Religion, Society, and Technology: Session Notes

The Religious (Christian) Response To The Social Impact of Science and Technology

Social Teleology & Religious (Christian) Response to Technological Change

  1. Issues
    1. Genetic Engineering, Nanotechnology, Robotics (GNR) [Joy 2000]
      • unique from 20th century technologies:
        1. Possibility of self-replicating
          • amplifies effect, and abuse and accidents
          • modus operandi of genetic engineering
          • underlies nanotechnology
          • possible in robotics
        2. Knowledged-enabled (rather than by scarce resources)
          • Therefore, easily accessible and "manufactured" by ordinary people
          • only limited by our ability to use knowledge
      • all three based on continued growth in computing power
        • by 2030: million times faster
      • Driven by commerce rather than military
        • 20th century nuclear, biological, chemical warfare (NBC) driven by military; civilian uses clearly distinguishable
        • we live in an age of triumphant commercialism
        • technological imperative fueled by global capitalism
        • a sequence of small, individually sensible advances leads to an accumulation of great power and, concomitantly, great danger [Joy 2000]
    2. we forget the fragility and inefficiency of human-made systems [Joy 2000]
      • In NBC scientists have "known sin"; contemporary scientists/engineers have forgotten this
      • what sort of world are we creating this time?
      • technology has become like an ocean tide [McGrath 2000] -- how can we keep pace?
    3. should we limit the development of technology [Joy 2000]
      • our sacred cosmos: open and free access to knowledge; and unlimited development of same
      • may we need to change this?
      • truth of science is a dangerous substitute for God
      • If we could agree, as a species, what we wanted, where we were headed, and why, then we would make our future much less dangerous -- then we might understand what we can and should relinquish. [Joy 2000]
        • dialogue needed on our collective values
        • we are almost at the point of no return
        • need transparency to verify relinquishment and therefore no proprietary information (new ways to protect intellectual property needed)
        • strong ethical code for scientists and engineers with high commitment to it.
    4. critical issue of technological age: Are some kinds of knowledge so terrible we should not pursue them [McGrath 2000]
      • convergence of technology, politics, and ethics
    5. engineers and scientists are currently driving the process [McGrath 2000]
      • engineers see history as progress
      • the de facto decision makers
      • cannot speak to the moral issues
      • not trained to judge an acceptable risk to society
      • need to get beyond commercial driver
    6. Economic Impact -- The New Economy [Samuelson 2000]
      • As much a state of mind as identifiable transformation
      • Based on conviction that new technologies & global markets opened an era of ever-improving prosperity without the destructive business cycles.
      • A contradiction:
        • new => unfamiliar, different, unexplored, RISK
        • hazards + uncertainties contrast continuous prosperity
      • Two driving assumptions:
        1. current huge investment in high tech machines assume constant gains in productivity and purchasing power
        2. stock prices will rise
      • Uncertainties:
        1. new technology expands production and supply; oversold?
        2. new global economy (globalization of capitalism) offers new opportunities for sales and profits
          • local culture and customs
          • politics, such as OPEC
          • foreign investors with no inherent concern for USA
        3. Wealth Effect
          • Widespread stock investments have yielded soaring capital gains for many
          • Consumer spending increased, given capital gains
          • Corporate investment given high stock prices
      • What if economy stagnates or declines/
        • Wealth effect more severe on downside?
        • Do not know, since such widely held capital gains is unprecedented
        • Capitalism is about change: risk, mistakes expected; but now a broad effect given so many participants
  2. Teleology and Telesis of Society: What is the end of society?
  3. Technological Impacts
  4. Religious (Christian) Responses
    Taxonomies
    Barbour's [Barbour 1980; 2000] Mine
    Conflict Scientific Materialism
    Literalism
    Spiritualism
    Independence "Theological"
    Dialogue Dialogue
    Integrated Integrated
    Ancient
    1. The Scientific Materialistic Worldview
      • what is it?[Wink 1992]
        • prominent in the Enlightenment:
        • cosmos as a vast machine: no freedom, no need for God[Cole-Turner 1992]
        • there is no heaven, God, soul, or spirit;
        • there is only the material known through the 5 senses and reason;
        • the spiritual is an illusion; and
        • there is no higher self
        • That science has not even considered that it might have a spirituality is a consequence of materialism and of its methodology, reductionism [Wink 1986]
      • where do we encounter it today?
        • predominant Western view
        • in secular institutions!
