From: M. E. Smith (mesmith@rocketmail.com)
Date: Wed Jan 07 1998 - 10:07:24 MST
I probably heard the same quote by Richard Seed
(aired on NPR), and I think what Seed said was pretty
unusual in ways... If his intent was to throw out a
few comforting words to religious people to minimize
the flack from them, he failed, as what he said will
enrage the Christian fundamentalists.
Sure, he starts out pretty conventionally
(religion-wise):
(from my memory) "God created man in his image..."
but then he goes off on an unusual tangent:
(I paraphrase from memory) "and it is inevitable that
we will eventually achieve god-like powers and become
practically like gods. So, these scientific advances
are in line with God's will..."
Be aware that you can confirm the accuracy (or lack
therof) of my paraphrase by hearing his exact words
in RealAudio format at NPR's Web site at
http://www.npr.org/news/health/980106cloning.html
No, Christian Fundamentalist will not be soothed by
this statement. It is very much against their way of
thinking, which stresses the flawed nature of
humanity and the need for God to redeem it. Seed's
statement is almost extropian, except for the implied
existance of God.
(Can a person believe in God and still be effectively
extropian? I would say, "Yes, provided that he/she
accepted that their belief was unproven and
unfalsifiable, and therefore outside the realm of
science and rationality." Such a person might act in
an extropian manner in all ways that matter to
extropians. Perhaps, in light of studies (which may
have been poorly conducted) that belief in God is
good for a person's health and longevity, the person
merely chose to carry the God meme for his/her own
extropian benefit, although some might consider this
quite a mental juggling act. How is it spelled,
"Deism"?)
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