Christians in the Age of Techno-Liberalism

Faith in the machine age: how Christians are responding to Techno-Liberalism.

Part 4 of a five-part series examining the influence of Big Tech and its Techno-Liberalism ideology from philosophical, religious, and political perspectives.

Introduction

As noted in Big-Tech and the New Social Order, Techno-Liberalism is a modern revolution to build a better world and society through a combination of technology and science.

It is bringing solutions to the human condition that border on the miraculous, and it is making the world a better place in many ways. However, there is a dark side.

To fulfil their mission for a better world, they are eager to marginalize inherited moral, labour, and social frameworks. Religious orders, longstanding institutions, unions, and traditional behaviours.

The Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Charismatic, and especially New Apostolic Reformation Christian communities are blind to the rise of Big Tech because of their myopic fear of the political left and government over-regulation. Many vocal Christians prefer the disruption of Techno-Liberalism ideology, converting them into surfs, rather than conceding to their old enemy.

There is ignorance of this global existential threat, but there are certain parts that gain Christian attention: opposition to media censorship, and within the conservative and Spirit-led communities, a hostility to perceived leftist agendas in Big Tech. There is also negative attention to the Techno-Optimist concept of transhumanism, which is the hope of extending human life by a large number of standard years and even of defying death.

Overall, the Christian community remains in its decades-old hard stances, hardly stepping any further into the new challenges. It stops short of recognizing the threats that Techno-Liberalism poses in social, labour, health, defence, and national sovereignty.

It is difficult to gauge a common response within the Western Christian movements because it is fragmented and there is little documentation in this area. Most thought is oral and can vary across cultures, faith traditions, regions, and prayer rooms. And often the spiritual language within Spirit-led movements is spoken cryptically in Biblical imagery, making it difficult to understand with a high degree of accuracy.

The following is a combination of my personal experience as a Christian who has rubbed shoulders with Fundamentalist, Evangelical, and especially Spirit-Led churches (which includes sojourns in a Vineyard-influenced church and later, a New Apostolic Reformation one), along with research through documents and videos.

The coverage focuses on the impact and response by the larger religious movements and not on conservative political American influences, alliances or fringe groups (with one exception).

Traditional Christians Find Techno-Liberalism as Evil

My intuition is that some in the Evangelical and Fundamentalist communities believe that an end-of-the-world scenario is happening where Techno-Liberalism is the new 666. 666 is a number sequence in the Book of Revelation that denotes a corrupt political system that demands total allegiance from its citizens, with all other alternatives wiped out.

There is also a fear that something like the Soviet Union’s strong push for modernization of society, which led to the elimination of religion in every sector to achieve its goals, is going to happen here.

These attitudes, which are much more a creation of 1970s Evangelical thinking, are on the wane and are eclipsed by New Apostolic Reformation thinking.

Technology can be an Agent for Good or Bad

Franklin Graham believes “large corporate tech companies are increasingly hostile to the Christian faith,” and also has serious concerns about artificial intelligence.¹ His position is cynical, cautious, but not rejectionist.²

Catholic leadership also has a leery approach to Techno-Liberalism. Both Pope Leo XIV and his predecessor are open but critical about what new technology brings, citing that its goodness can often be a disguise for dehumanization and exploitation.³ Pope Leo rightly touches on the need for greater transparency in the Big Tech world.

David A. Bednar, an elder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believes that technology is neither good nor bad. It depends on the user. One has to carefully avoid the pitfalls of diversion, distraction, and untruths.⁴ He fails to recognize any threat of Techno-Liberalism.

Big-Tech Can be Redeemed under the Banner of God

Surprisingly, the leaders of the powerful and influential New Apostolic Reformation, whose goal is the purification of American media, public institutions, arts, and Government, for the glory of God, see it as an opportunity, not as a threat.

The NAR movement sees a society in conflict between darkness and light. They perceive darkness in anything that the political left says or does, and see modern politics as conflicts between good and evil, principalities and powers, and demons versus angels. They speak, pray, and act with almost militaristic zeal to win this cosmic battle.⁵

It is a large mobilized movement, one of the fastest-growing within Christendom.

They comprehend the present social and political disruptions as a necessary step in the development of a new system based on Christian leaders and principles. It is an epoch where Big Tech will be there to assist them.

Cindy Jacobs, a highly regarded prophet within NAR, encourages followers not to vilify new technology or AI, as Christians did with earlier technologies such as television.⁶

Samuel Robinson, a ‘Canadian Prophet’, who often speaks alongside Cindy Jacobs, believes artificial intelligence should not be opposed but utilized to advance God’s kingdom. He does not refer to the the existential threat of Techno-Liberalism.⁷

Other NAR leaders such as Chuck Pierce and Dutch Sheets, though outspoken on Big Tech censorship, do not see the existential threat of Techno-Liberalism.

But there is one big exception. Lance Wallnau, a prominent NAR evangelist and author who penned the idea that Trump was a modern King Cyrus figure, comments that sovereign nations now compete with corporations for the same influence and power.⁸

He then adds:

Right now, the world’s global elites are advancing their policy agendas unopposed, without resistance from communities and governments…⁹

Wallnau fails to unpack these statements and build a structured response. This concern does not commonly appear in NAR channels.

