How we cite our quotes: (Act.Paragraph)
Quote #1
HELENA: It is said that man is the creation of God.
DOMIN: So much the worse. God had no grasp of modern technology. (prologue.93-94)
God had to work with knives and bearskins. Man has factories. So man has surpassed God, and doesn't need Him anymore. Or so Domin thinks. At the end it seems like God may have a grasp of modern technology after all…
Quote #2
It knows right well that it's better'n they are and that it comes from God. Even the horse shies away when it meets up with one of those heathens. Why, they don't even bear young, and even a dog bears young, everything bears young….
I'm telling you, churning out these machine-made dummies is against the will of God. (1.35)
Nana thinks that the robots are against God. As evidence, she says that robots don't bear young, and that everything of God's is supposed to bear young. The play seems to agree, insofar as the robots seem to stop people from having kids by some mystical method. But of course not all people have children, and some people are even unable to have children. Does that mean that they're an offense against God? Is religion mostly about procreation? That's the case in R.U.R., but it's not clear that Christian theologians would agree.
Quote #3
God, enlighten Domin and all those who err. Destroy their work and help people return to their former worries and labor…Rid us of the Robots, and protect Mrs. Helena, amen. (1.191)
Alquist also believes, like Nana, that the robots are against God, though he focuses on labor (making stuff) rather than on labor (having babies). Again, though, you have to wonder whether religion is really supposed to be about work and babies rather than about, say, loving one another or treating each other right.