Article April 21, 1980 Issue

Safety in a technological society

DAVID K. NARTONIS

Mankind's yearning for safety is universal. Long before our age of missiles and highways crowded with cars, the Psalmist pleaded, "Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust." Ps. 16:1;

A highly technological society poses special challenges to individual and collective safety. And we might wonder if the Psalmist's trust in God would keep him safe in our modern world. Indeed, we might wonder how we are going to keep ourselves, our families, and the world itself safe in the face of increasing technology.

We don't have to look far for the technological dangers we face: pollution of air, water—even the oceans; the challenges of nuclear power and radioactive waste disposal; elimination of jobs because of changing technologies; even the possible loss of the traditional meaning of life as so much around us is mechanized, standardized, automated, and put on computers. This bleak picture is often painted for the public today. And yet, when our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, was asked about the pursuit of modern inventions, she answered: "Oh, we cannot oppose them. They all tend to newer, finer, more etherealized ways of living. They seek the finer essences. They light the way to the Church of Christ. We use them, we make them our figures of speech. They are preparing the way for us." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 345;

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