving.

• Social isolation is common, with loss of family and friends leaving some feeling like 'a little baby' navigating the outside world for the first time.

• Professional help is often ineffective due to a lack of awareness about religious trauma.

• Recovery is possible - but requires specialist understanding, safe environments, and supportive relationships.

   "The authors emphasise that leaving a high-control religion is not a single event but 'a complex, ongoing process of rebuilding identity and worldview.' With the right support from trained mental health professionals, informed social services, and community networks, former members can 'piece everything together again' and go on to live fulfilling lives." <www.tinyurl.com/459be77n>

   The abstract reads: "Former members of high-control religions can face numerous challenges after leaving their religious groups and require support to heal from the harms associated with disaffiliation. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was used to explore the experiences of 20 ex-Jehovah's Witnesses in the UK. Participants described experiencing a wide range of difficulties and trauma that had lasting impacts on their daily lives. The participants' recoveries were complex, idiosyncratic, and embedded in their social and cultural contexts. Developing new identities, relationships, and worldviews after leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses was often slow and difficult, but these processes were an important part of their healing. Our analysis shows that with adequate support these vulnerable individuals could rebuild new and fulfilling lives outside the organization. Increasing awareness of the experiences and needs of individuals like our participants will enable professionals to better provide the support and care they need."

<www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10508619.2025.2521569> (paywalled)

   Humanists UK welcomes Watchtower victims into agnosticism or atheism. What these souls need is Jesus.

   (We also wonder if anything was done to help these survivors get in touch with each other.)

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OCCULTISM IN AMERICA

"Paranormal Phenomena Met With Skepticism in U.S.: Two-thirds of Americans are skeptical of paranormal beliefs; none of eight concepts are believed by a majority" by Rachael Yi and Sarah Hogenboom-Jones (Gallup, Jul 23 '25) -- The eight "concepts" include:

* - "Psychic or spiritual healing or the power of the human mind to heal the body"

* - "Ghosts, or that spirits of dead people can come back in certain places and situations"

* - "Telepathy, or communication between minds without using the traditional five senses"

* - "That people can hear from or communicate mentally with someone who has died"

* - "Clairvoyance, or the power of the mind to know the past and predict the future"

* - "Astrology, or that the position of the stars and planets can affect people's lives"

* - "Reincarnation, that is, the rebirth of the soul in a new body after death"

* - "Witches"

   Graphics include two diagrams showing responses to the same inquiry: "For each of the following [two] items I am going to read you, please tell me whether it is something you believe in, something you're not sure about, or something you don't believe in. How about - ?"

1) "Americans' Belief in Paranormal Phenomena"

2) "Paranormal Belief Patterns Between the Open and the Skeptical"

   A third chart for "Believers and Nonbelievers, by Demographic Subgroup" sorts by: Gender (Men, Women), Education (College graduate/non-graduate), Age (18-34, 35-54, 55+), Ideology (Conservative, Moderate, Liberal), and Religious Attendance (Once a week, Almost every week, Once a month or less)

   "These findings are based on a Gallup poll conducted May 1-18, 2025 [indicating] Americans’ levels of belief in five of the eight paranormal phenomena are statistically similar to Gallup’s [surveys between] 1990 ... and 2005....

   "Bottom Line: Most Americans approach paranormal phenomena with caution; however, women, those who attend church less frequently and adults without a college degree are more likely than their counterparts to be open to believing in at least a few paranormal phenomena. Meanwhile, religious service attendance is most associated with skepticism. Despite a decline in church attendance over the past two decades, belief in the paranormal has not increased. Overall, no single phenomenon receives endorsement from a majority of Americans, and two-thirds remain generally unconvinced of paranormal ideas." <www.tinyurl.com/3rmk29ru>

   To say the least, these findings appear to challenge common headlines that suggest astrology <www.tinyurl.com/mryrud6f> and reincarnation <www.tinyurl.com/y2t3453k> are genuinely popular in the USA.  

AXED REMAINS ON THE EDITOR'S CUTTING BLOCK:

WOKEISM - a chronological look at the takeover of our museums

WOKEISM

"NPR: 'What's Water?': Liberal Media Cannot Grasp That Smithsonian Flap Is Not About Right-Wing Bigotry" by Rod Dreher (Substack, Aug 21 '25) -- begins with the example of the Aug 21 '25 NPR "Morning Edition" broadcast: "an interview segment having to do with ... recent complaints about exhibits at the Smithsonian - specifically, about the way slavery is depicted. ...

   "I know a fair bit about the wokeness at museums, but I also don’t know what, in particular," is being criticized. ...

   "Naturally there was no discussion about the merit ... or the more substantive (I guess) complaints that conservatives have made of the way museums have embraced a highly politicized narrative in the Woke Era. It was simply assumed" to be racist. ...

   "Not once did Martin question her about the serious criticism some leading historians have leveled at the 1619 Project for distorting history to serve an ideological narrative. ... It seems pretty clear to me that as a matter of journalistic professionalism, Martin ought to have pointed out that Hannah-Jones herself has been credibly accused of doing the same thing she criticizes....

   "Again, though, none of this seems to have occurred to NPR at all. And they wonder why they were defunded!

   "Washington journalist Dave Weigel, no conservative he, nailed it here: 'Yes, this is a small thing, but such a telling one about our media culture. I subscribe to The New York Times, which for the most part seems to have almost no curiosity about the way conservatives and MAGA populists think. I’m sure that they’re telling Times readers what they want to hear, but they ought to be telling them what they need to hear. I include myself in that number too; I don’t want to be fed news that fits my ideological priors. This is why I try to read broadly.' <www.tinyurl.com/2zx6rv6c>

   And, "Is that all there is to this controversy? Read this piece by Mike Gonzalez of the Heritage Foundation, responding to the liberal freakout. Excerpt: '[New Yorker editor David] Remnick also takes aim at me, and in the lede, no less. He notes that soon after Trump’s election, “Mike Gonzalez, a contributor to Project 2025 [gasp!], and Armen Tooloee, the former chief of staff to the right-wing activist Christopher Rufo, elaborated on the new Administration’s martial maneuvers, writing in the Wall Street Journal that, in order "to put a spike through the heart of woke," the White House was duty bound to "retake control of museums, starting with the Smithsonian Institution".'" <www.tinyurl.com/3xt6fbb5>

   Dreher is just getting warmed up. Next he also gives more detailed criticism of the NYT 1619 Project. Much of Dreher's earlier reaction in this piece was in reference to Trump's criticisms. We didn't include that distinction at the beginning as it is already reflected in the generic reaction wokeism has been receiving apart from Trump (as seen in AR 30:31 <www.tinyurl.com/29p7yp5r> for example). Dreher also ties this to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture and includes a link to graphics used to teach the lie.

   Dreher reviews the transformational influence of Secretary Lonnie Bunch at the Smithsonian, who soon after "taking the helm of the Smithsonian in 2019" sought to have "the museums entrusted to him to 'legitimize' the 1619 Project. ...

   "The New York Times was crystal clear that the mendacious project sought 'to reframe the country’s history.'" He then discusses the effort to unify the push, including reference to NPR and the New Yorker among others. We think you'll find it a helpful chronological  overview. <www.tinyurl.com/3e37fwpt>

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