Civilized Society vs. Religious Fanatics
Alex Zakson
August 19, 2005
My wife and I took our 7-year-old granddaughter to the Kennedy Space Center.
Although my wife and I had been there several times, this was our granddaughter’s first visit
When we entered the Apollo Program area, my wife bragged to our granddaughter that I had participated in the Apollo Program, and had contributed to the design of the Saturn V nozzle. As we wondered around the exhibit, my granddaughter wondered where my name was. I explained that around 400,000 individuals had participated in the Apollo Program, most of whose names appear nowhere. Although my work on the program was decades ago, I still felt proud of the role that I had played in the U.S. space program.
My granddaughter was quite impressed with the Kennedy Space Center and our Space programs; she concluded that she’d like to be a scientist when she grows up.
As we drove back I reflected on the day. Despite recent Shuttle setbacks, we Americans have much to be proud of. We have landed men on the moon, and among other things, developed very sophisticated communication satellites, global positioning satellites, and helped to develop and build the International Space Station. A great deal of today’s prosperity can be traced back to the space programs. I do recognize that Americans alone did not achieve all this. Russians and peoples of other Western nations and Japan have contributed their share to these accomplishments.
Then I imagined a family that had dedicated itself to the promotion of religious fanaticism. On a tour of sites of historic interest to that family, the grandmother might say to her granddaughter: This is the abortion clinic your grandfather helped to burn down; or this is the bus stop your uncle suicide bombed, killing 16 young adults; or this is the train station your father bombed, killing himself and 70 train riders and wounding 700; or this is where 8 of our countrymen killed 3000, when they highjacked and flew two airplanes into the buildings that stood there. At the conclusion of the tour would this granddaughter conclude that she’d want to be a suicide bomber?
To be fair, I tried to think of significant scientific or social contributions that religious fanatics have made to our world. I could think of none. Maybe I am too materialistic and not sufficiently spiritual to appreciate contributions made by religious fundamentalists of all persuasions.
Although my wife and I had been there several times, this was our granddaughter’s first visit
When we entered the Apollo Program area, my wife bragged to our granddaughter that I had participated in the Apollo Program, and had contributed to the design of the Saturn V nozzle. As we wondered around the exhibit, my granddaughter wondered where my name was. I explained that around 400,000 individuals had participated in the Apollo Program, most of whose names appear nowhere. Although my work on the program was decades ago, I still felt proud of the role that I had played in the U.S. space program.
My granddaughter was quite impressed with the Kennedy Space Center and our Space programs; she concluded that she’d like to be a scientist when she grows up.
As we drove back I reflected on the day. Despite recent Shuttle setbacks, we Americans have much to be proud of. We have landed men on the moon, and among other things, developed very sophisticated communication satellites, global positioning satellites, and helped to develop and build the International Space Station. A great deal of today’s prosperity can be traced back to the space programs. I do recognize that Americans alone did not achieve all this. Russians and peoples of other Western nations and Japan have contributed their share to these accomplishments.
Then I imagined a family that had dedicated itself to the promotion of religious fanaticism. On a tour of sites of historic interest to that family, the grandmother might say to her granddaughter: This is the abortion clinic your grandfather helped to burn down; or this is the bus stop your uncle suicide bombed, killing 16 young adults; or this is the train station your father bombed, killing himself and 70 train riders and wounding 700; or this is where 8 of our countrymen killed 3000, when they highjacked and flew two airplanes into the buildings that stood there. At the conclusion of the tour would this granddaughter conclude that she’d want to be a suicide bomber?
To be fair, I tried to think of significant scientific or social contributions that religious fanatics have made to our world. I could think of none. Maybe I am too materialistic and not sufficiently spiritual to appreciate contributions made by religious fundamentalists of all persuasions.
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