Most of what is written about Christian Nationalism is silly. Critics and analysts sweepingly deride conventional Christian conservatives as Christian Nationalists. By some counts, there are, by this definition, tens of millions of Christian Nationalists. Sometimes even civil religion, with its homage to a vague deity, is labeled Christian Nationalism. If so, all presidents from George Washington to Joe Biden are Christian nationalists. Sometimes the target is folk religionists who conflate God and country.

They sometimes sport paraphernalia with American flags draped around the cross. These folk religionists typically aren’t aware they are Christian nationalists. They don’t publish articles, much less books. And they typically don’t have policy agendas, just an attitude that God and country should be interchangeably honored.

But some more intellectual Americans do consciously self-identify as Christian Nationalists. Politico has published an article about two of them. But unhelpfully the article does not explain distinctions and, like a hundred other articles, focuses on a combination of Christian conservative and New Right views held by their subjects without defining why they call themselves Christian Nationalists.

Christian Nationalism is distinct from conventional Christian conservatism. The former are typically post-liberals who want some level of explicit state-established Christianity. The latter have been and largely still are classical liberals who affirm traditional American concepts of full religious liberty for all. Both groups want a “Christian America.” But the former want it by statute. The latter see it as mainly a demographic, historical, and cultural reality.

What are y'alls thoughts and opinions about this?

I just wanted to share with my Orthodox Brothers and Sisters this photo of how the candle wax formed into the shape of The Cross during my evening prayers tonight. It really comforted my heart.

Has he popped in?
Did I miss him?

Proverbs 6:16-17 God hates hands that shed innocent blood, Life begins at conception that is a living. being that embryo, is living. over and over in the bible you see it say "and she conceived seed" this is another reason not to vote, or care about these wicked leaders people vote in, "Trump" says IVF is good, listen God will judge this country. they think it is good to go kill the embryos flush them down the toilet if they are deformed , it's like eugenics. and so many "Pro life" politicians come out and support IVF, love IVF. Stem cell research is straight out of the pits of hell, you're not right with God if you support it. and the so called conservatives supporting this have blood on their hands

Trump loves IVF

This is what is coming soon to America from God:

Hosea 13:16 “Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.”

They wants to rip up and exterminate babies, well the bible says God will rip up the womb and the children that they did decide to keep and not flush down a toilet, or throw in the trash.

Hello,

I returned to Jesus Christ almost 12 years ago when I repented all of my sins. I found this website the other day when I was searching for something else, and this forum showed up on the search engine.

God bless.

A quote from the early modern philosopher, Nicolas Malebranche "To be a faithful Christian one must believe blindly; but to be a philosopher one must see evidently."
(From Concerning the Search After Truth)


Do any of y'all have thoughts on these two claims? Is it the case that Christians believe blindly? Must a philosopher "see evidently."
(I take the second claim to be an epistemic one requiring an evidenced foundation, i.e., clear and distinct ideas in the Cartesian fashion. Of course, for Malebranche, this includes God's extra-experiential guarantee)

For me, both claims are too strong, regardless of context. I don't see Christian faith as being without reason, which I take "blind faith" to entail. If blind faith simply means *lack of certainty,* which it likely did for Malebranche, then the claim tells its age, imo.

Malebranch was a convinced believer, and he was also a Cartesian. Like Descartes, he was enamored with the idea of certainty and securing everything down to a certain foundation. If a belief couldn't be secured in some way to certainty, it was not knowledge- strictly speaking. I don't have that kind of epistemic standard. I'm not sure it's possible, and I certainly don't see philosophy as needing a certain foundation in that sense. I'm happy if things are reasonable and not obviously false. We know all kinds of things that can be doubted.

As an aside, Malebranche's occasionalism seems unnecessary and only exacerbates the dualism, but I would agree God guarantees veracity. It just think the divine guarantee is through the created order and not in spite of it or along with it. His occasionalism seems very ad hoc and unhelpful.

I do think both Christian faith and philosophy should proceed in the light of the available evidence, whatever that may be. There has to be some coherence between the availble evidence and my faith. If it is certain, then it must be included. And I think our degree of credulity in the evidence should track its evidentiary value. For instance, if the evidence is strong, I should have a similar credence of belief. But all veritable/credible evidence to which I have access should be a viable aspect of my faith and/or philosophy. Depending on the level of credulity required, I can't simply reject evidence as false because it doesn't seem to fit.

