Many things have been written about the recent passing of Steve Jobs. Now, I am somewhat Amish when it comes to new technologies; I prefer the tried and true and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I have a 30 year old microwave, I am still using a land-line, and I am still using dial-up though that is about to change due to necessity. That is just to give a bit of background to say that on a personal level Steve Jobs didn't change my life that much. But that does not mean I don't appreciate what the man did. I am quite content to leave all that technology to much younger people; I pick and choose what I want to use and what I don't.
I have heard it said that when a person dies it is like losing part of an encyclopedia (or maybe I should say Wikipedia). We lost far more than that when Steve Jobs died. I stand in awe of people like him, who can take an idea and make it reality. We need more people like Steve Jobs. We need to encourage our children to create and invent. I see such a lack of imagination among children where I live and it makes me weep.
Apparently Steve Jobs was a private person (nothing wrong about that; we need more of that too!). So I don't know what his religion was or if he even had any. What difference does it make? Well, I have noticed that there seems to be a relationship between religion and creativity in that many of the people who have changed the way we live by their inventions and discoveries don't seem to be very religious, while the people who wear their religion on their sleeves aren't known for anything else but that. Take Thomas Edison; he was very outspoken against religion. The Wright brothers spent more time in their bicycle shop than they did studying the Bible. I have often wondered why this is the case.
Recently my pastor and I were talking about autism (he has an autistic child) and mental conditions in general and I said to him that I was surprised that more Christians weren't involved in brain research since it is through the brain that we encounter Jesus; you would think that they would want to learn about conditions that would impair that ability given how much importance Christianity places on it--I mean this is an issue of eternal damnation and salvation we are talking about. He was a little surprised but he said he agreed with me. Yet, I read everything I can get my hands on about what is being discovered about how the brain works, and none of it is written from any kind of religious perspective! I would say that is one of the things that led me into agnosticism.
I have heard it said that when a person dies it is like losing part of an encyclopedia (or maybe I should say Wikipedia). We lost far more than that when Steve Jobs died. I stand in awe of people like him, who can take an idea and make it reality. We need more people like Steve Jobs. We need to encourage our children to create and invent. I see such a lack of imagination among children where I live and it makes me weep.
Apparently Steve Jobs was a private person (nothing wrong about that; we need more of that too!). So I don't know what his religion was or if he even had any. What difference does it make? Well, I have noticed that there seems to be a relationship between religion and creativity in that many of the people who have changed the way we live by their inventions and discoveries don't seem to be very religious, while the people who wear their religion on their sleeves aren't known for anything else but that. Take Thomas Edison; he was very outspoken against religion. The Wright brothers spent more time in their bicycle shop than they did studying the Bible. I have often wondered why this is the case.
Recently my pastor and I were talking about autism (he has an autistic child) and mental conditions in general and I said to him that I was surprised that more Christians weren't involved in brain research since it is through the brain that we encounter Jesus; you would think that they would want to learn about conditions that would impair that ability given how much importance Christianity places on it--I mean this is an issue of eternal damnation and salvation we are talking about. He was a little surprised but he said he agreed with me. Yet, I read everything I can get my hands on about what is being discovered about how the brain works, and none of it is written from any kind of religious perspective! I would say that is one of the things that led me into agnosticism.
