On the other hand it might be quite a good thing to have any religious
opposition start its opposition now, when the technology doesn't exist, and
therefore is less threatening. If they can be whipped into a "holy furor"
over something that doesn't yet exist, they can be ridiculed the way that
serious opposition to genetic research was in the late 70's.
Tell a populace that they "shouldn't" or "can't" do something, and you will
find them flocking to it.
Robert Maplethorpe's exhibitions would have been little noticed events save
for the efforts of the opposition to them.
If the opposition bases its case largely on the Book of Revelation rather
than serious discussion of the downsides of nanotech, and the social upheavals
it will cause, then much of the battle will have been ceded to the pro nano
side.
Kyle L. Webb Dept. of Physics + Astronomy
kwebb@astro.phys.unm.edu University of New Mexico