Anything that man can manipulate can be used for good or evil.
Stones. I can crack one stone on another, flake off some bits and make a tool. I can pop two stones together with the right properties and make sparks - light a fire. Or, I can take a stone to my brother's forehead and become the first murderer.
Any tool, and Science is just a tool, can be used for ill.
If a man fires a gun and the bullet from that gun kills another man, is the bullet the murderer? The gun? Are the tools, the unthinking tools, the cause of death? Of course not, the person that pulled the trigger is the murderer.
The same can be said of Science. Science is a tool that can be used for good or ill.
Has it been used for ill? Certainly. And the Nazis were not the only perpetrators, the Tuskegee Experiments prove that:
Of course, these are not the only examples of Science misused. Not by a long shot. Thalidomide, Agent Orange, Chernobyl ... the list is long.
However, when Science is wielded by people who's only agenda is to serve mankind, used like a scalpel and not a machine gun, used ethically to better all of our lives - there seems to be no barrier we cannot break through.
Is ethics easy? No. One might say that the Nuclear weapon is mankind's greatest scientific failure. Others would say it's our greatest accomplishment. Some would say that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the greatest atrocities of WWII - beyond anything the Nazis perpetrated. Others would say that these attacks were so overwhelming they gave the Japanese a way to surrender without losing face. If not for this, the Japanese would have fought for every inch of land, to the last person that could hold a weapon, in the process hundreds of thousands of American lives would have been lost as we would have been forced to commit genocide. And there are those that say that argument is a load of spent uranium.
We live in a world that's filled with shades of gray. The recent post I made about PETA offering a reward for "lab grown meat" - that has inspired visions of the future in me. We're talking about a technology, that when developed (not "if", but "when") will save untold animal lives, change agriculture and maybe even end world hunger. Yet, there are those that are vehemently opposed to "frankenfoods" of any kind. If they think gengineered crops are bad, what will they think of gengineered, artificial meat product? Animal rights activists yelling at anti-GE activists - none of them realizing that everyone there is most likely a vegan! Crazy.
My point is that a black and white fear of Science and scientists is no more useful than ... a pile of spent uranium. Fear of progress gets us no where. The core of science is to question a thing until we are sure of a thing. Skepticism is at the heart of Science, wielding Occam's Razor with fierce intent. It's only when an ideology stands in the way of that skepticism that science wavers. Whatever ideology or agenda, be it racial, religious or commercial. When Science remains perfectly skeptical, we are safer and our lives are improved.
Radical Christians send a lot of money to, and spend a lot of money lobbying for, Israel. They believe that by supporting Israel they will speed all the fun promised in Revelations.
I tell ya, after reading up on Scientology, reading a bit on Warren Jeffs and these Polygamist cults that are coming out of the woodwork, I've come to one conclusion: the deeply religious are sheep!
Seriously, gain the confidence of a group, say everything you are doing is ordained by god and the group will police itself and live in fear of God - allowing the leader to get away with any number of crimes.
Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to sleep with children. However, setting up a raunchy ranch where Pan, Aphrodite and Bacchus rule sounds like a lot of fun!
We need a good name ...
"The First Church of the Last Days"
... hmmmm, sexier ...
"Orgasm Revelation Advancement League" or ORAL! :)
Too sexy, not religious enough ...
"Blessed Liberation International Sexitology Society" or BLISS ... !!!
17 Comments:
Anything that man can manipulate can be used for good or evil.
Stones. I can crack one stone on another, flake off some bits and make a tool. I can pop two stones together with the right properties and make sparks - light a fire. Or, I can take a stone to my brother's forehead and become the first murderer.
Any tool, and Science is just a tool, can be used for ill.
If a man fires a gun and the bullet from that gun kills another man, is the bullet the murderer? The gun? Are the tools, the unthinking tools, the cause of death? Of course not, the person that pulled the trigger is the murderer.
The same can be said of Science. Science is a tool that can be used for good or ill.
