Playing God

I'm sick of the "playing god" trope.  Sci-Fi Network's (or as they spell it, Syfy) newest show, Helix, has based the entire ad campaign around this nonsense. The show might also, or it might not, I don't know because the advertising left me cold and annoyed.



"Play God, Pay the Price" we're told; a phrase so patronizingly stupid it could only have been coined by a young earth creationist. Possibly while suffering from head trauma. I'd love to find the regressive quarter-wit who came up with this campaign, so I could introduce some head trauma of my own, preferably in the form of a '64 Buick. Or at least its tire iron.
Allow me to explain something to the mouth-breathing, Duck Dynasty-watching, Honey Boo Boo's mothers of the world: we "play god" every time we turn on a bloody light switch. "Playing god" is, effectively, harnessing nature. Any and every time we bend nature to human will, we are "playing god." Jack Kavorkian put it best: "... any time you tamper with the natural order, you're playing god."
Damn right, Jack. But no, again and again we're shown science and technology as scary monsters to be feared and distrusted. This ties into the natural fallacy. But let me remind you why it's a fallacy: everything found in nature, isn't good for you. Nature produces arsenic, parasites, bacteria, viruses, and things that will eat you. Conversely, things that are not natural include your computer, your car, your clothing (natural fibers, maybe, but still had to be made by human hand), and eating with a fork.
You don't want to play god? Enjoy eating whatever you can find, with your bare hands, without a fire, in a cave, getting dysentery. I'll stay in my house, with electric lights, the internet, and utensils.