Of course, I see things that way because of my faith, i.e., all truth has one Source. Does that article of faith make it blind, then? I don't think so. First, I have reasons for thinking one Source makes sense. But I also don't think any of us can escape making ontological claims/commitments on the world, i.e. large assumptions about reality, and I don't think we can be certain of the ontological claims we make. No matter how one sees the world, a step of faith is being made somewhere epistemically important. I don't think that's all blind faith. I mean, we all have our reasons. And, I think many people today can live with a lack of certainty. That's where I think many have moved beyond the Cartesian obsession with certainty as an epistemic requirement. Since the time of Malebranche, we have a new physical account that allows for uncertainty. A lot has changed. Certainly for me, I think we can have reasonable faith and a less than certain philosophy.

I'm new here. I used to go to church when I was growing up, but fell away when it closed. It's almost 20 years later and I want to explore my faith again. I am lonely too, so I hope I can make some friends here as well. I look forward to meeting you all.

"The brutal murderer who took the life of Laken was one of the millions of illegal aliens that the Biden Administration simply released and unleashed upon our country," Johnson wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
It is hard for me to come to grips with the fact that there are still quite a few Americans who support the horrifying Biden administration border polices. All of the criminals, the fentanyl deaths, the mental patients, the terrorists, and now the flow of well-dressed Chinese men of military age and still a large number of Democrats still support Joe. So too they remain silent at the government abuses against those who stand up to policies of the Democrats.

Other cities in California are seeking to expand the ability for non-citizens to vote. In the November 2024 general election, voters in Santa Ana, located in Southern California’s Orange County, will decide whether or not to allow illegal immigrants to vote in all city elections.
They can find people to run the elections who don't care about the election complaints of American citizens.

I only speak English so I probably will make a fool of myself here over my Greek question but I can’t find a satisfactory answer anywhere.

Revelation 9:21 talks of sorceries but when I use a Greek lexicon I find pharmakeia which to an English speaker I would have assumed to be related to pharmaceuticals. Commentaries explain it away as sorcerers using drugs in their witchcraft.

When I looked up modern Greek translations and imported the same verse into Google translate it gave the word “drugs”.

There is a big difference at least in modern language between drugs and sorcery. Can anyone who is a native Greek speaker (modern Greek) explain to me how that verse reads in your bible and how you interpret it and in Greek speaking countries is this verse (and other verses using the same word) understood differently than in English speaking countries?

please pray

The Mi Amore convention was closed by organizers early Saturday after officers arrived at the venue in the Russian capital, despite police being unable to find evidence of illegal activity.

wanted for questioning

TEARS THAT TOUCH THE WORLD
感动世界的泪水
“But if you will not listen to it, My soul will sob in secret for such pride; And my eyes will bitterly weep and flow down withtears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive…Jeremiah 13:17.”
你们若不听这话，我必因你们的骄傲在暗地哭泣，我眼必痛哭流泪，因为耶和华的群众被掳去了。 耶利米书 13:17

What is it that makes a true prophet of God? A true prophet walks with God, witnesses for God and warns the people. Yes, he does all of these things and more. But the main and defining characteristic of every prophet of God is tears because he/she weeps the very tears of God.
神真正的先知是什么？真正的先知与神同行，为神做见证，警示人们。是的，他做所有这些事并且更多，但神的每个先知最主要的，最典型的特征是眼泪，因为他/她流淌的是神的眼泪。

Maybe some of you have Jeremiah's in your church. He/she is always warning people. Everything is going well but still he/she urges you to return to faith. He stands up in church meetings and says you need to pray instead of spending thousands on some church activity. You want to lock this person up. This is what happened to Jeremiah. Everyone was saying to Him, please shut up.
也许你们中一些人在教会读过耶利米书，他/她一直在提醒人们。一切都很好，但他/她仍然督促你回到信心中来。他在教会聚会时站在那里说你需要祷告，而不是在一些教会活动中花费数千元，你想要把这个人关起来，这就是耶利米书中发生的事。每个人都对他说，请闭嘴。

