Blessu


Book Description

A classic animal story from master storyteller, Dick King-Smith. Blessu is a very small elephant who suffers from dreadful hay fever - and although he's very small, he has a very large sneeze! Blessu doesn't grow very fast, except for one part of him - his trunk. And every time he sneezes, his trunk grows even bigger.




Perceiving the Future through New Communication Technologies


Book Description

The volume offers multiple perspectives on the way in which people encounter and think about the future. Drawing on the perspectives of history, literature, philosophy and communication studies, an international ensemble of experts offer a kaleidoscope of topics to provoke and enlighten the reader. The authors seek to understand the daily lived experience of ordinary people as they encounter new technology as well as the way people reflect on the significance and meaning of those technologies. The approach of the volume stresses the quotidian quality of reality and ordinary understandings of reality as understood by people from all walks of life. Providing expert analysis and sophisticated understanding, the focus of attention gravitates toward how people make meaning out of change, particularly when the change occurs at the level of social technologies- the devices that modify and amplify our modes of communication with others. The volume is organised into three main sections: The phenomena of new communication technology in people's lives from a contemporary viewpoint; the meaning of robots and AI as they play an increasing role in people's experience and; broader issues concerning the operational, sociological and philosophical implications of people as they address a technology driven future.




Religion in the Age of Digitalization


Book Description

This book examines the current use of digital media in religious engagement and how new media can influence and alter faith and spirituality. As technologies are introduced and improved, they continue to raise pressing questions about the impact, both positive and negative, that they have on the lives of those that use them. The book also deals with some of the more futuristic and speculative topics related to transhumanism and digitalization. Including an international group of contributors from a variety of disciplines, chapters address the intersection of religion and digital media from multiple perspectives. Divided into two sections, the chapters included in the first section of the book present case studies from five major religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism and their engagement with digitalization. The second section of the volume explores the moral, ideological but also ontological implications of our increasingly digital lives. This book provides a uniquely comprehensive overview of the development of religion and spirituality in the digital age. As such, it will be of keen interest to scholars of Digital Religion, Religion and Media, Religion and Sociology, as well as Religious Studies and New Media more generally, but also for every student interested in the future of religion and spirituality in a completely digitalized world.




Exploring Religious Dimensions in AI and Humanity


Book Description

Exploring Religious Dimensions in A.I. and Humanity explores how the phenomenal advancements of artificial intelligence can reshape our spiritual journeys and influence established ethical frameworks. Very Reverend Dr. Aristarchos Gkrekas offers insights grounded in deep religious understanding. Nicholas Kokkinos provides insightful analyses of the ethical implications of emerging technologies and the potential for AI to serve as a dynamic repository of religious knowledge. Through years of collaboration, both authors sought a common approach to navigate the exponential growth of technology and its impact on humanity's enduring questions about consciousness, ethics, and spirituality. This book is an essential read for those intrigued by the evolving dialogue between technology and spirituality and is enriched by references to centuries-old texts. It promises to ignite curiosity and spark a deeper understanding of our digital age's spiritual dimensions and the ethical questions that arise from these phenomenal developments.




Diz and the Big Fat Burglar


Book Description

Diz and her dog, Digger, decide to have a spring clean - and find a burglar asleep in the rubbish] Diz comes up with an idea to stop him ever stealing again




Does God Still Bless the U. S. A. ?


Book Description

What an incomparable gift Lee Greenwood gave us with 'God Bless the U.S.A', a song ingrained in America's soul. It endures as one of the most loved patriotic songs of the last century. This legendary, award-winning country music artist now offers personal insights into America's challenges and her future in his book, Does God Still Bless the U.S.A.' The book calls for citizens to embrace an authentic patriotism while pointing out problems that simply should not be happening in our country. When our ancestors landed in America, they believed their 'inalienable' rights came from a God who loved them and blessed them with the opportunity to establish a new nation. Unapologetically, Lee urges the return to faith and the founding principles that have proven to be the strength of our civilization. Each chapter illuminates areas essential for maintaining our freedom, prosperity, and safety. Lee Greenwood believes America is at a crossroads and people are wanting someone to tell the truth. Here it is...