        • in secular humanism
        • in so-called atheism
        • we are losing faith in this one, leaving a void
      • what does it say about the relationship of science and religion?[Barbour 1990]
        • religion and science are in conflict
        • scientific materialism:
          • only science discloses reality
          • matter and energy fundamental reality
        • scientific method only reliable path to knowledge:
          • reproducible published data; formulate theory; experiment
          • therefore, science is objective, open-minded, universal, cumulative, progressive;
          • whereas, religion is subjective, closed-minded, parochial, uncritical, rigid.
        • In the Middle Ages, ... people sensed themselves as part of a living, pulsing, interlacing web of existence, which ... was not devoid of meaning ... By contrast, [in] the modern scientific worldview ... the universe was no longer conceived as a living whole energized and created by God, but as a vast machine of matter and motion obeying mathematical laws[Wink 1986].
        • God was no longer needed.
        • an idolatry of science and technology both raises science to godhead and reduces nature to instrumentality: humans simultaneously gods and subhuman.
    2. The Literalist Worldview
      • what is it?
        • biblical inerrancy and infallibility
        • virgin birth of Jesus
        • Christ's atonement for the sins of humanity through the crucifixion
        • The imminent Second Coming
        • anti- higher criticism
        • exclusive
      • where do we encounter it today?
        • fundamentalism
        • in every mainline denomination
        • creationism and its child, creation science
        • Religious Right
      • what does it say about the relationship of science and religion?[Barbour 1990]
        • a reaction to scientific materialism, but directly to evolution and higher criticism
        • religion and science are in conflict: if science conflicts with the bible, science is wrong.
        • biblical materialism:
          • bibli-olatry
          • applies scientific method to prove the bible is literal true
          • but starts with conclusion and develops evidence to support conclusion
    3. The "Theological" Worldview.
      • what is it? [Wink 1992]
        • reaction to the Materialistic worldview
        • Christian theologians preserved the spiritual realm to theology,
        • conceding the earthly reality to modern science
        • religion and science are independent of each other.
        • sanctifies the split of subject and object of materialism
        • Langdon Gilkey: Creation is concerned about the relationship between all things and God, while science is interested in the relationship among finite things themselves.[Cole-Turner 1992]
        • God acts in history and people's lives, but not in science (even though in the bible God acts in nature, such as in the Exodus)[Cole-Turner 1992]
      • where do we encounter it today?
        • typical mainline parish: a scientist who discovers in the laboratory and prays in the sanctuary
        • religion has no credibility when it comes to scientific/technological issues
        • science and technology have no credibility in Religious (Christian) issues
        • Barth: God's revelation in Christ all sufficient[Cole-Turner 1992]
        • faith unaffected/apathetic to scientific change: now alienated from nature with no consequences on science: is Christianity relevant?[Cole-Turner 1992]
      • what does it say about the relationship of science and religion?[Barbour 1990; Cole-Turner 1992]
        • science and religion are totally independent and autonomous
        • distinct domains and methods:
            Religion Science
          source of knowledge revealed discovered
          subject spirit, soul matter, body
          method divine revelation through Christ human reason and observation
          asks about existence of order and beauty objective, publishable data
          concerned with inner life, self outer life, nature
          qualitative questions why? how?
          authority God and revelation logic and experiment
          purpose way of life and development of attitudes prediction and control
        • Jürgen Moltmann: ...it was peaceful coexistence on the basis of mutual irrelevance[Cole-Turner 1992]
        • Why this view[Cole-Turner 1992]
          1. some scientific theories appear to conflict with traditional theological ideas, particularly evolution theory
          2. the world views presupposed by modern science seem at odds with the biblical worldview
          3. science and technology are sometimes linked with various injustices which the church condemns
        • religion separated from science and lost: scientific reductionist materialism prevails
    4. The Spiritualistic Worldview :
      • what is it? [Wink 1992]
        • developed in late NT and early post-NT times: gnosticism
        • divides humans into "soul" and "body";
        • one understands oneself as the same as one's "soul" and other than one's body
        • the created order is evil, false, and corrupted; fallen
        • matter is either indifferent or evil
        • earthly life is presided over by Evil Powers
        • the soul leaves its heavenly bliss and is entrapped in the body as result of sex
        • fall into lust and ignorance
        • the body is a place of exile and punishment, temptation and contamination
        • salvation comes through knowledge of one's lost heavenly origins and the secret way back.
      • where do we encounter it today?
        • this is a well-known heresy
        • but it lingers today:
          • Puritanism
          • treating bodies like objects of sexual gratification and beauty
          • body as instrument or machine
        • pietism: redeemed from world
        • new age?
      • what does it say about the relationship of science and religion?
