After creating the heavens and the earth, man and woman, the fish in the sea and the birds in the air, God decided to take little break. “By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done,” the book of Genesis tells us, “and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” Sure, He can do that; He's omniscient. But if we were to take a break we might miss something.
God, of course, doesn’t have to listen to his voice mail messages, return missed cell phone calls, answer email inquiries, delete trackback spam, write blog posts, and update his PDA. Sure, he has to listen to prayers. But since prayers can’t be sent by IM or text messaging how many people really take the time to pray?
Certainly not us Christians. Ironically, we consider it peculiar that followers of Islam stop five times a day to offer prayers to Allah yet we stop five times an hour to pay homage to our email. We contend that Islam is a false religion but what is it that we are worshipping? “One of the most basic biblical insights,” says theologian J.I. Packer, “is that whatever controls and shapes one’s life is in effect the god one worships.” For many of us, the one true god to whom we give our devotion is the deity known as IT - information technology.
The late media critic Neil Postman once claimed that technology has become our god in the sense that:
“…people believe technology works, that they rely on it, that it makes promises, that they are bereft when denied access to it, that they are delighted when they are in its presence, that for most people it works in mysterious ways, that they condemn people who speak against it, that they stand in awe of it, and that, in the born-again mode, they will alter their lifestyles, their schedules, their habits, and their relationships to accommodate it.”
How many of us evangelicals have sung a hymn about spending eternity worshipping God and secretly believed that heaven must be an incredible bore? No doubt one reason for our attitude is that we already give such devotion to another. And, like Jehovah, Technology is a jealous god.
But by recovering an ancient practice we can dethrone this false idol. “Sometimes we must rest from gathering information,” writes Kevin Miller in Surviving Information Overload, “just as the Israelites rested from gathering wood on the Sabbath.” Miller recommends taking an “info-techno Sabbath”, a twenty-four hour period when we turn off the cell phone, leave the PDA in the drawer, and stay away from the computer.
Ask yourself when the last time you went an entire day without the tools of information technology. Most of us would have an easier time fasting from food than from info. Yet such pauses are desperately needed for understanding and processing the information we receive. Reflection and rest is the only way that we can sift through the piles to find kernels of wisdom.
Why not take a info-techno Sabbath this weekend? Sure your synapses will scream from the perceived dehydration. After drinking from the firehouse of information a day without info tech will seem like a drought. But by unplugging the god of Technology you might just find something new in the pause – a still small voice sharing the information that truly matters.
1
Heaven a bore? We worship God by living. We worship by absorbing the wonder of creation through our senses, by being impressed by concepts so huge we can’t comprehend them, by loving, singing and dancing with sheer joy at the wonder of feeling. We worship by grasping and valuing realizations and insights that allow us to see truth, wiping lies from our eyes and seeing colors of reality.
We worship God by making love to our wives. By looking at beauty, touching it and letting it touch us. By smiling, laughing, eating, sleeping and enjoying peace.
Too many people think worshiping God requires a sacrifice because liars have convinced them that God wants sacrifice. What father wants sacrifice from his children? Anyone who waits till Sunday to worship God has the world in his eye and can’t see that our senses, or intellect, our sexuality and emotion were made by God not Satan. That lie steals worship from God and gives it to the liar.
Bored? Knowing God makes life itself a celebration every day. There are no special holidays because every day is a holy day. There is no natural because it is all supernatural. The rocks will sing and the heavens declare his glory, and I will be dancing and singing to the music and the song.
And when I am tired I will sleep, and dream of walking, flying, running and loving in God’s creation, and so worship God even in my sleep.
Church is just a place to go and rest after worshiping God so hard during the week.
Bored? I don’t think so.
G.M.
3
I don't do this nearly enough. However, I've been a counselor at a summer camp for the past several years for at least one week per summer (sometimes 6, though that figure dwindled as I got a real life). I made it a point to not use any technology save listening to some music. Last summer, I brought a laptop, but rarely used it - it didn't feel right there, and I only had a few reasons to use it - to either show some of the funny stuff I had loaded on the laptop, to import pictures I had taken (the main reason I even brought it), and to listen to music when my iPod was being borrowed.
