by Hilary White
STILLWATER, May 8, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Speaking at a commencement ceremony at Oklahoma State University, US President George W. Bush warned graduates of the perils of a technology uncontrolled by moral and humanistic values.
“Science offers the prospect of eventual cures for terrible diseases — and temptations to manipulate life and violate human dignity,” Bush said.“With the Internet, you can communicate instantly with someone halfway across the world — and isolate yourself from your family and your neighbors.”
The president told graduates to keep in mind that while technological advances will “transform lives… they will present you with profound dilemmas.” He advised the graduates, “Harness the promise of technology without becoming slaves to technology. My advice is that science serves the cause of humanity and not the other way around.”
The president’s comments echoed similar observations by Pope Benedict XVI who said that the dehumanizing and isolating effects of modern life has created a loveless society.
Pope Benedict, who was recently given an engraved iPod programmed with classical music, said in a speech to the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences that modern culture is characterized by self-absorption that excludes children. “Perhaps the lack of such creative and forward-looking love is the reason why many couples today choose not to marry, why so many marriages fail, and why birthrates have diminished,” the Pope said.
Read the full text of the president’s remarks:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060506-2.html