X-Message-Number: 18639
From: "Mark Plus" <>
Subject: American religion's declining fortunes
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2002 16:27:22 -0800

Charles Platt wrote,

>Message #18624
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 11:10:09 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: science/religion

>Rudi Hoffman wrote:

>>"Friends, the long awaited WAR has begun!  I am referring to the oft
discussed tension between the forces of science, knowledge, technology,
and rationality Vs the forces of mythology, renouncement, "God did not
intend for man to do this," and the attitude that "I am not comfortable
with the possible ramifications of this, so I am going to lobby to
criminalize your even considering or researching possibilities."

>Rudi, that war began around the time of Galileo. I prefer to see genetic
engineering as the beginning of the END of that war; the beginning of the
final defeat for religion. No more conceited hypocritical notions about
"sacredness of human life" (so far as I can see, science has shown a lot
more interest in minimizing the pain of life than religion ever did). No
more absurd ideas about "vitalism." When you can build a new person from
the DNA up, where's the soul? What role does God play? And if you can
defeat death, this removes the fundamental selling point that ALL
religions have in common.

I think American anti-intellectualism could come to the rescue here.  
Studying the Bible and other theological works is too much like school work 
to hold mass appeal.  (Large numbers of people in this country are certainly 
not about to tackle Leon Kass's recommended reading list!)  The Americans 
who do master this literature may be respected as religious authorities, but 
they are also viewed as being an inferior sort of nerds.  So the explicit, 
theologically-based attack on transhumanizing technologies is likely to 
founder on Americans' "aliteracy" and short attention-spans.

Moreover, the structure of economic incentives has changed so that becoming 
a clergyman today just doesn't have the appeal that it had in premodern 
times. Until fairly recently, historically speaking, there were few career 
opportunities for the most capable men apart from religion and the law.  (In 
Jewish communities, the most capable boys studied to become rabbis until the 
removal of legal and social obstacles gave them access to secular careers in 
gentile society.)  That's why so many community leaders in American colonial 
times were trained either as clergymen or as attorneys.  When the church 
attracted the best men, it was much more effective in getting its way in the 
world.

Today the smartest and most energetic men can find more prestigious and 
better-paying careers in areas other than the religion business, despite the 
example of a few rich charlatans like Pat Roberton and Tim Lahaye.  Because 
the church in America tends to attract the second-rate into its leadership, 
its effectiveness and esteem have correspondingly declined.

So I'm not as worried about religion in this country sabotaging progress as 
I once was.

Mark Plus



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