In a feature article popular at Beliefnet within the category of "Tech Gospel", the idea of an angry God who wants to smite engineers and scientists for their apparent hubris gets discredited.
@GarionCoyote @beliefnet That is a legitimate view and I encourage that side of the story too
— Harry J. Bentham (@hjbentham) October 13, 2015
Titled "Does God Endorse Tech", the op-ed is part of the same educational effort as the L'Ordre blog, also popular at Beliefnet. The article asked, "For those of us who believe in a personal God, how should we see the relationship between technology and the divine, if there is any at all?"
It went on to confess that the God portrayed in the Bible, as well as the deities of other religions such as the ancient Greco-Roman religion, do indeed attack engineers and seekers of knowledge. The religions do all too often portray engineers and seekers of knowledge as sinful. However, it only happens when there are other factors involved.
What offends God, or gods, in most religious traditions, tends to be the attitudes behind feats of engineering and science, rather than these accomplishments themselves. In other parts of religious lore, God actively commands technological accomplishments, such as Noah's construction of the ark in order to save animals from extinction.
The op-ed concluded:
"where one seeks technology for sharing, or to give it to others unconditionally to help them (a treatment for a disease, for example) no righteous God could do anything but endorse such efforts. The god of Christianity, Islam and Judaism appears to approve of sharing, and would not hesitate to endorse or even command the creation of technologies enabling sharing."
Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Tech-Gospel/Articles/Does-God-Endorse-Tech.aspx?p=3#OiKvtlFf3GMItb7f.99
In sum, the observation of the article was that technologies should pursue sharing, dignity and equality, rather than empowering a privileged few or usurping moral authority. Further, religious people should actually consider such technologies, e.g. personal computers and smartphones, to have even been endorsed by God.
As part of its effort to gain greater recognition, the L'Ordre blog has created a new Facebook page at facebook.com/lordrecolumn, and invites its readers to actively share and sign up to its posts.
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