Termination

Robot Priests More Acceptable To Protestants and Catholics, Says Professor

Can AI create better priests? Are we prepared to worship via machines rather than fallible humans? A Villanova University professor believes a post-human priesthood has its advantages.

[Read Article Here]

Wow. We're really pushing the envelope here. It is really forcing me to understand and define what roles, rituals, rites and relationships are. Rarely do I repost articles unless it strikes a theological chord. This one struck many and warrants posting today especially on a Lord's day. This has some sadly real implications and none of them are good. This reeks of idolatry, syncretism and blurring of lines. We should all ponder this one deeply and its philosophical implications. Who programs the AI? What and whose theology does it use? When does the worshiper stop worshiping the God the AI points you to and begin to start worshiping the creation? Sadly, the woman in the above article isn't even original in her suggestions. These spiritual AI already exist in other religions in other nations.

This is modern day Isaiah 44.

The Folly of Idolatry (Isaiah 44)

All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. The iron smith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also, he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also, he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

This is nearly pure unadulterated idolatry. Metal robots or wood, what’s the difference? Blurred lines. Further diluting until the distinguishing features and solid demarcations are gone. Do I think Christians are gullible to fall into this? Absolutely. It is Ilia Delio a self-professed ‘theologian’ at Villanova that made these statements mentioned in this article. She's just another ‘expert’ in academia that people will follow because the modern secular world’s new religion is technology and education.

When the alternatives are worse in the media's propagandist eye like pedophile priests and sexually abusive Protestant pastors, why wouldn’t people gravitate towards what appears to be sinless automaton AI? What could possibly be less offensive to everyone in a PC world? Non-judgmental. Genderless (not unlike the gender neutral spirit). Sexless. Emotionless. Indestructible (at least gives off an appearance of immortality). Unbiased at least on the surface (never mind the bias programmed into it). If you think this is impossible and far-flung realize this…it has already happened in Buddhism in Japan. 

A new priest named Mindar holds services at Kodaiji, a 400-year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Like other clergy members, this priest can deliver sermons and gesticulate to interface with worshipers. But Mindar isn’t your typical priest. It has a body made of aluminum and silicone. Mindar is a robot AI. Designed to look like Kannon, the Buddhist deity of mercy. The $1 million machine is an attempt to reignite people’s passion for their faith in a country where religious affiliation is on the decline. Japanese worshipers who visit Mindar are reportedly not too bothered by questions about the risks of siliconizing spirituality. That makes sense given that robots are already so commonplace in the country, including in the religious domain.

For years now, people who can’t afford to pay a human priest to perform a funeral have had the option to pay a robot named Pepper to do it at a much cheaper rate. And in China, at Beijing’s Longquan Monastery, an android monk named Xian’er recites Buddhist mantras and offers guidance on matters of faith. What’s more, Buddhism’s non-dualistic metaphysical notion that everything has inherent “Buddha nature” — that all beings have the potential to become enlightened — may predispose some of the less mentally agile of its adherents to be receptive to spiritual guidance that comes from technology.

Robots are changing other religions, too. In 2017 the Indians rolled out a robot that performs the Hindu Aarti ritual, which involves moving a light round and round in front of a deity. That same year, in honor of the Protestant Reformation’s 500th anniversary, Germany’s ‘Protestant’ Church created a robot called BlessU-2. It gave pre-programmed blessings to over 10,000 people.

Western nations are understandably weirded out by this and Christianity and Judaism are slightly insulated from these types of idolatry. Why? They tend to be more metaphysically dualistic — there’s the sacred and then there’s the profane. And they have more misgivings than Buddhism about visually depicting divinity, so they may take issue with non-Divine imagery and iconography. They also have different ideas about what makes a religious practice effective. 

For example, Christianity places a strong emphasis on intentionality, purpose and souls which are things machines don’t possess. When a worshiper prays, what matters is not just that their mouth forms the right words — it’s also very important that they have the right intention. It is literally the old adage, "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." It also requires a relationship with God and communal relationships with other sentient beings. Machines are not sentient nor will they be ever. But those with religions that cause one to turn inward and/or of ritualistic behavior….oh boy….

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Matthew 6:7

But…like everything else, normalization and preaching of lies eventually can become truths in people’s minds. At some point people become okay with their sins. Just look at the Israelites fresh out of Egyptian bondage. Look how many things of the past in humanity at one time were abhorrent only to become socially acceptable via spiritual attrition. 

When does this begin to jump to all the religions? At what point do these spiritless benevolent AI become our spiritual terminators or at least act as harbingers and signs of impending spiritual death? The fact that this is even being entertained in churches, temples, synagogues and halls of 'worship' shows the spiritual termination of some people's soul already. Where is that line when faith becomes moribund? The spirutal event horizon where one can no longer turn back? When is it terminal?

All of this says more about the spiritual state of the modern world than ever before. We are turning away from the religion of our fathers for want of a proper guide. We perish for want of the knowledge of God and turn to idols instead. We are using advances in technology to spiritually go backwards. 

#bible #christ #gospel #christian #idols #kannon #idolatry #terminator #AI #dualistic #trans-humanism #transhuman #genderless #sexless