{"id":34086,"date":"2018-07-16T14:41:26","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T11:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=34086"},"modified":"2022-02-08T22:36:37","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T20:36:37","slug":"does-technological-advancement-foster-moral-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/does-technological-advancement-foster-moral-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Technological Advancement Foster Moral Progress?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[374,360],"acf":{"old_id":"34086","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33692,"related_cahpter":"4","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Worse than Cain: the normalization of killing and the birth of violent society","content":"

Although Cain had been condemned to a life of eternal wandering (v.12), he settles and builds a city (v.17). Here we see Cain creating an urban center, a new form of settlement; as someone who brings progress to the world. Our chapter describes that way that humanity develops, generation by generation \u2013 Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, Methusael, Lemech. But it is Lemech\u2019s children who bring civilization to a new level of sophistication:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYaval, was the founder of those who dwell in tents and amidst herds.
\n\u2026his brother Yubal was the founder of all who play the lyre and the pipe.
\n\u2026Tuval-cain \u2026 forged all implements of copper and iron.\u201d (4:21-23)<\/p>\n

The advancement and perfection of the livestock industry, the emergence of music, and the manufacture of metal implements would all seem to be huge steps forward in human technology. This is quite a family!<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it is at this point that we read Lemech\u2019s song. The father of these gifted entrepreneurs has something to sing about:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAdah and Zillah, hear my voice; O wives of Lamech, give ear to my speech.
\nI have slain a man for wounding me, and a lad for bruising me.
\nIf Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.\u201d(4:23-24)<\/p>\n

What is this strange poem? Lemech is boasting. Usually society would follow a retaliatory model akin to \u201can eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth\u201d, but Lemech says, \u201cA man wounded me, and I killed him\u201d and he is probably saying, \u201dDon\u2019t even think of bruising me! – I will slay you\u201d In his mind, Cain\u2019s divine reprieve after the murder of Abel is seen as a grotesque license to kill. In short, Lemech uses violence as a tool to intimidate and threaten; to get his way. Murder for him becomes a way of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t too difficult to imagine him using his son\u2019s new metal implements to carry out his heinous acts of violence. Commentator Umberto Cassuto writes: \u201c<\/span>After setting forth the innovations that Cain and his descendants introduced into human culture, [the Torah] records Lemech’s song, which shows that <\/span>material progress had brought no noticeable moral development<\/b>…<\/span>None of the achievements of material culture have any value if there are no positive moral traits.<\/b> (<\/span>Me-Adam ad Noach<\/span><\/i>, p. 130).<\/span><\/p>\n

Chapter 4 of Genesis narrates Cain\u2019s first act of murder, a grim and ignominious landmark in human history. But, in fact, Lemech\u2019s crime is more shameful; it is the normalization of killing; the birth of violent society. One question we need to ask is, does civilization have to follow this course?<\/span><\/p>\n

With the Holocaust, the world witnessed one of the most advanced cultures on earth turning to mass-murder without moral compunction. Today, with all our technological progress, we hold the tools to destroy our planet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let this chapter be a warning to all societies.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":101770,"id":101770,"title":"-6202d3cb594b8--6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology human.jpg","filename":"6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/does-technological-advancement-foster-moral-progress\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":34086,"date":"2022-02-08 20:34:19","modified":"2022-07-05 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