Faith Exhibited in Religion and Technology

There are the stories about a man (Jesus) walking on water and referring to his friend as one with little faith because he was afraid to give it a try. This is a peculiar story, but one that can be paralleled as the case is made about the varying degrees of faith and the possibility that we all could claim some faith specificity. Although, there seems to be no other recent documents supporting similar expressions of faith, it may be worthwhile stating support for these concepts. On one hand, there is the colossally mysterious religious concept of faith, and on the other, the concept of simple acceptance of a set of beliefs. This study will oscillate between these two specific concepts provided by Newman (2004). It is important that faith is clearly defined. Newman (2004) gives us the definitions of faith and religion upon which we will build for this study. Faith is “a general religious attitude or accepted set of personal beliefs ” (p.103). She goes on with the definition of religion that rests on this bipod: “….systems or structures consisting of specific kinds of beliefs and practices: beliefs and practices that are related to superhuman beings ” (p. 105) for the theological apologists, and “a stable cluster of values, norms, statuses, roles, and groups developed around a basic social need ” for the sociological apologists. Emile Durkheim’s assertions have been that “religion promotes shared values, intense interaction, and strong social bonds ” (Breault 1986:629). Spirituality, although not one of this study’s foci but will be referred to, is simply defined as “a state of being ” (p. 106). Finally, Volti’s definition of technology as “a system that uses knowledge and organization to produce objects and techniques for the attainment [of] specific goals, ” and “….is developed and applied in order to do things not otherwise possible, ” will suit this study best. It is upon this foundation that we build the thesis tha