If your tears are from the heart of God, they will affect the view you have of your nation. The true prophet of God will say things that are totally against the prevailing view of the world and indeed many in the church.
如果你的眼泪来自于神的心灵，他们就会影响你对你国家的看法。神真正的先知会说与世界现存观点完全不同的事情，教会中的许多事情也是如此。

How many of the so-called prophets in the church today are preaching with tears? Lots of preachers are loud. They shout. But it is not how loud the voice of the prophet is; it is the number of tears he/she sheds.
如今教会中多少所谓的先知是用眼泪传道的呢？许多传道者在大声喊叫，他们声音很大，但主要并不在于先知的声音有多么大，而在于他们洒了多少泪水。

Let me finish with this. First, a word to the people in fivefold ministry - the shepherds of the church. When was the last time that you wept? When was the last time you preached through your tears in agony? Are you acting like a Jeremiah in your pulpit - preaching with tears? When was the last time you agonized before God for your church?
让我们以此结尾。对教会中的羊群所说的话会产生五倍事工。你最后一次哭泣是什么时候呢？你最后一次在痛苦中用你的眼泪传道是什么时候呢？你像耶利米一样在你的讲坛上讲道吗？用眼泪传道吗？你最后一次因为你的教会，在神面前感到极度痛苦是什么时候呢？

A word to the rest of us - tears are important for us as Christian's in deep repentance to God, in compassion for the world and especially the hurting and deprived; for a passionate love of the brethren. Surely the place where tears need to be shed are first and foremost the prayer closet, where they are surely filter into the pulpit and then into every member of the congregation.
对我们其他人来说的一句话是，眼泪对我们很重要，因为基督徒是对神进行深度忏悔，对世界，尤其对伤害和剥夺充满怜悯，对弟兄姐妹们充满同情。有眼泪流出的地方是第一重要的，最重要的是祷告的地方，在那里泪水会进入到讲坛，渗透进会众每一位成员的心中。

When we have shed tears ourselves, we can identify with others who will come to us crying. So often someone comes to us and we say 'why is this person crying'? Maybe this is because we have never known what it is to weep ourselves.
当我们自己流泪的时候，我们就能够和来到我们面前哭泣的人产生共鸣，一些人经常来到我们面前，我们就会问他为什么哭泣？也许因为我们从未了解过他为什么哭泣。

Many of the strongest men of the Bible wept; men such as Paul, Jeremiah, Nehemiah and Jesus Himself. So why can’t many of you men become like a little child? Strong men do cry; they do agonize for their families and their communities/churches.
圣经里许多强大的人也会哭泣，诸如保罗，耶利米，尼西米以及耶稣本人。那么为什么你们中的许多人不能变得像一个小孩子一样呢？强大的人也会哭泣，他们会为他们的家庭和社区/教会感到痛苦。

It is time for tears in the church; tears of repentance towards God; tears of speaking the honest truth like Jeremiah did. It is time to understand that people are shedding tears all around you. Only when you shed tears yourself can you touch their lives with the love of God; because as you have been comforted, you can bring the comfort of God to others. (Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
是时候在教会哭泣了，面对神流出悔恨的泪水，像耶利米所做的一样，讲述正直的真理而流泪，是时候理解在你周围流泪的所有人了。只有当你自己流泪的时候，你才能够以神的爱触摸到他们的生命。因为当你被安慰时，你就能把神所赐的安慰带给其他人。 （阅读哥林多后书 1:3-4 ）

Please take time to read the whole of the book of Jeremiah. Yes, all of it. Maybe you will learn how to cry biblically. A final thing believer… remember one day there will be no more tears…amen!!!
请花时间阅读整本耶利米书，是的，整本。或许你会学到如何像圣经所描述的那样哭泣。最后一件事，信徒们要记得终有一天不再有眼泪...阿门！！！