I seriously need to take regular technology time outs.
posted on 04.15.2005 9:44 AM4
For many of us, the one true god tp whom we give our devotion is the deity known as IT - information technology. . . . And, like Jehovah, Technology is a jealous god. . . . But by recovering an ancient practice we can dethrone this false idol.
I have to say I find this post a little confusing, coming from the IT Director at a Christian ethics institute.
Ask yourself when the last time you went an entire day without the tools of information technology. . . . such pauses are desperately needed . . . Why not take a info-techno Sabbath this weekend? . . . by unplugging the god of Technology you might just find something new in the pause
In your case, an unemployment check.
5
Kevin I have to say I find this post a little confusing, coming from the IT Director at a Christian ethics institute.
Hmm, I guess that would make me a priest for a foreign god, wouldn’t it?
I don’t want the point to be taken to the extreme. I’m not a Luddite and I don’t think that information is intrinsically idolatrous. But just as with other good things in creation (i.e., money, sex), information technology can envelop more of our life than is warranted. Besides, taking a break for one day a week isn't going to turn us into the Amish.
6
Good topic. Praying 5 times a day is for cowards. We are told to pray continuously. I think I threw up a couple of short bursts today. That is continuous isn't it? OK So I’m am falling significantly short of the standard. Isn't that what Christianity is all about? We'll never get it right, God's grace just comes and says "that's ok, We'll get it next time" So I plug away again. Oh yeah, never get it right, in this world. Heaven boring? Beyond my wildest imagination it will be nothing less than perfect. A concept I am far too puny to really understand.
posted on 04.15.2005 12:20 PM7
Sabbath is an esoteric term to some, Joe...
The only relationship they may have had with it is as the second half of a rock band's name! :D
posted on 04.15.2005 1:57 PM8
“One of the most basic biblical insights,” says theologian J.I. Packer, “is that whatever controls and shapes one’s life is in effect the god one worships.” For many of us, the one true god to whom we give our devotion is the deity known as IT - information technology.
-------------------------------------
Well, if your life is being "shaped" and "controlled" by IT, rather than the other way around, I would agree that there is a problem. But the idea that I might check my e-mail 10 times daily but pray less than that is a non-sequitur. So what? Right up to about a hundred years ago I would be out plowing eight hours a day--that would be my existence. Would farming then have been considered my god, if I could only manage 15 tired minutes of prayer?
My e-mail, my cell phone, my computer--I employ all of them, as tools, to make my life more profitable and efficient. My business is wherever I happen to be with my laptop plugged in. This is progress.
9
Would farming then have been considered my god, if I could only manage 15 tired minutes of prayer?
Possibly. Farming or the money obtained by it. But, as you said, farming 8 hours a day and only praying for 15 minutes is a non-sequitur. Many farmers would pray as they were farming. Indeed, as George points out, some farmers would see farming as an act or worship.
My e-mail, my cell phone, my computer--I employ all of them, as tools, to make my life more profitable and efficient. My business is wherever I happen to be with my laptop plugged in. This is progress.
If used wisely. I think the point Joe was making is that many of those things can become a hinderance or a leash to which we can become tethered. Having a cell phone on during the Sabbath is not a problem; unless you're in the business of emergency services, running out of church to take a call is a problem. People have pretty clearly taken the assumption that you can always reach someone on his/her cell. I know when I return a call that someone made while I was eating they often don't understand why I didn't take the call in the first place. That's clearly a problem.
posted on 04.15.2005 4:41 PM10
What a nice thought! And well-expressed. I shall, in fact, try to do just that this Sunday.
There is morning Mass, God's good earth in springtime, and a book to read that actually is quite inspirational.
As I gave up reading the Sunday newspaper, thanks to you, I shall try and surrender my need for information on the Internet.
God bless you.
John
posted on 04.15.2005 4:44 PM11
Joe, it is all too easy to become reactionary to a post like yours; "Technology is not my God!" Seems to me that a little balance is what you are calling for, and many professing Christians are lacking in that area. I freely confess that I struggle with keeping my web surfing to a reasonable level, and that I should spend more time in prayer.
It might help many of us to simply keep track of our time to see how we are doing.
