Mis(sion)Guided
"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men." - Martin Luther King Jr.
This quote has been circulating quite a bit recently. That fact annoys me. Blarghblarghblargh. People simply yet absolutely love to make false positives about things that aren't even moderately modifiable. These self-righteous, overly pious, uninformed decision makers really unnerve me to the essence of my core.
Take for example, the quote at the opening. Let's not pretend that men haven't always been misguided. Let's pretend that Science is even relevant to bring into this conversation. Let's pretend that this wasn't something to do with Religion. Let's pretend that these statements even make sense beyond being construed as gibberish. I mean, it certainly "sounds" pretty but what does it truly mean? Well, we can take a look to History for an indicator of what is inaccurate about that statement in question.
Prior to C.E or A.D. times, there was the B.C., where religion makes its first appearance. Science definitely didn't outrun our "spiritual" power back then. Let's jump to the Crusades and then to the Middle & Dark ages; science didn't outrun our spirituality then neither. Let's jump to the slavery & colonization periods; science didn't outrun our spirituality then neither. We can jump forward all we like but we're only going to hit Jim Crow, political assassinations, world banks, and new wars fabricated over profit but let's blame Science? No.
The truth is, instead of cultivating a sufficient comprehension of spirituality, people dismiss what it is as religion. The two are often conflated into one meaning. Our spiritual power was far outrun by the time we crafted usage of the flame. Our scientific power has long since outrun humanity's sense of spiritual being. Even mentioning that quote is akin to kissing every Whites man's sphincter with the blackest portion of lip. It pisses me off. But who gets the point? Who is reading between the lines?
The Chinese monks do some incredibly amazing things with the human body. Sharp objects that cannot penetrate, moving their "whatever" through their environments. If that's spirituality, then we couldn't hope to improve it in the world we've built up around us. The to worlds are mutually exclusive. Even that suggest the quote is improperly worded. Whatevs. I'm totes cool.
We've had misguided men the entire time we've inhabited this planet. That won't change. We kill off those that suggest we live in peace. We praise those that desire to wage war but this man felt the need to blame science? And my purpose isn't even so much to defend science as it is to defend logical perpetuation. It is patently false to create straw men so that others may more properly cope with life. Sure, grease the wheels to make them glide more easily. Sure, use whatever means necessary. But thinking this country had a choice in the direction we went was foolish.
Men are misguided for a number of reasons. The most notable of all of those reasons is simply jealousy. The desire to so strongly be someone else or gain what they possess. It is the disgusting little voice claiming that what you are, as you are now, is in no way, shape or form, sufficient to be in the coming moments. The real crime is in how popular that saying has risen to be without the ones who use it having even an the slightest inclination that their usage and intended usage, is so far off the mark that they may as well babble in tongues; it's the only way they'd make any sense at all.
I don't think he's blaming science for man's spiritual failures. He's making an observation, not making a causal link. To use an economic illustration, imagine a normal supply and demand curve. Spiritual power is the demand and scientific power is the supply. As you know, demand curves are downward and supply curves are upward. MLK made the quote at the time in which he felt the curves were coming out of the point of intersection.
ReplyDeleteThere's also the idea that as scientific power increased in supply, there was less demand for spiritual power. Scientific power led to financial power. When one has an abundance of material items, they have less to pray (access/use their spiritual power) for. One could also make the case for civil rights falling under this umbrella, as our ancestors often prayed for the things that the movement gave them. People attend church less, on average, than they used to. This is especially true for black folks. The role of the church in the community has decreased greatly since MLK's day.
I agree with your general point that there is no causal relationship between the two, but would say that the position only holds the amount of truth that people allow it to hold.