What does it mean to be human in a world of technology? What could be the role of religion in responding to the ecological crisis? Whom do we trust to make decisions regarding our common future? Is the public ignorant, in the eyes of our scientific experts? The contributors to this timely volume address issues of expertise, trust, and engagement in light of ecological and spiritual concerns, including our increasing technological awareness, religious resources for ecological crises, biotechnology, and matters of trust between scientists and the general public.
Preface and Acknowledgements
Willem B. Drees
Technology, Trust, and Religion
Part One - Our Technological Human Condition
Bronislaw Szerszynski
The Religious Roots of Our Technological Condition
Taede A. Smedes
Technology and What It Means to Be Human
Karen Pärna
Technophilia: Internet as a Vessel of Contemporary Religiosity
Part Two - Religious Resources for the Ecological Crisis
Tony Watling
Re-Imagining the Human-Environment Relationship via Religious Traditions and New Scientific Cosmologies
James Miller
Religion, Nature, and Modernization in China
Francis Kadaplackal
In Search of an Adequate Christian Anthropology
Forrest Clingerman
Seeking the Depth of Nature in a Scientific World
Part Three - Morality and the Modification of Life
Frank Kupper
The Value Lab: Deliberation on Animal Values in the Animal Biotechnology Debate
Michiel van Well
'Not by Bread Alone' - Religion in a Dutch Public Debate on GM Food
Peter Derkx
Substantial Life Extension and Meanings of Life
Annika den Dikken
Enhancement Technologies; An Opportunity to Care?
Part Four - A Matter of Argument or of Trust?
Patrick Loobuyck
Religious Arguments in Political Decision Making
Olga Crapels
The Knowledge Deficit and Beyond: Sources of Controversy in Public Debates
Franck L.B. Meijboom
Public Trust and Nutrigenomics
Nancie Erhard
Deep Pluralism: Interfaith Alliances for Progressive Politics
Index
Contributors
Overview
What does it mean to be human in a world of technology? What could be the role of religion in responding to the ecological crisis? Whom do we trust to make decisions regarding our common future? Is the public ignorant, in the eyes of our scientific experts? The contributors to this timely volume address issues of expertise, trust, and engagement in light of ecological and spiritual concerns, including our increasing technological awareness, religious resources for ecological crises, biotechnology, and matters of ...