Reflecting on Laudato si’ in quarantine time
On 27rd March, Pope held a special Urbi et Orbi blessing from the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica. This event is usually held only for Christmas and Easter. But this time it is reserved for coronavirus. Pope addressed that the pandemic exposes “our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules” and lays bare “all those attempts to anesthetize ourselves”. “We are on the same boat”, said Pope Francis.
Same ideas reflected in Laudato si’
The same ideas are also reflected in Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, “Laudato si’”. In the letter, Pope referred that the world is facing both environmental crisis and society crisis. Our common home, mother earth is suffering from pollution, species extinction and all the problems caused by human activity expansion. The society is also facing the problems of inequality. Poor people are lacking resources to live healthily not to say lead good lives. Technology is causing part of the problems above. Technology is speeding up the process that people exhaust natural resources. In the same time, technology is also exacerbating inequality in our society. Pope argues that mere technology is not enough to address the current issues. We also need a mind shift to make the world a better place to stay for all creatures and our next generations. (Laudota si’ §47).
Technology and religions: Not in confliction
The encyclical should not be considered from a mere religious perspective, despite that it is written by Pope Francis, one of the world’s most important religious leaders. As a non-believer, I found Christian ideas hard to approach in the first place. As an engineering student, it’s hard to persuade myself that God really exist simply because disciples claim it to be. After I read encyclical, I changed my mind. Bible Text should not be judged literally. The ethical idea is reasonable regardless of its context.(Laudato si’ Chapter 5) When focusing on the ideas, religions are not in confliction with science and technology. Religions from this perspective is more considered as a way of living. It is also a way of considering relationship between mankind and rest of the world.
Religion explains engineer passion for creating
In Laudato si’, Pope Francis addressed that technological progress are not bound to bring us a bright future. The defect in humanity should also be changed to promise a bright future for mankind.(Laudato si’ 113). In the encyclical, he mainly adopted a dialogue model for the relationship between science and technology. Technology and religion should work together to solve the current issues. What Pope did not explain explicitly is where does technology comes from. What drives people to create more advanced technology? My point is that religion is a possible explanation for engineers’ passion on creating things and solving problems. As an engineering student, every time I finish a project, I am proud of what I create from scratch. The happiness at the moment when I solved a technical issue in the project is memorable. But it’s hard to describe where the joy comes from. In the text of Laudato si’, I found a possible answer.
We work and create for a reason. ‘God placed man and woman in the garden he had created (cf. Gen 2:15) not only to preserve it (“keep”) but also to make it fruitful (“till”). Labors and craftsmen thus “maintain the fabric of the world” (Sir 38:34).’(Laudato si §124). Lynn White put it in a similar way in Western Technology[1]. ‘Technology is part of god’s compassion for mankind.’ Technology is developed in the first place to save labor efforts. It’s a tool to save people from hard manual work. God created mankind and also reflected himself in the creature he made. Mankind is no difference. There is innate virtue in humanity. We see a world under development, and there is innate voice in humanity that urges us to create, to make the world a better place. The desire to create is the motivation for technological progress. Thus, technological progress is not meant to make people lose their jobs. When we consider unemployment problems, we need to think about what is hindering workers from creating and crafting. What they lack is proper education and guidance that allows them to fulfill their ambition and use their creativity as they are entitled to do.
Technology is good for the world
Technology is not to be blamed for the bad consequences it brings. It has to do with humanity crisis. In order for technology to do good to society, a change of life style is required, a life style that avoids anthropocentrism and egoism. Ecological problem is now affecting lives of human being. In the case of virus spread, it is human activities which destroy the biodiversity that make it possible for those virus to threaten human beings. Uncontrolled desire for profit and endless pursuit of self-interest are contributing to the global crisis.
Technology is able to benefiting the world if applied with good will. In the battle with corona virus, we see how scientists are using technology to speed up the process of virus affected diagnosis with fast test and portable CT scanner. We also see engineers in China has developed an online system, introducing QR code to track potential contact with corona virus. Future engineers are obliged to bear the ecological crisis we are facing now in mind. As engineers, we should care for the welfare of the public as long as the environment. We care not only because it’s part of our career ethics, but also because it’s the motivation for our work, the deep innate love for the world around.
[1]. L. White Jr., ‘Western technology’, in Dictionary of the Middle Ages, II, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York (1988) pp. 650±664.