12
What is really amusing is that this post of Carter's came out the same day that Tom Friedman of the Times said something that those of us who know about them foreigners have known for years: the Bush regime has led to the steep and rapid decline of technology in America.
Joe Carter should worry more about the Republican gods as well as the fact that Americans have horse and buggy tech.
If we had better technology, it'd, e.g., be faster, and not control our lives so much.
But thanks to the Republicans, the Chinese, Japanese, and Europeans are better able to serve their "secular gods" because they're not bound by their technology- because it's better. Simply better.
posted on 04.15.2005 9:28 PM13
Oh, and I've commented on that aspect of Carter's post and Friedman's column on my blog.
As well as his offensive "false religion" statement.
posted on 04.15.2005 9:28 PM14
Oh, and I've commented on that aspect of Carter's post and Friedman's column on my blog.
Did you make sure to mention Friedman's creative use of facts? For example, his quote that China surpased the US in number of broadband users? Of course, with a total population over four times that of the US--almost a billion more people--is that really saying much? Of course, neither does he make the distinction between types of broadband. So much for statistics.
As well as his offensive "false religion" statement.
I'll save everyone the effort of going to your site:
I don't contend that Islam is a "false religion;" that is the religious equivalent of calling an African-American a n*&%(r. I don't call Evangelical Christianity a "false religion" even though many adherents in positions of power practice it in such a way that it increases harm to society. One wonders if Carter is enough of a bigot to call Judaism a "false religion.
Sorry, mumon, but the assertion that calling a religion false is equivalent to disparaging a whole race is ridiculous. First, religions are based on a set of propositions which may or may not be true. Race is based on genetic differences as well as, in many cases, distinct differences in appearance. Those things are beyond dispute. Second, races don't carry with them any sort of inherent moral value. I find myself surprised that I even have to draw such observations.
Furthermore, claim that certain Evangelicals practice Christianity in a way that is harmful to society doesn't necessarily reflect on the truthfulness of the religion. One needs to debate the teachings of the belief rather than imperfect practices of that belief. After all, isn't that what everyone was warned to do after 9/11? Oh yeah, one more thing, I don't have a single problem calling any religion that denies Christ a false religion--even Judaism. And I suspect the vast majority of practicing Jews would say as much about Christianity. Now, you can try to portray me as a Nazi, but I'm telling you that this is reality. No two conflicting claims can both be true. Jesus can't be both a false messiah and the True Messiah, can He? No, of course not.
posted on 04.15.2005 10:24 PM15
Mumon's reference to the Bush "regime" is quite a little giveaway.
posted on 04.16.2005 1:16 AM16
Here's another ridiculus statement:
Joe Carter should worry more about the Republican gods as well as the fact that Americans have horse and buggy tech. If we had better technology, it'd, e.g., be faster, and not control our lives so much. But thanks to the Republicans, the Chinese, Japanese, and Europeans are better able to serve their "secular gods" because they're not bound by their technology- because it's better. Simply better.
It appears mumon is information is not quite up to speed (perhaps he'll blame that too on Republicans):
Another factor which has increased women's hours is the use of information technology (IT). IT is now used in 64% of women's jobs, compared to in only 51% in 1992. By 2000, however, women using IT in their jobs worked 3.4 hours per week longer than non-users.
And where are these slaves to technology? Why, in the U.K where they are unencumbered by suposed Republican luddites.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1530355.stm
And what about the claim that faster technology means we have more control over our lives? Well, this is an old study but I think the lesson is apropos:
Hard-working Americans clocked 1,966 hours at work in 1997 compared with 1,883 hours in 1980, according to a United Nations study released this fall.
http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/printer.pat%2Clocal/37741053.c07%2C.html
If we are to believe mumon, the above study would mean that we had better technology in 1980 than we did in 1997. Is that likely? Or is it more likely that technology, while aiding productivity, has also added a new dimension to our work and personal lives? A new dimension that costs one very precious commodity: time.
This are but a few examples. The problem is that there is always work to be done. There are always calls to be taken. There's always an e-mail to be answered. The problem is not the speed of the technology, its not knowing how to use that technology wisely.
posted on 04.16.2005 2:09 AM17
Mr Ed:
You really, truly, 100% don't get it one iota, don't you?