Religion Online


Book Description

Religion Online provides new insights about religiosity in a contemporary context, offering a comprehensive look at the intersection of digital media, faith communities, and practices of all sorts. Recent research on Apple users, video games, virtual worlds, artificial intelligence, digital music, and sports as religion supports the idea that media and religion, once considered separate entities, are in many cases the same thing. New media and religious practice can no longer be detached; this two-volume set discusses how religionists are embracing the Internet amidst cultural shifts of secularization, autonomous religious worship, millennials' affinity for new media, and the rise of fundamentalism in the global south. While other works describe case studies, this book explains how new media are interwoven into the very fabric of religious belief, behavior, and community. Chapters break down the past, present, and projected future of the use of digital media in relation to faith traditions of many varieties, extending from mainline Christianity to new religious movements. The book also examines the impacts of digital media on beliefs and practices around the world. In exploring these subjects, it calls on the study of culture, namely anthropology, to conceptualize a technological period as significant as the industrial revolution.




Futures of Artificial Intelligence


Book Description

Twenty-first century life is increasingly governed by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as machine learning, big data analysis, facial recognition, and robotics. For decades, an ideology of apocalyptic progress and cosmic transformation has accompanied the advancement of AI in the United States; that vision is intimately connected to transhumanism, the idea that humanity can transcend its limits, even mortality, using technology. Based on contributions from science and science fiction, advocates of such apocalyptic AI suggest that the world will soon see godlike machine intelligence and that human beings will upload their minds into immortal machine bodies. The arrival of this ideology in India raises questions about how global cultures can contribute to AI technology and our beliefs about AI. These beliefs have gained a foothold in Indian visions of AI, but they have not been accepted uncritically; rather, Indian scientists and futurists revise the transhumanist vision and illustrate how traditional Hindu values can add to the global perspective. By describing the arrival and reconfiguration of transhumanist ideas in India, this book reveals how the nexus of religion and technology contributes to public life and our modern self-understanding while suggesting that the apocalyptic approach to AI should be tempered by other visions. By tracing the movement of apocalyptic AI into India and exploring Indian efforts to redefine those transhumanist aspirations, Futures of Artificial Intelligence opens the door for rethinking our global approach to AI and advocates for technologies and visions of technology that advance human flourishing.




Holy Bible (NIV)


Book Description

The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.




The End of Life as We Know It


Book Description

"It's happening this second. Scientists are re-imagining and re-engineering the world forever. With brutal honesty and engaging story-telling, Michael Guillen gives us a clear-eyed look at a future that is already here. Consider this unsettling, brilliantly written, must-read book your official wake up call." -- ERIC METAXAS, #1 national bestselling author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy "Michael Guillen has tackled an important subject in The End of Life as We Know It... This book is a sobering look at where we could be headed. A fascinating read." -- DAVID LIMBAUGH, bestselling author of Jesus is Risen and The True Jesus In all aspects of life, humans are crossing lines of no return. Modern science is leading us into vast uncharted territory—far beyond the invention of nuclear weapons or taking us to the moon.Today, in labs all over the world, scientists are performing experiments that threaten to fundamentally alter the practical character and ethical color of our everyday lives. In The End of Life as We Know It: Ominous News from the Frontiers of Science, bestselling author and Emmy award winning science journalist Michael Guillen takes a penetrating look at how the scientific community is pushing the boundaries of morality, including: • Scientists who detached the head of a Russian man from his crippled, diseased body, and stitching it onto a healthy new donated body. • Fertility experiments aimed at allowing designer babies to be conceived with the DNA from three or more biological parents. • The unprecedented politicization of science – for example, in the global discussion about climate change that is pitting “deniers” against “alarmists” and inspiring Draconian legislation, censorship, and legal prosecutions. • The integration of Artificial Intelligence into communications and the economy. The End of Life as We Know Ittakes us into labratories and boardrooms where these troubling advances are taking place and asks the question no scientists seem to be asking: What does this mean for the future of humanity? PREVIOUS PRAISE FOR MICHAEL GUILLEN: “Guillen succeeds triumphantly…He writes with extraordinary grace and clarity.” — CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPT, The New York Times “Guillen knows how to tell a story.” — Wall Street Journal “Michael Guillen is ‘Winsomely brilliant.’” — ERIC METAXAS, #1 national bestselling author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy “Michael Guillen bridges the seeming gap between science and faith better than anyone I know.” — CAL THOMAS, Syndicated and USA Today columnist/Fox News contributor