Basic HTML Version
Septcmber 1971
becomes an ever-widening chasm be–
tween knowledge and wisdom.
To use this knowledge wisely, we
1111111
determine just what man is, and
why he exists. Information itself is nei–
ther good nor bad - but how it is to
be used will be either good or bad.
Unless mankind obtains the moral and
The
PLAIN TRUTH
abort a pregnancy, aren't they really
playing God? When a surgeon per–
forms a delicate operation, isn't he
really playing God?
Scientists therefore
aumne
that man
has
110 choice
but to play God. This as–
sumption that man must play God
dearly involves the presumption that
Wide World Photo
SPARE PARTS FOR HUMANS
-
Mechanical replocement ports displayed
at Massachusetts General Hospital.
ethical wisdom to use his new knowl–
edge rightly, the wodd faces thc grcat–
est imaginable ¡taril.
MUST Man Play God?
Sorne scientists
asmme
there is no di–
vine purpose for human existence, and
that man
m1111
play God - in fact, al–
ready has in many instances. Whether
or not we want to play God, they tell
us, we have no choice in the matter.
for example, when a couple decide to
a Supreme Being does
not
exist.
Few seem to realize this basic under–
lying philosophy motivating much bio–
logical research. It says: "Either there
is no God, or i
f
there is we cannot
know Him. He has left us on our own.
Therefore, we scientists must depend on
scientific discovery to solve the world's
problems. We must depend on biolog–
ical and genetic research to learn to
prevent birth defects. Rejecting any re–
vealed knowledge as 'myth,' we must
27
determine for ourselves what is good
or evil, right or wrong, through experi–
mentation and discovery."
This philosophy
is
the way of
ll'ial
and
errOI".
Bound up inextricably with
this philosophy is the knowledge that
many experimcnts will turn out badly,
many mistakes will be made, and sorne
men are bound to
mi1111e
whatever
knowledge is gained. This philosophy
flirts with ultimate disaster on an unpar–
alleled scale.
What Price KNOWLEDGE?
For thousands of years mankind has
lived according to this philosophy. He
has continually sought knowledge by
experimentation and experimentation
alone. He has continually rejected reve–
lation from any god and attempted to
"play God." Only now he is on the
threshold of "playing God" on a
grander scale than ever before.
The basic philosophy behind much of
the current biological revolution is the
same one that has motivated men since
time immemorial. Rejecting revelation,
modero science is seeking health and
immortality through experimentation.
What will the result of such mas–
sive experiments be?
Look at the realm of physics, for a
moment. Scientists experimented, and
learned to crack the secret of the atom.
This knowledge was used in the bomb·
ing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in
World War II, and today the world tee–
ters on the brink of a thermonuclear
World War III.
Mankind has partaken of the "tree of
the knowledge of good
and
evi/,"
and
he has always - according to the
record of history - ultimately used his
newfound knowledge for
EVJL.
The re–
sult? Unparalleled suffering, chaos,
cataclysm, and death.
We candidly ask: ls this kind of
"knowledge" really worth the price?
We dare not delude ourselves that
mankind has fundamentally changed, or
that human nature is not fundamentally
Aawed. Man, in his present condition,
cannot be trusted to wisely exercise
great and awesome powers. To ignore
the frightful and documented evidence
of history is to invite disaster.
o