The Tools that B(l)ind: Technology and Religion
Open Access
- 4 May 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Queensland University of Technology in Law, Technology and Humans
- Vol. 3 (1), 82-95
- https://doi.org/10.5204/lthj.v3i1.1566
Abstract
Technology is a new theology. Substantively, technology represents the culmination of human creation undergirded by reason, without reference to the supernatural. In that sense, technology is a kind of secular substitute for theology. Functionally, through its ubiquity and esoteric rules that govern our lives so comprehensively, technology echoes the binding nature of theology as a subset of religion (from religare, meaning ‘to rebind’). However, the binding nature of techno-secular theology produces biopolitical violence. In this article, I propose that recognition (‘re‑cognition’) of technology as techne, a tool to be used for good, rather than a religare, a binding, warrants a return to a theological framework to develop a more charitable community. This will facilitate the development and improvement of theology as a means of exploring mystery.Keywords
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