Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Technaholics? part 1

I picked up a book on my shelf that I bought about 10 years ago at a national youth convention. The book is all about taking a break from technology addiction for the sake of focusing on Jesus. It proudly proclaims that this will be the "30 hardest days of your life."

I have mixed emotions about this concept. On one hand, it seems quite ludicrous that we'd demonize technology and the gadgets it brings as things that get in the way of our relationship w/ God. It is in some ways a very Cartesian dualistic understanding of the world where there is a very strong divide between the sacred and the secular. I wholeheartedly reject that concept for reasons that will have to be the topic of another blog on another day.

To show the silliness of the concept that technology is evil, imagine the following scenario. We should all quit driving cars because we spend so much time in them and they get in the way of our relationships that are right around us (within walking distance)... OR We need to throw our cell phones in the trash b/c we talk on them constantly and that time could be better spent in prayer.... Really??? What about all the Kingdom work that is accomplished through the ability to be transported via automobile? What about all the encouraging and helpful phone calls made on cell phones that strategically move people toward Jesus? Should we embrace Asceticism and all become monks or nuns? Or, should we go the way of the Amish? Where do we draw the line here? I have some thoughts on that....(to be continued tomorrow)

1 comment:

Nurk said...

Reminds me of this Monty Python quote:
Interviewer Was it a terribly violent area?
Mrs Simmel (laughs deprecatingly) Oh ho......yes. Cheerful and violent. I remember Doug was very keen on boxing, until he learned to walk, then he took up putting the boot in the groin. Oh he was very interested in that. His mother had such trouble getting him to come in for his tea. He'd be out there putting his little boot in, you know, bless him. You know kids were very different then. They didn't have their heads filled with all this Cartesian dualism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygg2KlicnOQ