Science Good, Nature Bad
Otto
o.sell at telda.net
Thu Jun 28 07:54:50 CDT 2001
"Caesar had his soothsayer, King Tut had his high priest, and Napoleon had the Pope. But now we are enlightened. Now we have Science. (...)
In this modern era, the role of trusted advisor has fallen to scientists. Science has finally triumphed over Nature through meticulous research, objectivity and ethics. If something has been "scientifically proven," it is gospel -- irrefutable in a court of law -- and if it can't be proven then it is little more than witchcraft and rumor.(...)
The biotech business, with its $25 million public relations budget, has claimed sole dominion over Science. In fighting a modern day Crusade, that's equivalent to having God on your side. After all, since Science is the new Gospel, those who oppose it are members of the anachronistic, backwards Nature cult -- Luddites and Gaia-worshippers. (...) protestors are a handful of religious zealots -- "Jehovah's Witnesses" and "devout Bhuddists" -- who protest out of a "fear of the unknown" and a "primal" relationship with their food and their bodies.
Biotech's ability to propagate the Science vs. Nature divide has made them extremely powerful. Says Gusterson, "Science is so powerful because we believe that scientists stand for the truth, and there can only be one truth. We think that good scientists must agree.""
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11105
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