> So I guess the question I've been alluding to is this: what is morality, anyway?
>Is it something we have because God or society says so,
Yes.
>or is it ingrained in man?
Yes.
>Are morals with us at birth,
Yes.
>in which case, man can be trusted to make these potentially earth-shattering decisions,
No.
>or is morality just another word for obedience?
I could go either way.

> What does the Bible say about a technology that could bring an end to suffering and to disease and to hunger, but which could also be used to the opposite effect, destroying everything? God has given no mandate about that.

Purposefully, I think. I think a lot of these decisions
come down to personal preference. It's not an immoral sin
to choose to make use of a microwave. Nor is it a sin to
avoid it. I'm sure whoever the person was who made the
decision to create and market microwaves for home use was not
committing a sin, nor would he have had he decided not to.
A lot of these questions are personal choices. Different
things may happen to society with different choices,
but there may be nothing immoral about either one.

The other thing to consider is that, when there IS a moral question
that matters one way or another, the relevant biblical
guidelines for making that decision often take into
consideration the motivation of the person making the decision.
A right decision made for the wrong reasons may work out fine
for society, but the decision maker isn't going to be pleasing
God with his choice. I've forgotten what the original question
was and, as you mentioned you did, forgot what point
I had, but I'm moderately sure what I'm saying
now is somehow applicable to something somewhere.

> > The best we can hope for
> > is that each person who has a hand in the
> > development and/or implementation of technology
> > will make an intelligent, informed decision
> > based on the best interests of God and humanity.
>
> So, we guess? We just throw dice, and if it comes up odd, we go for it?

No. You make an intelligent, informed decision
based on the best interests of God and humanity.
Everybody is going to perceive this differently,
which is why I believe the best we could possibly
hope to come up with for a tangible answer is
that we each make honest moral decisions on the
individual level, in the interests of God and
humanity. Who makes these decisions? Whoever is
in a position to. I personally am in a position
to influence (in whatever small way) the direction
taken by my department of the software engineering group of
the computer networking company I work for. I
also have RinkWorks under my control and am
responsible for the decisions I make concerning that.
Those two things are my two little niches in the
technological world. I hope my decisions are
moral ones, favorable to God and the people who
are ultimately influenced by my work. It is of
great relief to me that my decisions will almost
certainly have a lesser impact on humanity than
those of the inventor of the microwave. God will
hold me as accountable either way, but at least
I won't have all of humanity after me in addition
if I screw up.