In December 2024, the Portland District Court ruled that Ava’s father, Matthew Bradeen, would have full control over all religious attendances, including “the right to make final decisions regarding [the daughter’s] participation in other churches and religious organizations.” The court ruled that there had been “no showing of harm to [the child] associated with a belief system that is rooted in the Bible” but found issue with the Biblical teachings of eternal salvation, Heaven, hell, angels and demons as well as teaching the Bible “verse by verse, chapter by chapter.” The Maine Supreme Court ruled that a mother cannot take her 13-year-old daughter to church and cannot “expose” her to any “religious philosophy or the Bible in general” without the approval of the daughter’s father. The mother, Emily Bickford, is seeking an intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Modern transhumanists are saying to the Lord of life, “Actually, I can do better.” We know God has condemned such impulses, for He condemned Satan for tempting Eve when he told her, “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). This may sound extreme, but it’s the kind of thinking that undergirds much of the transhumanist movement. Do Christians really support these goals? At what point does the desire to overcome the effects of the Fall go too far? It’s hard to say. Drawing a hard line between healing and enhancement will not be easy. But the question is important because human beings should not try to meddle with their very nature.

It is no secret that America has largely turned its back on God. Children are encouraged to find their own truth from a young age, and mentions of God in our public schools are brushed aside or removed. Church attendance is rapidly declining as self-help strategies promise the answers to life’s problems. We’ve traded Divine guidance for subjective truth—“it’s up to me decide what is right and wrong.” And even the concept of biological sex and gender is up to the preference of each individual. It is clear that secularism has infiltrated every aspect of society, and the results are catastrophic. The further we stray from God, the deeper we sink into hopelessness.