As human beings, we have a penchant for believing in things that make us feel like a million bucks: Sure, being a pampered, albeit in a masochistic way (if you include the barbecue episode), creature of a Cosmic Mac Muffin sure makes us feel a tad different from the rest of the beasts (including those which we recognize as "food"), but surely such an egocentric, self-centered view of the cosmos and our planet at large can only be considered a cryptic joke of sorts. Indeed, the religions of a bygone era have all but consigned themselves in the annals of history books: How many handful of folks do you witness today, who are actually prostrating before the Greek Gods of Zeus, Hercules and a whole host of deities from Mount Olympus?
In an age when Science has clearly overtaken Religion as the main vehicle for breaking new frontiers, Religion seeks to hang on to its paltry handful of hard core fundamentalists, who seek to regress Science so that we may all drag ourselves, along with the rest of humanity, back into the recesses of Stone Age piety and abject backwardness.
For the longest time, the United States of America and the Soviet Union were at the forefront of Scientific advancements: The race to send men into space and eventually, the Moon, thriving and building on medical science to eradicate small pox, building better and faster planes, cars and all manner of machinations and lest we forget, America was the first nation to utilize the atomic bomb on Japan (That, too, with the help of German scientists who had fled Nazi Germany, no less): The US of A was a major player in all these ground-breaking scientific endeavors.
For all its bravado about being "The home of the brave, land of the free", America is a world superpower because of, not despite, its scientific prowess, so much so that it would be quite unfathomable that the American public can spurn away the very tool that has made their nation a prima donna within the international community.
Religious People Against Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology: The Devil's Advocate?Like other technological advances, the advent of nanotechnology holds tremendous potential, and along with it, the usual doom sayers and morons who cry hue every time scientists have a potential scientific breakthrough in the works.
Nanotechnology seeks to bring down engineering and even medicinal science right down to the molecular level: By designing materials, structures and even robotics down to such minuscule scales, nanotechnology provides the agility and maneuverability to produce products in a smaller and more advanced scale.
One would think that nanotechnology should be widely accepted in most nations, particularly more so with the developed nations: That is mostly true, except for the US of A. In a survey conducted by the UW-Madison Survey Center, Americans were asked how they viewed nanotechnology. The results are not very encouraging, to say the least:
"In a sample of 1,015 adult Americans, only 29.5 percent of respondents agreed that nanotechnology was morally acceptable. In European surveys that posed identical questions about nanotechnology to people in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, significantly higher percentages of people accepted the moral validity of the technology. In the United Kingdom, 54.1 percent found nanotechnology to be morally acceptable. In Germany, 62.7 percent had no moral qualms about nanotechnology, and in France 72.1 percent of survey respondents saw no problems with the technology."
The French (Boy, those libertines sure know a lot more than those hillbillies in the States!), it seems, tend to top the charts when durex sex surveys and Science are concerned: The US of A, stuck knee-deep in their quagmire of religious buffoonery, seem to find it exceptionally difficult to reconcile nanotechnology (oh, the devil of nanotechnology!) with their irrational, religious doctrines.
The Science of Playing God?
As a rule, fundamentalists of the Fall-well sort are diametrically opposed to all forms of "playing God": From issues relating to abortion to life-threatening issues such as vaccines, Christians, Muslims and religious fanatics seem hell-bent in rejecting scientific endeavors, even though most of them are not prejudiced enough to surf the net, visit a hospital or use other modern amenities which are direct products of 300 years of enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution and of course, modern Science.
Test-tube babies? No!!! Procreation is the job of the Gods, these morons chimed. Genetic Engineering? No!!! Save the unborn! Nanotechnology? No! That's the Devil's little horny tool.......
This morbid objection towards scientific discovery and research, it seems, has everything to do with offending the deity: By striving towards a more science-centered civilization, the role of God is getting smaller by the day, and much as they would like to deny it, people are getting less and less enamored with religion and more attuned with the altruisms and practicality of life: More people are visiting doctors to cure their illnesses than priests, and that secularism has become deeply entrenched in civilized thinking.
Interfering With God's Plan? Its All Good
The unbridled truth is, Nature, not God, dictates the very basic mechanisms of life.
Because Nature is hardly an anthropomorphic entity: You may be having a bad day in the office, or an office blowjob gone awfully wrong, but Nature isn't going to extend a hand to comfort your half-wounded manly pride (or your dick, for the matter). When you are down with flu, Nature has no obligation to eradicate the disease from your frail, mortal body. In sum, Nature is hardly Man's best friend: We have but ourselves to depend upon for survival as a distinct, unique species.
Religious folks postulate a cosmic father figure in place of the cold, aloof bitch that is Mother Nature: Steal a cookie, and God frowns upon the act of a little boy. Fail your exams, and God will comfort you and aid you in your endeavors. It is a quaint little idea, but try following this train of thought: The next time a fundamentalist falls sick, he or she should refrain from visiting the doctor or the hospital. Hasn't it occurred to the religious lunatic that God may have wanted him or her to fall sick, and that seeking professional medical aid may be a sign of disobedience towards God's sadistic plan?
The time has come for humans, Americans or otherwise, to understand that religious backwardness should be discarded as soon as possible: Unnecessary nostalgia and insinuations of the "God-playing" variety are just unnecessary barriers towards the advancement of Science and technology.
-"I turned to speak to God, About the world's despair; But to make bad matters worse, I found God wasn't there."
Robert Frost
It is true Most fundamental As far as I can see, Christians don't have a rational or even a biblical justification for rejecting any scientific advancement...Your assertion that it comes down to not wanting to offend God is an interesting one. Perhaps, God might be offended if it is proven we are smarter then he is? That we have actually surpassed him. Ironically of course, as you point out, the majority of religious have no problem with technology when it starts to benefit them. Fundamental Christianity is seeped in such guilt they think they have to blanketly reject anything that might be considered worldly, because they are always fighting the evil human nature they are told they were born with.
ReplyDeleteIf you think about it... this is so sad & pathetic.
Most mortal tyrants would really struggle to match the murderous deeds of deities, who are supposed to raise tsunamis and other disasters at their whims and fancies.
ReplyDeleteBeast
ah but humanity seems to be always struggling to "overcome" those destructive powers of the Gods. We want to worship them & conquer them at the same time. Human beings strive on such conflict. I think it has always been so. We are ever reaching, nothing is ever enough. This is the way it should be for our survival.
ReplyDelete