NOTHING BEYOND THE FLESH: THE THEOCRACY OF PRIMA MATERIA
PART 2 of 5

 

 

 

Phillip D. Collins
October 7, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

The Theocracy of Science

Of course, with human knowledge apotheosized, the instruments of knowledge attain a quasi-divine status as well. Commensurate with this deification of knowledge is the virtual canonization of science. The word "science" is derived from the Latin word scientia, which means "knowing." As a form of "knowing," science is inevitably consecrated as the new incarnation of divine revelation. In fact, the consecratory processing of science was consummated years ago with the Baconian dictum: nam et ipsa scientia potestas est ("Knowledge itself is power"). As a catalyst for the potential expansion of human power, science enjoys secular humanism's deepest veneration and has been accorded absolute epistemological primacy. This is known as scientism.

Scientism is, in essence, the fetishization of science. It holds aloft the investigational methods of science as the sole criteria for establishing truth. Premised as it is upon empiricism and quantification, scientific observation is restricted to physical phenomena. Thus, only phenomena that are observable and quantifiably demonstrable are eligible for serious consideration. From the vantage point of scientism, research regarding supra-sensible entities does not qualify as a credible field of study. In his article "The Shamans of Scientism," Michael Shermer describes scientism as:

Scientism should not be confused with legitimate science. Its epistemological rigidity would probably discourage the genuinely investigative mind. Ironically, many of the minds that shaped modern science were not nearly as rigid. Arguably, if the innovators of previous generations had labored under such pathological skepticism, then many of them would have never discovered the breakthroughs in science and technology that this current generation enjoys. Researcher Michael Hoffman makes the distinction between science and scientism in his book Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare:

Concerning this important distinction, Rama Coomaraswamy states:

Convinced that their outlook encompasses the "totality of truth," the shamans of scientism are overtly hostile towards supernatural explanations. According to their criteria, all inquiry must be restricted to this ontological plane of existence. Shermer succinctly voices this so-called "modern attitude":

Scientism is epistemological imperialism. It stipulates the ecumenical imposition of science upon all fields of study. No doubt, a majority of contemporary thinkers would regard this universal extrapolation of science as desirable. After all, science has contributed to the technological advancement of human society. It harnessed electricity through the light bulb, cured illnesses through inoculations, and traversed space through rockets. Surely, such a force could equally enhance the human condition if applied to questions of history, morality, and governance.

However, the contemporary mind, blinded as it is by its own chronocentricism, has failed to recognize a significant shortcoming in the investigational methods of science.

Michael Hoffman reveals this shortcoming:

Indeed, as a system of quantification, science can concern itself only with quantifiable entities. Items that defy quantification must be precluded. This prompts a disturbing question. Exactly what items must an exclusively scientific outlook omit? The answer is provided in The Report from Iron Mountain, a document purporting to be the product of a secret government think tank:

An exclusively scientific approach jettisons all "axiomatic values." The "esthetic and moral judgments" that preserve man's humanity must be totally disregarded in a purely scientistic society. In fact, man himself must be altered. Because man's humanity poses a problem for a state governed according to a system of quantification, that particular attribute of his being must be expunged. Hoffman provides an eloquent summation:

The truncated pyramid mounted by the "All Seeing Eye" represents the blueprint according to which society is being re-sculpted. It is the standard schematic for authoritarian governments, which ride into dominance astride the epistemological imperialism of scientism.

Techgnosis: The Mastery of Man and Matter

Martin explains that the humanist precursors to speculative Masonry desired "a special gnosis" (520). They believed that this "special gnosis" was a "secret knowledge of how to master the blind forces of nature for a sociopolitical purpose" (520). The subjugation and manipulation of nature is a theme consistently recapitulated by sociopolitical Utopians. For the sociopolitical Utopian, science represents a "special gnosis" designed to master man and matter. It is an instrument for the re-sculpting of prima materia and "immanentizing the Eschaton." Raschke explains:

Sir Francis Bacon was a member of a secret society called the Order of the Helmet (Howard 74). The organization's name was derived from Pallas Athene, the Greek goddess of wisdom who was portrayed wearing a helmet (Howard 74). Although regarded as an innovator of science by orthodox academia, Bacon's studies mostly embraced occultism. In his youth, Bacon was "a student of Hermetic, Gnostic, and neo-Platonist philosophy and had studied the Cabbala" (Howard 74).

Allegedly, Bacon was also a Grand Master of the secret Rosicrucian Order (Howard 74). The Rosicrucians were closely associated with Freemasonry (Howard 50). In fact, a Rosicrucian poem written in 1638 voices the organization's close ties with the Lodge (Howard 50). It reads, "For what we pessage is not in grosse, for we brethen of the Rosie Crosse, we have the Mason's Word and second sight, things to come we can foretell aright. . ." (qutd. in Howard 50). In other words, Rosicrucians knew the "inner secrets of Freemasonry and possessed the psychic power to predict the future" (Howard 50). [See DVD: "Secret Mysteries of America's Beginnings - The New Atlantis"]

In 1627, Bacon published a novel entitled The New Atlantis (Howard 74). The pages of Bacon's book were adorned with Freemasonic symbols, such as "the compass and square, the two pillars of Solomon's temple and the blazing triangle, and the eye of God, indicating his association with the secret societies who supported his Utopian concepts" (Howard 75). The novel "describes the creation of the Invisible College advocated in Rosicrucian writings" (Howard 74). This Rosicrucian mandate for an "Invisible College" was realized with the formation of the Royal Society in 1660 (Howard 57). Author Frank Fischer provides a most elucidating description of Bacon's "Utopian concepts":

A technocratic society, or Technocracy, can be defined as follows:

"Technocracy" is a very interesting appellation to assign such a form of governance. It is attached to the Greek word techne, which means "craft." Simply defined, "crafting" is the skillful creation of something. Hence, expressions such as "outstanding craftsmanship" or a "master of the craft." In the context of sociopolitical Utopianism, "crafting" is the skillful creation (or, more succinctly, re-sculpting) of reality itself. The "special gnosis" of science has provided the means through techne. Mark Pesce, co-inventor of Virtual Reality Modeling Language, elaborates: "The enduring archetype of techne within the pre-Modern era is magic, of an environment that conforms entirely to the will of being." (No pagination)

Commenting upon techne's role in manipulating matter, Pesce writes: "Each endpoint of techne has an expression in the modern world as a myth of fundamental direction--the mastery of matter. . ." (no pagination; emphasis added). This may, in part, explain the sociopolitical Utopian's preoccupation with the physical universe. One of its chief constituent components is matter, which can be mastered through the sorcery of science. Again, all the elements of a mystical belief system are present. All that the modern scientific materialists have done is exchange one form of mysticism for another. Technocracy is merely the modern incarnation of occult theocracies like Babylon and Egypt. It is the latest political expression for a system of manipulation through sorcery and alchemy.

Bacon's Utopian vision a technocratic world government ruled by "experts," particularly scientists was a "scientific dictatorship." In Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley defines a "scientific dictatorship" as follows:

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Wielding ostensible epistemic primacy, the "experts" of Technocracy employ the gnosis of science to produce "enough bread, enough circuses, enough miracles, and mysteries" for their subjects. Distracted by all of the comforts that technology can supply, most men and women would never dream of revolting against the new theocracy of science. For part three click below.

Click Here for part -----> 1, 3, 4, 5,

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