The Chinese went from $100/year per capita income to basically surpass us in broadband adoption.
In 15 years.
Before you try to apologize for true ignorance displayed on these pages, why don't you get a visa and go to Shanghai.
Seriously.
You don't have even the barest beginnings of the twinge of a clue.
The Chinese - who are on the heels of the Japanese, Koreans, and Europeans- are a leading force in the adoption of what's called "4G" technology.
Pop quiz: what's the estimated deployment of 3G technology in the US?
18
Regarding "false religions" I think it's a bit off-topic in these pages, and commenters here are invited to comment on my blog on it.
Suffice it to say, religions are not a set of propositions. Religions are not simply ideas, although to one who acts like it it is simply a jeu d'esprit it would not surpise me that their behavior might exhibit a large degree of moral turpitude.
I would suspect, though, that if you were a Coptic Christian in Egypt, you'd view the whole issue of Christianity being called a "false religion" entirely differently.
Religions are ways of life that are practiced. Thus to call one's religion false is to call one's life itself false. It is the same as calling them false, for "they" are a result of these choices and practices and hence, is in the very, very same category as that racial epithet.
I would hope that Mr. Carter- and you- express to people of non-Christian religions, and Muslims especially, a heartfelt apology.
Maybe you didn't know that this was the case, but really, in this day and age there's no excuse for such behavior.
Oh, and about women: correlate "IT" techonology with income will you?
And you might not want to correlate adoption and leadership in IT technology with time off from work...turns out the Germans and Japanese and French, beat us like a gong on that one.
Really, whaddaya do for a living Ed?
Sounds to me like it's not anything that ever goes within 10Km of a foreigner...
posted on 04.16.2005 8:29 AM19
Joe Carter,
You wrote: ". . .But just as with other good things in creation (i.e., money, sex), . . "
What makes you think money is part God's creation?
G.M.
posted on 04.16.2005 9:36 AM20
Information is spirit. Some of it comes from God, but some of it comes from the father of lies. For this reason Joe Carter is right to suggest we need a break from information technology; we need time to sort out what comes at us and decide what is true or false.
Here is another reason for an IT break: It is easy to put words out quickly. All of creation was made with words. Our own words create images in the minds of others. We need to be careful with what goes out from us even more than with what comes in; we are defiled by what goes out from us rather than into us (Matthew 15:11). Sin is an outward manifestation of wrong information; a lie has no power until we believe it, but believing a lie lets us act on it and acting on a lie is “sin”.
Creation is God's design. Creation has a lot to say about God's word - because it is God’s words (John 1:1). That is why I think “nature” is all supernatural. Creation is not God, but it is God’s IT.
Lay down on the ground at night in a place you can see the stars. Understand that you are shooting through space at thousands of miles per hour. There is a shield over you that you can’t see or touch, but it burns up stardust before you can be harmed. Just a few miles above your eyes the cold is so intense we would freeze to death in moments and there is no oxygen. The limited amount of light rays we are designed to see reflect back to us from the moon and planets. Earth’s sun casts a shadow through space that we can’t see unless the moon gets in the way. Millions of stars so huge that they make our own sun seem small are literally lifetimes away from us, but they balance our universe delicately and precisely. We are upon a “womb” that preserves life, surrounded by arrangements of space and matter acting as a body that is organized to support that womb. Here we are plastered to the earth’s surface by the mysterious force we call gravity; a speck existing on an earth ship that is directed by God alone. And we are another speck in the sky - declaring with the heavens - the glory of God.
As we lay there, connected to space, and isolated at the same time (like our relationship with God) letting light make images in our mind, we can know without doubt that man has nothing to do with this light or the image it makes. The stars are God’s IT. Isn’t it wonderful?!
It is a good idea Joe Carter.
21
Religions are ways of life that are practiced.
Mumon--Religions are not "ways of life", they are beliefs around which we organize our "way of life". I am not Amish (as an example) because I don't use technology, I don't use technology because I am Amish. It is in this way the a religion can be false. If I am a Christian (I am) and Christ did not rise from the grave (God forbid) then I believe in a false religion and I am wasting my time, in essence my life.