A little off the NAR tract is Russ Vought. He was once an integral part of the Trump administration, and a member of the ultra-conservative, mostly millennial group of Christians who hold similar ideals to the NAR called the TheoBros. He, too, laments the power of Big Tech but only addresses censorship.¹⁰

Christianity Revitalizes Because of Spiritual Vacuum Created by Techno-Liberalism

Vaclav Smil, a Czech-Canadian scientist and policy analyst, stresses that religion is resurging given the “spiritual sterility of technological rationality,” and is a complementary addition.¹¹ Resurgence or emergence of religion, especially Spirit-led (Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Third Wavers) or Islamic ones, are occurring in pockets, but it is hard to verify as a recognized counter-movement. Anecdotal evidence within the Spirit-led movement makes this claim tenable.

For example, the shift in technology is advantageous to the Spirit-led realm. This oral-based movement amounts to over 600 million worldwide and aligns with the current technological communication model, which is visual and oral.

Catholicism is beginning to see a rise in growth in Canada, which is either directly tied to many people seeing the void that Techno-Liberalism brings. Another alternative for this growth is the large migration of immigrants.¹²

A Proper Christian Response to Big Tech and Techno-Liberalism

Franklin Graham and the powerful NAR movement are making a grave error in ignoring the dominance of Big Tech and Techno Liberalism in other realms outside of the typical Evangelical and NAR grievances. The NAR community’s overall fear of too much leftism in Government and the possibility of religious persecution from it allowed a back door for private enterprise to grow and dominate. In the process, absolutes and religious convictions became irrelevant in the current framework.

It is too late to stop the rise and dominance of this ideology. The question now is, how does the modern Christian fit in this new paradigm?

The Church is not rejectionist of technology, as the development and use of technology is part of humanity’s psyche. With that in mind, the Church’s mission implicitly expects that all technology serves humanity. For example, CRISPR technology is a gene editing approach that typically costs millions per person for treatment.¹³ This cost prohibition, which is a casualty of capitalist market mechanisms, ought to be in the realm of public good where the government controls, or provides for almost free. It is a travesty that people with less financial means are dying of certain maladies today because they do not have the means to access this solution, while others who have the money can survive.

St. Paul recognized that there were power issues in both the spiritual and human realms, but they were forces beyond our control. We are to recognize them and respect the rules, and be wise as serpents but innocent as doves.

Christians should encourage, not dictate, to their governments and public servants to regulate Big Tech so that any impact by them is controlled, reasonable, and good for society. It is unreasonable to believe that the tech industry can regulate itself. Over 2000 years of social and political history prove this is untenable.

In order for the Christian community to become respected in the larger national conscience, it has to think outside of right or left ideologies, and represent the common person and their day to day survival. If the church continues to ignore the high cost of living, high rents, food instability, the cost of medical intervention, declining job security, and other challenges that the Big Tech oligarchy is bringing, then we can become the enemy of the people.

The Church requires leadership that understands algorithms and plays a prophetic role, finding what is hidden in them and bringing it to light. The future is a world ruled by algorithms, and the debates will no longer be in political halls, canonical or legislative books, but in software programming cubicles. The discussions will surround the efficacy of code and whether it is good or harmful to society.

This church adaptation is going to happen. The next generation is already becoming algorithmically savvy.

Humans have gamed technology since creation and will continue to do so. For more information, see the article. Algorithmic Governance, Rules, Gamification, and Resistance Across History.

Neither can the Christian call for a reversal to a pre-technology agrarian environment where ancient and traditional customs are curated and guarded. Humankind and societies are much larger and more complex than the agrarian societies and rules that preceded them. The benefits of technology have alleviated much of that growing pain. The ancient traditions and values have to work within the confines of the contemporary environment.

This is Part 4 of a five-part series. Next up is Part 5. The End of Techno-Liberalism (incomplete. To come soon).

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The images are created by AI, along with most of the titles and bylines. All subsequent content written by the author and passed through grammarly.com for editing.

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1. https://churchleaders.com/news/518515-franklin-graham-gives-warning-after-chatgpt-teen-suicide.html
2. https://www.billygraham.ca/stories/franklin-graham-standing-on-gods-truth/
3. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-11/pope-leo-xiv-addresses-rcs-academy-advisory-board.html
4. https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/use-technology-as-a-tool-for-righteousness-elder-bednar-says-in-instagram-live-broadcast
5. The NAR was highly visible and influential in the January 6th Capitol Hill attack. See Matthew D. Taylor, The Violent take it by Force: the Christian Movement that is Threatening our Democracy Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books. 2024, for more information.
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwF_hTWjyaA Cindy Jacobs Prophecy for 2026: A Season of Realignment & Open Doors at 35:00
7. Prophetic Roundtable with A Word from the Lord for 2026 – Prophetic Voices Part 2
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z4N1q76kg starting at 5:10
8. Lance Wallnau. God’s Chaos Code: The Shocking Blueprint that Reveals 5 Keys to the Destiny of Nations Keller, TX: Killer Sheep Media. 2020. Pg. 105
9. Lance Wallnau. God’s Chaos Code: The Shocking Blueprint that Reveals 5 Keys to the Destiny of Nations Keller, TX: Killer Sheep Media. 2020. Pg. 108
10. https://wng.org/opinions/point-its-time-to-rein-in-big-techs-power-1635333967
11. Vaclav Smil. Invention and Innovation: A Brief History of Hype and Failure. MIT Press, 2023. Pg. 4
12. https://globalnews.ca/news/11768348/canadians-joining-catholic-church-in-record-numbers/
13. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1089/crispr.2024.0042