Has it been used for ill? Certainly. And the Nazis were not the only perpetrators, the Tuskegee Experiments prove that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Study_of_Untreated_Syphilis_in_the_Negro_Male
Of course, these are not the only examples of Science misused. Not by a long shot. Thalidomide, Agent Orange, Chernobyl ... the list is long.
However, when Science is wielded by people who's only agenda is to serve mankind, used like a scalpel and not a machine gun, used ethically to better all of our lives - there seems to be no barrier we cannot break through.
Is ethics easy? No. One might say that the Nuclear weapon is mankind's greatest scientific failure. Others would say it's our greatest accomplishment. Some would say that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the greatest atrocities of WWII - beyond anything the Nazis perpetrated. Others would say that these attacks were so overwhelming they gave the Japanese a way to surrender without losing face. If not for this, the Japanese would have fought for every inch of land, to the last person that could hold a weapon, in the process hundreds of thousands of American lives would have been lost as we would have been forced to commit genocide. And there are those that say that argument is a load of spent uranium.
We live in a world that's filled with shades of gray. The recent post I made about PETA offering a reward for "lab grown meat" - that has inspired visions of the future in me. We're talking about a technology, that when developed (not "if", but "when") will save untold animal lives, change agriculture and maybe even end world hunger. Yet, there are those that are vehemently opposed to "frankenfoods" of any kind. If they think gengineered crops are bad, what will they think of gengineered, artificial meat product? Animal rights activists yelling at anti-GE activists - none of them realizing that everyone there is most likely a vegan! Crazy.
My point is that a black and white fear of Science and scientists is no more useful than ... a pile of spent uranium. Fear of progress gets us no where. The core of science is to question a thing until we are sure of a thing. Skepticism is at the heart of Science, wielding Occam's Razor with fierce intent. It's only when an ideology stands in the way of that skepticism that science wavers. Whatever ideology or agenda, be it racial, religious or commercial. When Science remains perfectly skeptical, we are safer and our lives are improved.
This isn't about ethics or right and wrong. This is about doing anything to advance a theocratic agenda at any cost.
What I don't get is why Ben Stein is playing along to the Christian Reich? He's got to know that there will be no place in the structure for a Jew ...
Radical Christians send a lot of money to, and spend a lot of money lobbying for, Israel. They believe that by supporting Israel they will speed all the fun promised in Revelations.
I tell ya, after reading up on Scientology, reading a bit on Warren Jeffs and these Polygamist cults that are coming out of the woodwork, I've come to one conclusion: the deeply religious are sheep!
Seriously, gain the confidence of a group, say everything you are doing is ordained by god and the group will police itself and live in fear of God - allowing the leader to get away with any number of crimes.
Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to sleep with children. However, setting up a raunchy ranch where Pan, Aphrodite and Bacchus rule sounds like a lot of fun!
We need a good name ...
"The First Church of the Last Days"
... hmmmm, sexier ...
"Orgasm Revelation Advancement League" or ORAL! :)
Too sexy, not religious enough ...
"Blessed Liberation International Sexitology Society" or BLISS ... !!!
Anyone wanna be member #2? ;)
We Elevate Sodom And Gomorrah?
"WESAG"? Who would join that group?
Perverts with a sense of humor?
Look, if I'm starting some sex cult, I at least want the chance to attract some attractive people.
I like me women chunky, but we don't want to set expectations up front that the only people invited are people saggier and lumpier than I! ;)
Nobody likes a picky Messiah.
Hey! I can be picky! Only the best for God's mouthpiece!
I demand a recount!
Look, you voted, I voted and God voted. You left a hanging chad and we couldn't gage your intention ...
All I can say is that the position of High Acolyte better pay well.
Do you want drugs, booze, babes, guns or cash?
Yes please.
Except for the booze. I tended to chunder like a Freshman during my brief exploration of the world of elbow bending.
Done!
Next?
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