God bless you, Keith
愿神祝福你！Keith

SOAK IN SCRIPTURE

CHINESE

PROVERBS

















06-千方百计的健康生活 The Healthiest Life

Our Pastor | 箴言 Proverbs

Proverbs 3:1-12












sermonaudio.com/sermon/21621150323855

07-这人便为有福 The Blessed Man

Our Pastor | 箴言 Proverbs

Proverbs 3:13-26

sermonaudio.com/sermon/22221828306518

08-按照智慧跟你的邻舍有来往

Our Pastor | 箴言 Proverbs

Proverbs 3:27-35

sermonaudio.com/sermon/22821130148045

Mercy Meets Us Where We Are 恩典之主怜恤就近卑微之人

Tony Wang

圣传归正教会改革宗华语堂

sermonaudio.com/sermon/102223200147482

ENGLISH

17. By-Path Meadow: A Roadmap to Pilgrim's Progress

Mike Riccardi | Pilgrim's Progress

The GraceLife Pulpit

sermonaudio.com/sermon/73201720525558

18. Doubting Castle of Giant Despair: A Roadmap to Pilgrim's...

Mike Riccardi | Pilgrim's Progress

The GraceLife Pulpit

sermonaudio.com/sermon/73201735212714

19. The Delectable Mountains: A Roadmap to Pilgrim's Progress

Mike Riccardi | Pilgrim's Progress

The GraceLife Pulpit

sermonaudio.com/sermon/73201737257131

20. Ignorance and Little-Faith: A Roadmap to Pilgrim's Progress

Mike Riccardi | Pilgrim's Progress

The GraceLife Pulpit

sermonaudio.com/sermon/792020314175

Hi everyone, I would greatly appreciate your prayers. I am on antipsychotic medication and it has given me a condition called metabolic syndrome, it is a problem with your hormones and blood sugar. I am extremely ill with this, it is very painful. There is no treatment for this, it is incurable. Please pray for a miraculous healing from metabolic syndrome! Thank you!

Hell there my name is Corinthian aka Cjones, C.lady i was with my husband for 32yrs and married for 30yrs I tragically lost his may 12 2022 my soulmate the love of my life we have 11 children 8 grandsons 8 granddaughters number 9 granddaughter on the way I have 8 daughters and 3 sons 4 son in-law Ive decided to get on this site to meet life minded people some may know where im coming from and some may not and that ok I believe we’re all here to be helper one to another

What does this mean? Scripture tells us, plainly, that we will serve one of two possible Masters, Satan, or God the Father.

But what if a person doesn’t want to serve either of them? Can the folks who believe in free will actually decide not to serve either Satan or God? Can a free will advocate be independent of the control of either of these two Effectual Fathers?

A handyman-turned-squatter hunter is concerned that migrants entering the U.S. will catch on to states' lenient tenants' rights laws and create a squatting crisis that's "beyond control."

"We have masses coming in. They're going to be looking for places to live. And if we don't have the housing for them, if they're coming in with no money, they can't rent the traditional way," Flash Shelton, founder of the United Handyman Association and SquatterHunters.com, told Fox News. When they start finding out that many states have permissive laws for squatters, "our squatter situation is going to go beyond control," he added.
Squatters and tenants' rights laws vary across the country, with some states providing protection for non-paying individuals, allowing them to occupy a property for extended periods. In areas where complex laws bar police from taking action, homeowners have few options to reclaim their property beyond pursuing a civil case, which can take months.
Shelton has advocated for reforming laws to hamper people's ability to squat and warned that the influx of migrants coming across the southern border could make the squatting problem substantially worse.
"What are we going to do later when we have a million people squatting in this country," Shelton said, "when not only do we have a border issue that we can't even figure out, but now we have people that are being mentally, financially, physically messed with because they've lost their home to all of these people?"

"Regardless of how you feel politically or morally about the situation, put that aside and just think about the masses," Shelton added.

Nearly 7.3 million migrants have crossed into the U.S. illegally since the start of 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Since 2022, Texas has sent over 100,000 migrants to major cities in other states, with most ending up in New York City and Chicago. The Big Apple spent $1.45 billion in fiscal 2023 on migrant costs and expects to spend a combined $9.1 billion housing migrants in 2024 and 2025, according to Bloomberg.

Every week you can find Christian news reports of people around the world losing their jobs, being arrested, or being tried for voicing opposition to, or even questioning the transgender cultural trend. What's surprising is that most of these cases involve individuals making comments on private websites. This alone should have any free speech advocate upset with both the intolerant accusing parties, as well as the government systems coddling to the cultural agenda.

For Christians here that think the whole self-gender identifying trend is foolish but trivial, it's time to wake up and see what's happening. It took 20-30 years of aggressive activism for the gay community to successfully and significantly change America's culture. The transgender advocates are making progress much faster. In both cases, the Christian implications are the same, involving a much more profound development than just sexual freedom.

