"The Horror was his. The Hope was theirs."
I just finished reading Angels & Demons. Amazing book. I think my favorite part is the speech the camerlengo gives towards the end about science's victory over religion. Even if you don't get around to reading the book, you SHOULD read this. I've conveniently posted it under the cut for you all. Seriously, read it. Dan Brown is a genius.
...To ( Read more... )
"But who is more ignorant? The man who cannot define lightning, or the man who does not respect its awesome power?" - What about the man who can define lightning and does respect its power and proceeds to harness the mighty force to give us the electricity that we so heavily rely on today? What about other advancements? Cloning may be the key to ridding people of cancerous cells. Not cloning full humans, of course. But we could one day have an unlimited supply of organs for those who need them; perhaps we'll eventually find out how to create any type of blood needed for any given patient. Interaction on "phones, video screens, and computers" hasn't replaced human to human interaction, but rather added another dynamic to it. Today we have more ways to find people with similar interests and hold meaningful conversations with those who closely share our views and hobbies. With air travel the way it is today, meeting people half a world away for business or pleasure isn't nearly the problem it once was. Coffee shops, concerts, any and all "hanging out" activities... I have seen no evidence of a deconstruction of person to person contact, no matter how many hours I spend on the computer myself.
Again, I'm not saying these things to attack you. I've learned that some people find enlightenment and values in different ways. However, that attack on science was completely unwarranted. It was sickening and negligent in every way. I don't believe science has shown us to be "meaningless speck[s]." On the contrary, our very scientific achievements should show our very worth. Mankind is the greatest species in the universe, to our knowledge. And even if another more advanced race were to show up on the scene, it wouldn't discredit our own accomplishments. We have the potential to do most amazing things in this life and it's because of science. You don't have to find conflict between religion and science. Please don't let your faith ruin what should be the next most important thing to you: the potential to be great.
[I know it's long, but if you read all of it, thank you. ;-)]
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Anyways, basically...I agree with you Matt. I don't believe every word of Camerlengo Ventresca's speech, I believe we CAN find harmony between science and religion, and as as my boyfriend nicely put it once, "I don't believe we would have been able to make these discoveries in science had GOD not given us the capability to. He wants us to understand ourselves, and then realize the awesomeness with which we came into being." I put the camerlengo's speech up more because it was so refreshing to hear something NICE being said about religion. Lately, (and I have a feeling a lot has to do with our overly-exhuberant "christian" President), I hear nothing but negative things about religion, and it hurts. My religion has always been important to me, hell, I'm living proof there's some higher power watching out for us (long story, but I basically should NOT be a living, breathing human being), and I use God as a sort of support system. I also believe that people can be perfectly decent, moral, GOOD human beings without religion. It is the LACK of morals, not the lack of religion, that makes me sad. BUT ANYWAYS, I agree with you Matt, for the most part, science has made our lives profoundly better. The diseases and infections we are able to cure, and the technology that has been invented is absolutely astounding, and is testimony to how great mankind is. And I believe we could not be the wonderful beings we are without God. :) And I know you were not attacking me, or my faith. The camerlengo's speech was not something I agreed with 100%, it was just something DIFFERENT that was rather nice to hear.
Hope everything is going well over in the good ol' Korea. :)
.ps. And yes, I actually read ALL of what you wrote. :)
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Anywho, things are indeed going well in Korea. Hope you're gearing up for a fun-filled summer (even if it's softball-less). :-)
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