Assuming that there is a God (there is), and you wanted to make a list of things which would anger the Almighty, I wonder what would make the top 7 list?

There was a TV special that I watched a few nights ago about the first historically recorded murder - that of Abel by Cain in the Old Testament book of Genesis. Although I found the show to be generally uninspiring, a Jewish scholar made one point that is both fascinating and thought provoking. He pointed out that the first question asked by man(kind) in the Bible was Cain's response to God after the murder - "Am I my brother's keeper?" The scholar went on to theorize that the entire Bible was the answer to that question, and the answer of course is "yes." So book 1 asks the question, and an answer hinted at for hundreds of pages becomes explicit with the coming of Christ (and the parable of the Good Samaritan) near the end of the record. A sort of closure. Bookends on the shelf.

This insight was fascinating to me because it reinforced a perception that I hold regarding the book of Genesis. That perception is that this first book of the Bible is a gold mine in terms of answering questions fundamental to our existence. Questions like "Why does the universe exist?" "Why are we here?" "What is our purpose?" "Why were we created?" "What is the nature of evil?" These questions cannot be answered through investigation or reason, the answers can come only if our maker reveals the answer to us. Genesis, book 1. The book of Genesis has actually been in the news a lot lately, although you probably didn’t realize it. Recent “advances” in the fields of bioengineering and genetic engineering lead us directly to Book 1, Chapter 1. There are many on-line Bible links, here is one.

I've actually written previously about the mistake of creating chimeras (half human, half animal beings), and the practice of science in the absence of ethics. This is spine chilling stuff - or should be. And I just recently read the following blog entry. Wesley Smith wrote this at http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/ on Saturday, May 27, 2006:

I just got home from a transhumanism conference ("Human Enhancement Technologies and Human Rights") being held at Stanford through tomorrow (Sunday). Among the items I learned today are: Feminist bioethics supports genetic engineering so that men can be altered to
have babies and women can be freed from the tyranny of menstruation; animals should be enhanced to permit them to become equivalent to humans, including the ability to use the Internet--before, that is, all animal life is transformed into non biological states of existence, which apparently the living planet Gaia requires in order to survive; funding anti-aging research is more important than funding treatment for fighting disease in Africa; we probably should permit people who want to be amputees to achieve their desires; and, freedom requires a maximum morphological license to enhance our biological units.

If the thought of man-animal chimeras is bone chilling, then the above ideas should freeze you stiff. Which brings us back to Genesis.

How does this advanced technology figure in our relationship with God, our creator? Here is a short list of relationship items from Genesis, Chapter 1. This is right at the beginning of the most popular book ever sold, the foundation of our laws and ethics, and the bedrock of western civilization.

1. God made the universe, and everything in it, including us.
2. God made us in his image and likeness.
3. God made us male and female.
4. God told us to go forth and multiply.
5. God made us more than the animals and the rest of creation.
6. God made us to be less than God himself.
7. God made man and woman as suitable partners for each other.

You’ve all read instruction manuals that have the “easy setup section” or “If you don’t read anything else, read this section” for those too lazy or hurried to read the whole thing, right? (OK - I don’t read all the instructions either.) Well, Genesis could be our “If you don’t read anything else, read this” handbook to our relationship with God.

So where do our advanced progressive thinkers stand with regard to Book 1, Chapter 1?

1. God made the universe, and everything in it, including us. Not so, according to modern day Darwinists (but not Darwin himself, ironically). There is no God. Everything came about due to random events. In contradiction to the law of entropy. And requiring an infinite number of universes (which actually sounds somewhat divine to me, but…..) Acceptance of this mindset disables any further ethical concerns that might emerge below.
2. God made us in his image and likeness, which imparts to all humans an inherent sacred dignity. Not so, according to progressives. Humans, whether still in the womb, or imperfect in some way, or a burden on society, are actual disposable entities, given the will or whims of the State or progressive organizations.
   
3. God made us male and female. Hmmm… It seems, noting the above blog entry (men having babies), that what God made isn’t what progressives want, so they have no inhibitions against changing it. One must wonder, really wonder, what drives the feminist agenda in this direction.
   
4. God told us to go forth and multiply. Not so according to progressives. What we really need is abortion. The fewer people, the better.
   
5. God made us more than the animals and the rest of creation. Nope, according to progressives, animals and the environment are more important than people. Not only do we need to take rights away from people, but we need to give those same rights to animals instead.
   
6. God made us to be less than God himself. Nope. What we really need, according to progressives, is transhumanism. It’s not enough to fix broken bones or cure illnesses, what we really need is a better human. One that can live forever. One fashioned in our image, to our likeness and our desires. One that can be god. Or one that I can have fun playing God with.
7. God made man and woman as suitable partners for each other. Except, I guess when men and women have an attraction to the same sex, that to follow this impulse is more important than what God wants. So say the progressives.

Note that although God explicitly gave man dominion of a lot, He did not give us dominion over our own creation, or our selves, or our sexuality. God did not give us dominion over human life - its beginning, its end, or its image and likeness. He reserved that for Himself.

So we come full circle to Adam and Eve’s original sin, that of pride, that of wanting to be as God himself. That is where we are now. We would be God, and technology is our instrument, our Word, our power.

And oh yeah….. As I mentioned previously. “My brother’s keeper”, almost at the front of the Bible (Genesis Chapter 4) was closed out by “The Good Samaritan“, almost at the end of the Bible. What might be the matching “bookend” to Genesis 1, Chapter 1? The last book of the Bible is Revelation (also called Apocalypse). Final judgment and damnation. “But we didn’t know!” they will cry. But they did know. Romans Chapter 1.

19 For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them.
20 Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse;
21 for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.
22 While claiming to be wise, they became fools
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.
24 Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies.
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural,
27 and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper.
29 They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. They are gossips
30 and scandalmongers and they hate God. They are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness, and rebellious toward their parents.
31 They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32 Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Richard

www.nochimera.com