Rant below:
Yet another condemnation of science from the religious quarter. From the Pope, no less. The crux of the matter that he raises is that sciences that tweak with life itself "shatters the concept of human dignity". Don't all sciences tweak with life, or at least some extension of it? Does not humanity progress, as a result? When we build our artificial caves, when we attempt to fly off the surface of the Earth for international or interplanetary destinations, when we breed plants or animals for goodness sake, are we running counter to nature?
Looking at history, it seems inevitable for the religion to argue for the "conservative" status-quo as moral and new technology for which society hasn't yet come to terms with as "evil". When Galileo removed the Earth from the center of the solar system, his work was considered heretical and must have struck at just the same center of "human dignity". It will likely be just a matter of time before such technology becomes overwhelmingly accepted and pervasive, and the Church invents a new codex to accomodate these advances.
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4 comments:
The Pope, or anybody in Vatican, should read the 'Letter to a Christian Nation' by Sam Harris. It is a very concise and readable book containing some of the most powerful arguments against religious fundamentalism and an unexamined faith.
For a wonderfully concise writeup of Sam Harris' views:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Harris_(author)
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