I had an interesting epiphany the other day following archaeology class. In class we were discussing the moral and ethical issues surrounding the destruction of shrines in Africa by Christian zealots. Someone commented that the burning of the shrines would ensure that future generations would be oblivious to today's African religious beliefs while I, on the other hand, stated that the burning of the shrines could actually help to preserve them in the archaeological record making them available to be studied in the far future. Suddenly the girl sitting next to me swung around in her chair, starred at me intensely (and rather aggressively), and said "you are assuming that the world is going to be post-apocalyptic or something, that there won't be video and pictures?" to which I responded with a surprised tone "yeah."
As I thought back on the exchange between this young girl and myself, I realized that my view of the future of our world is much different than the vision shared by others. While some hold onto the belief that we as a people will continue to prosper and technology will continue to advance (Star Trek-like), I am equally as certain that our world will be bombed back to the stone ages or a disease will wipe out a majority of the population forcing the few remaining to relearn all the progress that has been made. Think Revelations and the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is what I believe to be our future!
I was honestly and truly confused at first by this young girl's comments, but the more I thought about it, the more appreciative I was for the conversation. It made me realize something about myself which I hadn't given much thought to and had assumed that everyone else around me shared the same opinion. Her vision of the future is a nice one and I pray she is right, but sadly I think my vision is more on par for the course.
As I thought back on the exchange between this young girl and myself, I realized that my view of the future of our world is much different than the vision shared by others. While some hold onto the belief that we as a people will continue to prosper and technology will continue to advance (Star Trek-like), I am equally as certain that our world will be bombed back to the stone ages or a disease will wipe out a majority of the population forcing the few remaining to relearn all the progress that has been made. Think Revelations and the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is what I believe to be our future!
I was honestly and truly confused at first by this young girl's comments, but the more I thought about it, the more appreciative I was for the conversation. It made me realize something about myself which I hadn't given much thought to and had assumed that everyone else around me shared the same opinion. Her vision of the future is a nice one and I pray she is right, but sadly I think my vision is more on par for the course.
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