Wednesday, November 27, 2002

Granted, every American is wary of new technology. But making a huge deal this early in the game is irrational.

There is the greatest chance the informational technology will never make the cut and will be unable to control or follow individuals. More likely is that the technology will add greatly to the ease and security of everyday life. Lines will go faster, waits will be kept down.

Besides, trust your fellow Americans. There is a good chance they will never let the technology come into play without a long, embittered struggle.

It would also be helpful to point out that, if this technology becomes popular and so on, the day it snares a criminal or a "terrorist," Americans everywhere will fall on their knees in an apology to the Great and Powerful Oz (whoops, I meant the government).

Say that there was no reason to doubt its true intent, or the technology's true power. Thomas... doubting? I think so.

And Revelation? Honestly! The moment a sudden change is experienced everything and every sign points to an impending Apocalypse. Man, not the Lord, will be the cause of the world's end.

Long before the planned Apocalypse we will have obliterated ourselves with nuclear weapons or submerged ourselves in melted ice caps. Why should God interfere with something we can do very well on our own?

Besides, the Bible implies the Apocalypse will happen eventually and that no man will be able to predict it (why do so many try then?).

We as a people could experience hundreds of nuclear disasters (some which we might even consider holocausts) before the Lord does decide to take over. And in any case, in a world so full of hatred and neglect, who is to say the Apocalypse did not already happen? That such a few number of people were taken up out of this base and unholy world that it was impossible to take notice; that we marked them down as missing persons. We all could have lived through the first stages of an Apocalypse and never known a thing because we were so preoccupied with finding a man who lives in a cave.

Speculation is an ugly thing, fear even uglier. If we live our lives and control society with prevention and irrationality, how are we ever going to live, to move on?

Helen Keller put the idea best when she wrote, "No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a doorway for the human spirit."

Look on the brighter side of life: "Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow. It will always be better. And less likely to give you an ulcer.

Elizabeth Haren

Fayetteville