We Live In A Political World: #201 / Ecce Homo

The title of my blog posting today, "Ecce Homo," is meant to refer to the picture above, which appeared in an article in the March 31, 2025, edition of The Wall Street Journal. The title of my blog posting today is intended to reflect a sense of irony. If you will click here, you can read a Wikipedia write-up that discusses the origin of this phrase. Or, you can avoid the need to click if you will be satisfied with this somewhat truncated version:

"Ecce Homo" are "the Latin words supposedly used by Pontius Pilate, as he presented a scourged Jesus, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before Jesus' crucifixion (John 19:5)."

The article that stimulated today's blog posting (and that is associated with the photo I have used) is titled, "China Cranks Up Humanoid-Robot Effort." That is the hardcopy version of the headline. As is not unusual, the online version is different. The Wall Street Journal article outlines efforts in both China and the United States to create more or less life-size humanoid robots that can be substituted for genuine human beings, with respect to various "applications." Why do that? Well, why not? It's pretty clear that the robots will end up outpacing and outperforming humans, so why settle for second best?

It currently takes two robots around 12 seconds to load a container onto a truck together, compared with three seconds for human workers.... The robots are expected to get faster—and they can work around the clock. Zeekr, the luxury carmaker, said that the tests were carried out in nonproduction areas and that the development of humanoids was in the early stages.

Several American producers of humanoids are experimenting with robots in industrial settings. One of them, the Amazon.com-backed startup Agility Robotics, has been testing the ability of its humanoids to sort and move parcels in Amazon warehouses since 2023.

This being a Sunday, I have thought that my Biblical reference, and a little "theological" reflection, might be in order. If you do read the Wikipedia write-up, you will learn that the words of Pontius Pilate were intended to mock Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of God. In a similar way, those promoting the development of robots, to replace humans, are mocking us (the humans) for our inability to deliver what the robots can, while still, somehow, thinking ourselves "superior" to the robots. Are we "superior"? Well, it seems to me that the answer to that question depends, entirely, on what you think is the correct way to measure us. Loading boxes into trucks? We're going to end up on the losing side. Love, empathy, and creativity? Well, we might be the winners, there.

The thought that came to my mind, as I read The Wall Street Journal on Monday, March 31st, is that the rush to create "robots" that can outperform us should be seen, "theologically" speaking, as a human effort to substitute our own creation for what God has created. Of course, this observation is based on the idea that we are living, ultimately, in a world that we did not ceate ourselves, and that the phrase "the world that God created" is reflective of a meaningful truth.

Those who have read the Bible, and who have believed, or who have otherwise come to believe, that there is a God, and that God is the ultimate Creator of everything, understand that Jesus was not simply a "man," as Pontius Pilate proclaimed, but, actually, was (and is) "God with us." The whole story of Jesus' birth, life, death, and ressurection is to make clear that this is true, and that we are beloved of God. However, to accept that message we need humbly to recognize that we are "creatures," and not, ultimately, "creators."

Of course, we ARE "creators." In fact, the "Human World," in which we most immediately live, is a human creation, and we have an almost plenary ability to construct it as we choose. The "World of Nature," though, upon which we are ultimately dependent, is a world into which we have been, rather mysteriously, born. That world, the world that sustains us, and everything we do, and everything that we are, is the "World That God Created."

Our failure to recognize this truth can lead us to reject or depreciate ourselves, in favor of our own creations, as when we choose robots over humans as we build a future for ourselves and our children. That's a mistake, and another one is to ignore the limits that are inherent in the "World of Nature," the "World That God Created."

The picture below is a "Climate Clock." Time is running out!

End of theological lesson for today!