WRT to China surpassing us, color me skeptical. I am always skeptical of any data coming out of totalitarian regimes. Throughout the 1980's, lots of very smart people thought the USSR had passed or was close to passing us in terms of technology and economic strength. That turned out to be wrong. I am doubtful that any country can maintain, over the long-term, strong economic growth and a totalitarian political system. Eventually one will have to go and I suspect it could be very ugly either way.
posted on 04.16.2005 12:21 PM22
Rob Smith:
The very obvious fact is you change as a result of actions you do in your life. You become a different person after observing a dietary practice, a meditative practice, or a worship practice.
If you are not practicing your stated beliefs, then you're a hypocrite, but it still means that people who are practitioners of a way wind up different people because of that practice.
So, even if Christ did not rise from the dead, or if Christ never existed, if you treat people with love and charity and help the sick and imprisoned, and show favor to those who are non-Christian (remember the good Samaritan? where was Jesus saying "even though he had a false religion there?), then it doesn't matter, you have truly practiced Christianity.
I know you got your tag-line out of Paul, but I don't (obviously) take it as axiomatic that Paul's writings are somehow privileged to the point of being infallible; your example here is one instance of Paul's fallibility, frankly.
Also, you should go to China. I think you'd be shocked to find that it's not a "totalitarian" state. That was over with 25 years ago.
23
Regarding "false religions" - I've expanded on the topic here.
posted on 04.16.2005 1:25 PM24
Really, 1989 was 25 years ago. The Chi-Coms stopped cracking down on the Falun Gong AND pulled out of Tibet (I could go on) 25 years ago. Damn, I must have been a asleep for a while, guess I should read a paper.
posted on 04.16.2005 3:13 PM26
Mumon--If I read your response right, you believe that action precedes change, I think change precedes action. Using the example of Paul, his actions changed after his heart was changed, not the other way around.
While I cannot speak of other religions, you are wrong about Christianity. If you take away the Risen Christ, you take away the hope that is Chritianity. The hope that there is more to lift than sucking oxygen for 80 or so years and then nothing. Without Christ, all you have is a bunch of rules that really make no sense in the real world. Without the hope of the Risen Christ and what He promised, why would I want to "love my enemies", "turn the other cheek", or even be "kind to the sick and weak ". Without the hope of a Risen Christ, I would be much better off killing my enemies and striking hard when hit (or hitting first), and at least ignoring the sick and weak (unless they get in the way of what I want, and then...).
posted on 04.16.2005 3:51 PM27
mumon:
The Chinese went from $100/year per capita income to basically surpass us in broadband adoption.
And one has what to do with the other? Okay, mumon, let's take Saudi Arabia as an analogy. They went from having virtually no home telephones to surpassing the US in percentage of population using digital cellular. And they probably still surpass us in the use of GSM cellular technology. Is that because they are more technologically advanced? No. It's because they had no telecommunications infrastructure at all therefor they had nothing invested in maintaining that infrastructure. The scenario is similar in China. They've been behind the technology curve in internet usage so when they finally decide to develop this are they can adopt the latest technology because they have no other infrastructure to maintain.
Suffice it to say, religions are not a set of propositions. Religions are not simply ideas, although to one who acts like it it is simply a jeu d'esprit it would not surpise me that their behavior might exhibit a large degree of moral turpitude.
I never said they were. I said they were based on a set of propositions that may or may not be true. Argue all you want but you can't argue with that.
Religions are ways of life that are practiced. Thus to call one's religion false is to call one's life itself false. It is the same as calling them false, for "they" are a result of these choices and practices and hence, is in the very, very same category as that racial epithet.
I think its probably true in many cases that a person is who he is because of the influence of his religion. But does that negate the possibility that it is false? How would you prefer that it be stated? Is it rather an "untrue religion"? Or maybe you prefer a "not religion". Or should it just be left undsaid? You've spent enough time around here spouting your opinions about the incorrectness of Christianity so you don't have much wiggle room. What should I say mumon?
Really, whaddaya do for a living Ed? Sounds to me like it's not anything that ever goes within 10Km of a foreigner...
Actually, my occupation takes me around a great deal of 'foreigners'; only, when I am with them, I am usually the foreigner. What does that have to do with anything?
posted on 04.16.2005 3:58 PM28
Mr Ed :
Ah, China, leapfrogging the US 0-G technolgy. True enough, but you have to realize Europe didn't have this issue.
