“Resistance is Futile":   The Inevitable Advent of the Android Deity—Catholic Faith and Metal Beasts

Deacon James H. Toner’s “Paired Power Principle” holds that whoever or whatever can produce great good can also spawn grave evil.  Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), promising to be the faithful scientific servant of humankind, may, instead, reveal itself as humankind’s dystopian master.  Are the technological marvels swirling around us the signals of genuine progress, in which we may take delight, or are they the noise of an imminent peril, about which we should have deep concern? Are we on a centuries-long path to stunning improvements in daily life, or are we still participating in the greatest lie ever told—that we can be as God (Gen 3:5)? From John Milton’s Satan, who pleaded, “Evil, be thou my good”; to Mary Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein, consumed by the passion to know “the secrets of heaven and earth”; to W. E. Henley’s poem insisting that a human must be the “master of [his] fate and the captain of [his] soul”; from early Babylonian, Greek, and Roman “divine” despots; to contemporary ruthless dictators; from Icarus who could, he thought, fly to the sun (only to crash into the sea); to the warnings against such sinful self-divinization in Isaiah the Prophet (14:14-15)—we will examine the drama of bio-technology and of the insatiable political-scientific lust for power in the context of the admonitions of Christ’s Church against the all-consuming arrogance often and violently seizing the human spirit.  Are abortion, euthanasia, in-vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research, eugenics, gender transition, surrogacy, and transhumanism rudimentary signs of and steps toward an encroaching biotechnological hubris which sears the soul and swears that, by uploading our minds into machines, we can live forever as cyborgs, doing and being whatever we choose? Is the universe a computer program, and are we only helpless, hopeless players in it? Have we swallowed the “blue pill” of The Matrix?  Is the Augustinian “City of Man” paradise or perdition, Heaven or Hell? Or is there a “City of God,” for which, with divine grace, we seek and toward which, with Christ’s gifts of valor and virtue, we struggle in this vale of tears? And is it finally and fully true that those willfully and insolently outside the city (i.e., outside the Church) “are the dogs, the sorcerers, the unchaste, the murderers, the idol-worshipers, and all who love and practice deceit” [Rev 22:15 NAB]?  If Sacred Scripture teaches that the “worship of idols . . . is the beginning and end, the cause and the result, of every evil” (Wisdom 14:27), has our idolatrous obsession with Technopoly (Neil Postman’s term) replaced our love of God? Have we again—this time fatally—abandoned the First Commandment?  We need to talk!  Let’s do so . . . at The Greenbrier.

Deacon Toner, of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, holds an M.A. in Government from William & Mary and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Notre Dame. He is Professor Emeritus of International Relations & Military Ethics at the U.S. Air War College, Maxwell AFB, AL.  A graduate of Infantry Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia, and of the airborne school there, he served honorably on active duty in the Army from 1968 to 1972, attaining the rank of Captain. He has published multiple books, essays, and reviews (principally about politics, military affairs, and ethics), and his columns (chiefly about bioethics and virtue education) have been recently featured in The Catholic Thing, Crisis Magazine,  Homiletic & Pastoral Review, The Imaginative Conservative, One Peter 5, and The Wanderer, among many others. He has taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy (CO)--where he was selected as “Distinguished Visiting Chair of Character Development”--and at the University of Notre Dame (IN), Auburn University (AL), Norwich University (VT), and Holy Apostles College & Seminary (CT). He has been an invited speaker at universities such as the University of Vienna (Austria), Texas A&M, the Naval War College (RI), the University of San Diego (CA), the University of Portland (OR), Saint Anselm College (NH), Fairfield University (CT), and many others.  He has appeared on EWTN and has made presentations on pastoral ethics to military chaplains at conferences in Honolulu, Hawaii, and in Washington, D.C. He was ordained to the diaconate in 2004 at the beautiful Cadet Catholic Chapel of the U.S. Air Force Academy by Bishop Michael Sheridan, of Colorado Springs, Colorado.  He and his late wife Rebecca, both originally from Monson, Massachusetts, have three sons and twelve grandchildren.

For centuries, The Greenbrier has stood as a gathering place for the most influential figures of our time. With an illustrious guest list boasting 28 U.S. Presidents to date, this iconic destination has played host to pivotal moments in history, where leaders convened to exchange ideas, forge alliances, and shape the course of nations. Beyond presidents, The Greenbrier’s allure extends to the world’s royalty, renowned celebrities, and revered luminaries.

Thursday

Day At Leisure (For Early Arrivals)

Friday

Arrivals

Afternoon at Leisure

4:15     Afternoon Tea     Main Lobby

6:00     Group Dinner     Colonnade Room

9:00     Movie     Greenbrier Theatre

Saturday

6:00     Breakfast     Main Dining Room

8:00     General Session     Chesapeake Room 

9:45-10:00     Break     Hall 

10:00     General Session     Chesapeake Room

12:00     Lunch at Leisure

1:00-2:00     Q&A     Chesapeake Room

Afternoon at Leisure

4:15     Afternoon Tea     Main Lobby

6:00     Adoration     St. Charles Borromeo

Sunday

8:30     Confession     St. Charles Borromeo

9:00     Mass     St. Charles Borromeo

11:00     Departure

Reservations to The Greenbrier:

$225/night*

Plus WV Sales tax (6%), Occupancy Tax (3%), Historic Preservation Trust (9.75%), and Resort Fee $29

*Rates available Thursday - Sunday.  Thursday for early arrivals, Friday-Sunday for the retreat proper.  Rooms are assigned run of house, no rooms smaller than a double will be assigned, larger rooms, suites, and cottages subject to availability for same cost.  Specific rooms can be requested at additional cost during registration, run of house rooms will be assigned at check in and are not guaranteed to be of any certain type above the minimum.

Payable to Our Lady of Grace:

Retreat fee: $375/person*

$325/person for couples

Includes: Plated dinner on Friday, refreshments, Saturday morning breakfast buffet, taxes, and gratuities.

*Maximum fee based on minimum attendance.  If registration exceeds minimum, the retreat fee will be reduced for all attendees.

Transportation may be available for a small additional fee based on demand.