The LGBT movement is an inevitable result of the post-modernism movement that started decades ago. In short, it's a battle against objective reality which Christians should recognize as the Bible and subjective reality which is loosely determined by individuals' feelings and preferences. Will Christians cave in to the pressure now as before, thus compromising the very foundation of truth? Or will we fight this cultural trend, understanding its significance.

I believe we're in a cultural war between those who embrace God, the Bible, and objective truth versus those who oppose God, reject the Bible, and pursue their own subjective beliefs and values. Might I suggest that the removal of the Bible and prayer from public schools, teaching of evolution over creationism, prohibition of posting the ten commandments or Christmas nativity scenes on public property, support of abortion, and LGBT movement are all part of the spiritual warfare Satan is enacting upon America and the world. We must choose our side. For Christians called to be salt of the earth, this means speaking up when the opportunity arises, but be prepared for the growing legal and financial repercussions.

Now, here are just 3 recent examples of the hundreds of individuals being persecuted for thinking that God created two kinds, male and female, or that biology defines a person's sex and gender.


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I'm a female & deal w/ both repetative sexual sin & possible pornograhy addiction, I'm also single. Pls don't come for me. ( I say this because Ive only watched pornography once) I really really want to stop having anything to do with sexual sin, but can't. I'll go anywhere from 3-6 months before the desire for sex hits me. I have gone to church in the past & when I was little I did accept Jesus as my Lord, I was 6 yrs at the time, my parents thought I was way to young to come to the Lord at that time & said I needed to wait untill I was much older. That was their excuse for everything I needed to be older before I exprinced anything, so there was a time that I could tell them anything. My parents weren't the kjnd of ppl you would or could talk with at all. I really started to experience this issue w/ sexual sin. My expericen has been & continues to be No church or Christian community would or will even go anywhere near anything dealing w/ sexual sin or sexual addiction at all, at least not in the areas I live & travel to work in. So, imagine my shock to find this forum. This I feel is my last hope. I don't trust ppl. Again my experience has been witnessing the body of Christ shun, exclude & talk about & make fun of ppl who are struggling or suffering anything to do with any type of addiction or mental health issues. Body of Christ responses read the Pslams & maybe you can find a therapist to help you. For mental health issues yes but for sexual addiction / sin issues no. Trying to find a Christian therapist is like trying to find a needle in the haystack. I stopped going to church after witnessing these things. I also have no friends or family at. I wouldnt trust them w/ this. I need help to get rid of this sin /addiction so I can finally be free of this sin/ addiction. I want to break free of this sin.

I understand the hatred for Trump runs deep and thus never attempt to defend his egotistcal character, offensive statements, or questionable business dealings. But, his specific actions of support for Christianity in America and around the world has surpassed any other president since Ronald Reagan. To this point, his open, political platform has been and remains more compatible with the Christian faith than any of his Democratic opponents have demonstrated.

In the case of this article, I find it very interesting and telling that Trump boldly spoke out to defend America's Christian heritage, while Biden (also invited to speak) declined to even attend.

On Wednesday, Family Research Council released a report that analyzed the rise of hostility against churches between 2018 and 2023. Over the course of six years, FRC “identified 915 acts of hostility against churches in the United States,” with 2023 experiencing 436 attacks — more than double what FRC found in 2022.
Authored by Arielle Del Turco, director of FRC’s Center for Religious Liberty, the findings suggest “that hostility against U.S. churches is not only on the rise but also accelerating,” and these acts of hostility include “vandalism, arson, gun-related incidents, bomb threats, and more.” And as FRC Senior Vice President Jody Hice emphasized on Monday’s episode of “Washington Watch,” the report does not account for every incident that has occurred.
“So, this increase in religious hostility should not be taken lightly,” Hice insisted. “It must be outright condemned,” he declared, pointing out that many churches facing these acts of hatred do not receive the recognition and support they deserve as they navigate their way through a variety of violent acts and threats. One example is Word of Life Church in Wichita, Kansas, and Pastor Rob Rotola shared his troublesome experiences on “Washington Watch.”