        • antithesis of Materialistic worldview, but religion and science still in conflict
        • yet strangely aided and abetted by science and technology:
          • bodies and creation looked on as objects or machines to be exploited
    5. The Ancient View
      • what is it? [Wink 1992]
        • worldview reflected in the Bible as well as other ancient writings
        • everything earthly has its heavenly counterpart and vice versa:
        • what happens on earth happens in heaven, in heaven on earth:
        • war on earth => war in heaven
        • what you bind on earth, you bind in heaven (Mt 16:19)
      • where do we encounter it today?
        • primarily in scripture
        • astrology, alchemy
        • wicca
        • Celtic otherworld
      • what does it say about the relationship of science and religion?
        • the ancients had little systematic understanding of science;
        • but science/technology are a sacred trust; e.g., opening a new mine required a sacred rite
        • however we will see that this naive view matures into an integrated view
    6. The Dialogue Worldview :
      • what is it?
        • religion and science from time to time encounter the same issues:
        • these are boundary questions; issues at the edge of science
        • Augustine: if there is a conflict between science and bible, bible is metaphoric[Barbour 1990, p8]
        • liberal theology: evolution is God's way of creating, but the soul is inaccessible
        • but the material and spirit still distinct realms
      • where do we encounter it today?
        • in most mainline theology; e.g., in our view of the Creation story and miracles
        • in current science; e.g., in the initial conditions of the Cosmos
      • what does it say about the relationship of science and religion?[Barbour 1990]
        • biblical understanding contributed to rise of science:
          • nature is rational and contingent: needs discovering
          • nature is good, but not divine: can experiment on it
        • Rahner: We know by abstracting form from matter; in the mind's pure desire to know there is a drive beyond every limited object towards the Absolute
    7. The Integrated Worldview:
      The image of the spiritual as 'withinness' is not, however, a flat, limited, dimensionless point. It is a within coterminous with the universe -- an inner realm every bit as rich and extensive as the outer realm. The psychologist Carl Jung spoke of this rich inner dimension as the collective unconscious, meaning by that a realm of largely unexplored spiritual reality linking everyone to everything. The amazement of mystics at the discovery of this realm within is matched only by the amazement of physicists upon discovering that the "final" building block of matter, the atom, has an interiority also, and that the electrons and protons they had once thought so substantial are not best described as matter but as energy-events ... spirit-matter. It appears that everything, from protons to subatomic particles to corporations to empires has both an outer and an inner aspect.[Wink 1992]
      • what is it? [Wink 1992]
        • emerges from the reflections of Jung, Fox, Whitehead, et al
        • reality is a whole; spirit and matter are different aspects of the same thing; nephesh
        • science and religion both view the same reality
        • there is an inner (spiritual) and outer (material) aspect of everything
        • takes seriously the biblical view (ancient view) by affirming the spiritual interiority
        • heaven not up, but within
      • where do we encounter it today?
        • in the new physics: failure of subject-object split
        • in the ecological movement
        • What we see in nature is to a very high degree determined by how we look[WINK 1986]
      • what does it say about the relationship of science and religion?[Barb our 1990]
        • Natural theology: existence of God based entirely on human reason rather than historical revelation or Religious (Christian) experience;
          God is the cosmic designer and integrator: nature is a systematic whole Anthropic Principle: initial cosmic conditions finely tuned for life
        • Theology of Nature: God creates through the natural process of chance and law
          God is within the world and the world is within God
          God is immanent in an incomplete world -- continuing creation
        • Systematic Synthesis: sci + rel = coherent worldview
          • process theology here: to explain the elements is to explain their connections to everything
          • sci + rel, both different, support each other to understand a common reality
          • science looks from without, religion feels from within[Wink 1986]
          • THE ELEMENTS AS THEOPHANIES: revealers of God[Wink 1986]
          • Col. 1:16, the elements exist in and through and for Christ.
      • Moltman: to comprehend cosmic evolution within the Community of the Trinity as energized by the HS[Cole-Turner 1992]
      • Cobb: Process theology
      • Rational revelation and mystical revelation go hand in hand
      • Ques: what are the appropriate areas of our society for rel to address? for sci to address?
      • church repent from the alienation that withdrew ethics from sci and contributed to the abuse of nature[Cole-Turner 1992]
      • shift from matter as mechanical and deterministic to matter as capable of complexity, consciousness, freedom, and praise
  5. Attitudes Towards Technology and Science [Barbour; Ethics In An ...]
  6. Conclusions
    1. What is an appropriate role for religion for the promotion and regulation of science/technology in society?
      • stop science
      • laissez-faire
      • co-op with ethical and theological guidance
      • co-creation with theology as an input to the scientific and technological endeavor
    2. How might we achieve these goals?
    3. Re-visit Issues
    ©2001 Rev. John A. Mills, Pastor, First Congregational Church, Closter, NJ fcclostr@cwn.com