Dear folks, 

I keep using the phrase "ye shall be as gods" in class, and this afternoon
someone kindly pointed out to me that I had never explained what I meant
when I used the phrase. Oops!  Here goes. 

The phrase comes from Genesis 3:4-5, and is the central phrase in the
story of the devil tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden
of Eden. The text is: 

	3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

	3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your
	eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good 
	and evil.

"Ye shall be as gods," is the primeval temptation of mankind: to seize the
world around us (including other people) and remake it according to our
own will. I keep refering in class to this old temptation because,
regardless of the literal truth of Genesis, this tale and this phrase
represent one of the most irresistable temptations of mankind. The ancient
promises from the father of lies have taken on many shapes down the
millennia, yet they remain the same: eating the forbidden fruit shall give
us knowledge and power; reason shall give us knowledge and power; science
shall give us knowledge and power; enlightenment shall give us knowledge
and power; the Revolution will give us knowledge and power; computers
shall give us knowledge and power; genetic engineering shall give us
knowledge and power. 

Trouble is, when so many people want power, especially power *over*
others, things almost always tend to get extremely bad, and to do so
extremely quickly. My point is not anti-knowledge, nor even anti-power. 
Instead it is that, once you get the knowledge and power, what then? What
do you do if you win? What do you do with people who disagree with the
knowledge that you claim to have, or who refuse to submit to the power
that you wield? 

As I have said many times, the Holocaust was *not* an accident, nor was it
the result of a silly little man with a preposterous mustache coming to
power and leading a people by the nose. The Holocaust was a direct result
of the ways in which a political party, and a people, and individual men
and women, responded to the old temptation. The nazis were not the first,
nor will they be the last. This is what Don Feder is talking about when he
refers to "the slaughterhouse of the Godless creeds." He was making a
religious point, but I am not. 

What would *you* do if you were king? What would you do to those who
oppose the *good* that you wish to accomplish.  When, as today, we have
the power to shape human society (maybe) and to manipulate genetics
(probably), it becomes extremely tempting to play God (again). 

My point, I guess, is that *how* we respond to this ancient temptation to
become "as gods" is pretty important. Thus far, we've been pretty lucky in
the United States. For how much longer is up to you. In the most important
sense, that's what this class is all about. 

What do you do when you win?

Jace