Regarding your other point, you still don't seem to want to face the basic point: regardless of their ideological basis, you are still talking about human beings.
You'll pardon me if I privilige human beings as they are over your ideas about what they believe.
It's sort of my version of being "pro-life."
I think its probably true in many cases that a person is who he is because of the influence of his religion. But does that negate the possibility that it is false? How would you prefer that it be stated? Is it rather an "untrue religion"? Or maybe you prefer a "not religion". Or should it just be left undsaid? You've spent enough time around here spouting your opinions about the incorrectness of Christianity so you don't have much wiggle room. What should I say mumon?
I don't really know; it's not my problem. Why not just try doing what Jesus said: Loving God with all your being, and loving your neighbor as yourself?
29
You'll pardon me if I privilige human beings as they are over your ideas about what they believe.
And you'll pardon me for telling you that this makes no sense whatsoever. What does what I think of what someone believes have any impact on how I value that person? See below?
Why not just try doing what Jesus said: Loving God with all your being, and loving your neighbor as yourself?
If I loved God would I be justified in keeping that love all to myself? If I loved my neighbor would I be justified in letting him live in bondage under a false religion without at least trying to show him the freedom he could have in Christ?
30
What does what I think of what someone believes have any impact on how I value that person?
You're not admitting that you can't separate "religion" from "what one practices," which is what one is.
If you can't see that, and act on it, you cannot, simply cannot, practice anything remotely related to respecting human life, except, perhaps in a way that's narcissistic. Which means, strictly speaking, you are incapable of loving even yourself.
So, despite your denials, you cannot follow Christian commandments and maintain your disrespect of others' practices. Besides, you don't even know - really- what they are, so for all you really, really know, it just might be you who has the problems with being in the dark.
32
For further thought on the discipline expressed in the original blog entry, I recommend Quentin Schultze's _Habits of the High-Tech Heart_, which I am currently reading. I think he would concur with your point, and carries it further.
posted on 04.18.2005 9:54 AM33
As an observant Jew, I could not respect a Christian as a religious individual if he does not believe that his religion is more correct than mine; similarly, I could not respect a muslim as a religious person if he did not believe in the prophet Mohammed, regardless of whether or not he is kind to his neighbors or prays five times a day.
One cannot serisously maintain the belief that Christ is his savior, and at the same time believe that my belief (that he is not) is just as correct. If this were the case, why be a Christian? If it is for that warm-fuzzy feeling, then I have no respect for this person as a religious individual; some people derive more pleasure from adultery, others from revenge. If it is out of convenience, then I have no respect for someone who makes the world suffer from a false-consciousness due to severe laziness.
That being said, I must clarify that this does not mean one cannot love another human who has a different opinion. My adopted brother who has down-syndrome and does not understand the concept of time believes that five minutes is the same as three hours, he still has my love and respect. But to respect his opinion as being just as true as mine would be ludicrous. No two people believe the same thing in all matters; does this mean that one cannot love or respect anyone?
There are some beliefs that earn my disrespect and should earn the disrespect of others. For example, I would show someone disrespect if he believes that blacks should be slaves, or that Jews should be murdered. These are beliefs that should not be tolerated.
However, it does not bother me if someone believes that Jews will burn in hell so long as he doesn't believe that we should be treated with disrespect because of it. As established above, if a Christian doesn't believe that I am wrong, he doesn't truly believe in his religion. And if he believes that I am wrong, it is logical that he would believe I would burn in hell because I have done nothing to save myself. This doesn't bother me because it would make me deserving of tears, not spite.
There are certain things which we tolerate and certain ideas that we don't. We should never confuse tolerance with consensus or respect with agreement; that would fly in the face of democracy and the American way.
posted on 04.18.2005 7:53 PM34
Well, speaking of respect, I give my utmost respect to the anonymous Jewish poster! Dude, you rock! Thank you for such intelligent, clear, and logical thinking. And a nod to Mr Ed as well. This post caught my attention in the first place because I spent all day yesterday bowing in devotion and admiration to my new website. Nothing like a little sting of conviction to start a new day. Thanks Ed!
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