Spirituality vs. Technology; A war of ideals
I’d lik? t? take a m?ment ?nd address a t?pic that exists in e?ch individual to ?ome deg?ee; spirituality. I’m not necessarily referring to th? kind of t?ing where one gets ?p ?n Sunday and listens to the preac?er, priest, dea?on or minister. I’m referring to that special s?mething that d?ells with?n each pers?n, that sets ?s apart f?om the lower forms of life. A? I commented earlier, God has taken a b?ating in th?s country ?ver the last fe? generations. T?e more w? learn about ?ur world and the Universe around us the les? m?gical and mysteri?us t?e small miracle? of life become.
Has tec?nology and science elevated our thinking to a point wh?re we, as ? species, have outgrown th? conc?pt of ? Supreme Deity or ?ven ?n appr?ciation that there may be someth?ng great?r than man o?t in the Cosmos? Has r?ligion become archaic ?n ou? hustle and b?stle societ? ?nd are w? ?s ? specie? no longer “Spiritual” in nature? I often wonder about these issue? as I watch my wif? g? off to Church on Sunday morning and I stay at h?me. I see ou? children wandering further ?nd further f?om a “Religious” path and seeking out thei? own truths outside ?f relig?on. It’s literally ? battle for my wife to get the? to Church on Sunday, and I refuse to s?t foot inside ? Catholic Church for seve?al reasons that don’t need to be h?shed out in ? column.
My son has decided NOT to get confirmed. His ?olorful metap?ors used to de?cribe the Catholic Chur?h ?nd t?e “Faith” ?as R rated to say the least. But I wonde?ed; w?at turned h?m s? vehemently against religion and faith. W?s ?t me; as my spous? ?mplied or wa? it something else? Tom and I had an illuminating discussion on this topic and I found h?s insights remarkable ?n their complex?ty and reasoning.
1. How can some Prie?t clai? that there is no other life in the Universe? <>, we can’t ev?n get to Mars, but som? pompous dude is going to cl?im th?t he knows it ?ll and nothing exists anywhere in the entir? Universe except here. (I confess, he got this one from me a f?w ?ears ago.. minus the metapho?. I was surprised that it stuck)
2. How ?ome they can’t ex?lain D?rwin’s t?eory of evol?tion, why can’t t?ey explain Pri?itive Man, why can’t they explain the Jurassic p?riod? < >
3. Why ?s every answer simply “Y?u have to h?ve faith?” What kind of a c?ock ?s that?
There ?ere some other valid issues, ?ut I think the validity of hi? argument was ?ell made with points one through three. I found it surprising that the years of Sunda? ?chool ?nd CCD never addressed these i?sues, or fa?led to address them with any real f?undation of explanation. My wife ?as right about one thing though; what had turned me away f?om ?rganized religion.. The Catholic C?urch had done the s?me think to ?y s?n. I gue?s the appl? didn’t fall ver? far f?om the tree with this lad. No? m? ?ife ?nd my Mother-In-Law are Rosary ?raying, Novena saying diehard religiou? people. I wa? at one time too until I had my “E?iphany”. My kids hav? seen more statu?s and pra?er books and religious it?ms bet?een their Grandmother’s house and our house than ex?st in most churches. My daughter commented that “Grammy’s hou?e ?s creepy, the?e’s all this religious stuff everywhere.”
Bottom line, they both have had ? religion force fed down t?eir throats ?nd ne?er re?eived any real explanation of thei? s?pposed faith, j?st ? beating of a belief without any real explanation of ?hy they sho?ld beli?ve, short of the eternal damnati?n. Is this the fault of the Ch?rch? Or i? it the fault of the parent? Probably both, in m? humble opinion. But this ?ll gets b?ck to my original train of thought; my children ?re th? products ?f a technological ag? computers, cell phones, the internet ?nd video game? etc. Technology ?as ? huge part ?n thei? lives, more so than ?n any ?ther generation in human history. Has this technology and de?ire for mo?e technology dam?ened the spiritual ?art of their b?ing. Can n?thing b? ?ccepted on fait? anymore? M?st t?ere be a ne?d for explanations and c?ncrete pro?f of claims? I think fo? this generation, yes, the old scho?l religi?us te?chings fall up?n deaf ears. Technology is a hard science; there are facts and reasons f?r ev?rything in t?e technological world. There are marvels suc? as th? internet where nearly anything c?n be resea?ched and discovered at the simple click of a mouse button. In the generations before, never ha? such a wealth of technology and information ?een available. The science ?f techn?logy is fast supplanting th? superstitious faith based the?logy. Th? biblical stories that have n? real grounds in scientific fact a?e falling away to ? m?re ?avvy sophisticated audi?nce. I sa? this with no malicious degrading of the biblical st?ries t?at make u? parts of theology nor do I cast ?ny dispersion on fa?th o? spir?tuality. I simply exam?ne the role they take, o? don’t take, in a tec?nologically b?sed society
Kids today are a lot wordlier than their predecessors. M?re relevant information, both go?d and bad, is ava?lable in mor? ?laces th?n ever befor?. I fe?r a? ?e ?ecome more t?chnological and computer oriented, we become more skept?cal and cynical at concepts and id?as that we, as a people cann?t see and/?r g?asp. Does t?is make ?p better as ? whole ?r less? That’? up to each individual to assess. Spirituality, or the lack of it, ?s n?t just ? religio?s issue, ?t’s th? ability to ?onceive and appreciate the simple beauty that exists ?n t?e si?pler things of life, such a? a sunset, ? raindrop o? the geometrical marvel of ? ?nowflake w?thout breaking it down int? cold hard facts and eq?ations ?s t?e technologic?l part of our m?nd demands.
Technology has matured us as a society and dispelled many myths held as facts for centuries; th? world is not flat, the Earth is n?t the center of the solar system, life evolves and changes and there are things beyond our gal?xy etc. Technology has opened t?e door to more questions than it has b?en able to s?lve in mankind’s sh?rt reign ?n t?is planet. Will our advancing technology outpace our mor?lity and s?nse of right and wrong as we progress forward as ? people? Will ou? spirituality ?urvive in t?e increasingly technologi?al world of c?ld hard facts and equations, o? will s?irituality, in t?e form of rel?gion and faith be?ome extinct and fall before the techn?logical ic?ns of ? new generation?
I sincerely hope not. Belief ?n a greater p?wer in the Universe i? something I h?pe never beco?es extinct. I hope Man, ?s ? species, never b?comes s? arrogant in his technological marvels t?at ?e s?es him?elf in the rol? of God; m?king and destroying lif? by a humanist?c ?oral ?ode. I still like to lo?k up at the heavens and bel?eve t?at there is life out th?re, somewhere, ?aces ?f beings struggling with th? ?ame ide?s and concepts that we as a species are experiencing. I hope t?at one da? we do make conta?t with other life, and that ?n doing so we find the seeds of Br?therhood ?ut there in the stars, ?s I b?lieve that thi? great ex?eriment h?s b?en tri?d els?where. The Universe ?s too vast a place with too many galaxies ?nd stars fo? Man to ?e the “Be ?ll ?nd end all”. Don’t ask me to explain my reasoning for I can’t. I just ta?e it on faith.
Nuff said.
Esper of The Round Table
About the Author
Science FIction writer and columnist.
Please ping me at Sparhawk76@msn.com
Gregory J. Ballan
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