Religion and Technology; Strange Bedfellows

Religion and Technology: Strange Bedfellows

Since man crept forth from the sea, there have ever only been two things our race has sought; elevation and emulation. The elevation aspect is the ascension of our race as a whole; we came up from the muddy banks of nothing, and the last thing we wish is to return whence we came. The other part is emulation; we take what we consider better than us, and seek to replicate how they came about being in a status higher than us.

We see birds, and how they fly; we develop flight. We see animals that can outrun and outmaneuver us; we use horses, chariots, and develop the automobile. England has never been the cradle of civilization, but always has it at least been a crowning jewel in the crown. The United States threw off the shackles, and now are likely the worlds foremost super-power, using the United Kingdom's framework as a model to work with, in the stead of more socialist regimes, or dynastic styles.

How humorous is it then, that we've raised ourselves as a race in one of two ways; through religion, or through makes of our own design, our own technology. Some say that our studies into the unknown will be the end of us (stem cell research, cloning, reactors that break down dark matter and the atom), but it's also the only fields of study that elevate us above the primates, really. We can't claim it's our lack of animosity; we're more often involved more in war than not. We can't claim it's our willingness to help one another over our own safety; the United States is easily the most obese of the worlds countries, whilst other third world nations starve. No; it's our ability to look into what we don't understand, and either dignify it with a reason for being there, or develop a means ...

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...egun trying to assimilate one another. “Intelligent Design” is what they are labeling the possibility that something with consciousness assisted, or orchestrated life's creation entirely.

At the end of the day, it really comes down to belief. Are religion and technology one and the same? Personally, I don't think it comes down to if they are the same; the question is if they are different? And if so, where is point zero, and like eternity or the Big Bang Theory, where will the two eventually meet? It's unlikely that we will, as a generation, be alive to see it.

But chances are we'll know when we meet our maker; be it a Divine being, many Divine beings... or simply carbon and worms. Let's just hope our species maintains some semblance of morality and optimism until then, or we'll be blown up due to our own devices long before point zero even goes around the bend.