“I documented 18 separate incidences of either vandalism, theft, or hostilities in the year 2023 alone,” Rotola said. “And that is, honestly, with ignoring some of the smaller things that didn’t even make the list.” He explained how his church has four campuses around Wichita, but they chose to self-manage most of the incidents because many of the police officers in the area were replaced with social workers. “So, when you call now … the response time is markedly slower,” he added. While there may be many contributing factors to the rise in hostility, Rotola emphasized that most attacks are likely rooted in an increased and “general lack of respect for churches.” But in addition to that aspect, the media tends to describe “churches and pastors and ministers and rabbis in almost always a negative light,” noting that church authorities are often labeled as “crooks,” “pedophiles,” or other terms of “ill will.”

Our government isn’t serious about defending the United States and its interests. In fact, it has fallen woefully short in carrying out this sacred obligation. I know this sounds harsh, but as we’ll see, the government’s own numbers prove the point.

That our military is weak is not an indictment of the men and women who have volunteered to serve. It is an indictment of a system largely defined by the government and those elected to high office.
That includes senior military officers whose primary obligation should be to ensure that our men and women have what they need to win in war—which is, after all, the primary purpose of our military.
Yes, many people will say the purpose of a strong military is to deter war, but deterrence derives from the belief of the enemy that they would be defeated in battle. So if our military is at great risk of not being able to win … well, it doesn’t have much deterrent value.


Our potential enemies can see this; the American public, not so much.
At present, the U.S. military is roughly half the size it needs to be. Moreover, most of its primary equipment (planes, ships, tanks, etc.) is 30 to 40 years old. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and guardsmen are training only a fraction of what they should to be competent in battle.

Yet senior leaders in the Pentagon, White House spokespersons, and even members of Congress who have access to the facts (and should know better) continue to say that we have the best military in the world, as if saying so makes it so. It does not.
Let’s look at the numbers, using references from near the end of the Cold War, when the U.S. last confronted a major competitor on a global stage. Recall that until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the U.S. maintained forces able to compete with the Soviets in many regions at once, primarily in Europe (in land and air) but also across the seas where naval power was essential.

Back then, Washington had to focus only on one capital and the ambitions of one authoritarian regime. Regardless of where military actions occurred, the signals reverberated to Moscow.
Today, the U.S. must account for regimes in Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, and Pyongyang, and a host of smaller powers and terrorist regimes that challenge U.S. interests. They have different objectives and possess different cultures, values, and networks.

Since we have a thread asking the question "Why Trump?" with some insights into the GOP voter's mind in that thread, I figured I'd ask the inverse of the queston to our Republican friends here at CF AmPo.

Why not Nikki Haley?

I can understand (sort of) the feeling of unfinished business Trump supporters have with him and Biden and maybe a sense of nostalgia for times before the pandemic and everything that's come since then, but I don't understand the outright rejection of who at least to me, is clearly the sharpest candidate in this race if we're just looking at the top 3.

So I ask you, Republicans of Christianforums... Tell me, why not Nikki Haley?

"Did AI Prove Our Proton Model Wrong?"
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Using "prove" in the title of the video, is a bit click-baity, but the video itself is much more reserved. They discuss the use of AI to identify a Proton model that is different than the current best candidates. I don't have a dog in that fight, so I could care less which Proton model rises to the top. Let the best one win.

My question is: How much do you trust AI solutions? Before you answer, let me elaborate further.

The video reveals that the "AI" involved was a neural network that optimized 1000s of models to arrive at the best, which is an advantage given that human physicists can only test a few. When I heard that, my reaction was, "Oh, is that all it was?" I'm not downplaying the accomplishment, but rather the use of "AI" as a label in this case, where it seems a misnomer. It's fine if people want to call such things "AI", but I am sometimes concerned that the general public misunderstands the nature of what is actually going on in the belly of the beast.

I've used all kinds of different optimizers in my engineering work: gradient descent, genetic algorithms, neural nets. They all have their uses, but I've never trusted them enough to just turn them loose and take their solution without reservation. I never believed use of a genetic algorithm meant I was condoning evolutionary biology because they simply aren't the same thing. I've never considered any of the neural nets I've ever used actually "intelligent". Usually it's an intensive process where I am deeply involved with guiding the algorithm, and find a better solution that way than just turning it loose to do its own thing. In the end, it's more about using the optimizer as a workhorse to test more cases than I can do on my own. It's not about the algorithm understanding the engineering problem better than I do.

But what if the day arrives when that is the case - the day when AI gives an answer we don't understand - would you trust it?