Christianity & Technology
Christianity & Technology:
Introduction:
Well. We have had a heavy couple of weeks, haven’t we? We’ve talked about addiction, talked about abuse–someone asked me recently where the warm-fuzzies have been? It’s been heavy stuff.
And today we’re talking about something even heavier. I’m kidding. We’re talking about technology; Christianity & Technology.
See how lighthearted today will be:
(robot picture)
Seriously, though, I’m not sure how well today’s topic preaches, you know? I mean, heavy things “preach” well, right? We’ve got immediate emotional responses to things like sex and addiction, strong opinions; technology, though…it’s tricky. Technology is a tricky thing to talk about; for a lot of reasons that we’ll look at it a moment: But first, let’s pray,
Prayer:
prayer prayer:
Tricky: Broad
So technology is a tricky thing to talk about. What does it even mean to say that we’re talking about technology, right? All technology is, is applied science, science applied in practical–instead of theoretical–ways. But science is sort of broad, right? “What makes up the study of science–oh, everything.”
So it’s tricky to talk about technology; mostly in our society when we hear “technology” we tend to think about applied computer science. We think about media and tele-communications; biomedical technologies. We tend to not think about the latest and greatest, you know, say…road surfaces. Maybe more recently we may think of alternative energy technologies, things like this. Talking about technology is hard because it’s such a catch-all sort of term.
Tricky: Bible
It’s hard to treat biblically because the Bible doesn’t directly talk about whether we should use a Mac or PC. The Bible gives us a thousand principles for living, it gives us ways to navigate ethical decisions. But it’s easy to feel like it doesn’t speak directly to our contemporary situation.
(And we will look again at the passage that was read to us earlier today–the temptation of Christ–but not right yet.)
Tricky: Blinded
But I think the thing that makes talking about technology so difficult–the real problem that we have to be aware of this morning or it will derail us–is that we generally don’t consider our use of technology as something that requires ethical consideration. Because our lives are so technologically-oriented–so filled with little and large technologies–because our society is so oriented toward computer and tele-communication technologies, and increasingly dependent on them in order to function, it doesn’t even occur to us to think before we adopt or adapt to technologies.
We generally don’t consider our use of technology to be something we should pray about; few of us have a personal technology theology, one that we’ve refined through the counsel of one another and the Holy Spirit.
A Technology Theology!
But we need to do this. We are Christians, called to lead the world instead to follow after it; people who will judge angels on judgment day, because we have the Holy Spirit through whom we can make godly judgments. Part of the way we can practice making wise judgments is thinking about and developing theologies concerning the things going on in our lives; making decisions together and personally about what it means to live in the world we live in, and discerning how to live well.
This morning I want to just give an example of the way we can look to the Bible and gather principles from it, and think about those principles in light of our technology use and in light of what technology promises us. I want to share a few of my own concerns about certain technologies, and call us to think more deeply about our own technology use.
Robot Picture
Me:
And I want to show my cards, here, just so you know where I’m coming from. I am growing increasingly concerned about the uncritical adoption of whatever technology people can afford to adopt. When it comes to today’s topic, I am far more guarded now than I was, say, 3 years ago.
Clear Benefits:
But let’s be really clear about the fact that every single one of us has benefited from some applied science, right? Some technology. Who here has knees or hips or teeth or hearts that they were not born with, or that have been fixed up a little through medical technologies? Who here would not be alive if it weren’t for a phone call at the proper time? Who can only hear me because I’m miced right now, or has been able to do a thousand wonderful things because of the internet and what they learned there or who they met there.
Technologies have saved lives, positioned people for healing, and meaningful existence, have resulted in a bajillion–that’s a scientific word, friends: note it!–a bajillion blessings for people. Many people I love deeply work in fields that explicitly are concerned with the expansion and production of new and improved technology and technological uses. Many of you are: and those groups overlap, by the way.
So what I’m saying is I don’t need reminded of how amazingly beneficial science, when it’s applied well, can be. I know. I know! Awesome. I love my laptop, right? And I no longer resent my Master, AT&T.
(I’m glad you all realized that was a joke.)
I am very aware of the benefits of great technological advances. I am just no longer willing to accept and adopt whatever technology is promoted to me. I’m not entirely willing to accept the claims that people make about technologies without questioning them.
And now, let me stretch the notion of proper Biblical application to its breaking point.
Looking for Principles: I
Have you ever heard the term “anachronism.” It’s a term describing something that belongs to the wrong time. If you’re reading a novel about the daily life of a monastery in the 12th century, and they talk about microwaving burritos, the microwave is anachronistic. The thing doesn’t fit the time. “Ana” means backward, “Chronos” means time; something from the present is tossed backward into time and it doesn’t belong there.
I don’t think anything in the Bible is talking about computer science or telecommunications or nanotechnology. I just don’t.
But what we can do is draw principles from Biblical passages and discern together ways to apply these principles to our daily life, our world as we find it right now. This is a basic Christian task; bridging the gaps between the world of the Bible and how to live in our world biblically. Are we all together? I want to try this, together, right now.
Remember the passage that was read to us this morning:
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
” ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ “
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. (Matt 4:1-11)
Looking for Principles: II
This is a favorite Christian text, right? People are familiar with it whether they are Christians or not. Allusions to it work their way into fiction and songs. It’s a popular text. Jesus is in the wilderness; he’s hungry, and tired; and is being tempted by the devil. We’re shown three different temptations. And remember: no where in this passage is God revealing to us insight about whether or not we should get rid of our land-lines and only use cell phones, okay? Christians have understood these temptations in all sorts of ways; and I want us to notice if we can the character, the form, that they take.
Temptation One:
We could understand the first temptation as one of self-providence, and immediacy, right? It’s a temptation to take care of one’s own needs, quickly, rather than trust God to provide for us. Henri Nouwen understands this temptation in a different way–as people do–and in his book In the Name of Jesus, calls this the temptation “to be relevant,” “to do something that is needed and can be appreciated by people–to make productivity,” he writes,“the basis of our ministry.”
And we can take as a principle the fact that we should be people who are cautious of anything that promises to quickly and relevantly meet our own needs, on our own strength, without taking into account the plans of God. We should be cautious of turning productivity into a virtue, and pursue productivity as an ends instead of whatever God’s will happens to be. Principles we can take from this passage, right?
Temptation Two:
Henri Nouwen talks about how the second temptation is a temptation to be spectactular. To show off; to be amazing and wonderful. And we could talk about using the spectacular to draw people to God–because of Jesus’ response, though, we could reasonably look at this temptation as one that calls us to manipulate and control God.
And however we consider this temptation, I think we can agree that we Christians should be people who don’t think we have control over the promises of God, deciding when we’re ready to receive them, and we should be people who don’t work to be spectacular, and showy, and influence others through amazing feats that inspire awe. Principles we can take from this temptation, right?
Temptation Three:
And then there is the third temptation; which like the others has been talked about in various ways, and we can talk about in various ways. We could talk about this as Jesus’ temptation to give to the devil what is legitimately due only to God, we could talk about how Jesus is tempted to take an easy path through hard work, a temptation to use whatever means are possible to achieve some desired ends. We could even talk about the temptation to acquire that which is desirable, or that which you know is going to be yours anyway. Henri Nouwen calls this temptation the temptation to be powerful, to take up power for all sorts of reasons that are poor ones.
But we can’t be people who give into a desire to offer worship, adoration, allegiance to things that aren’t God, we can’t be people who want to get something desirable–whatever it might be–through some easy, illegitimate way. We can’t be people who pursue power for power’s sake–especially when it is power that evil offers us.
Looking for Principles: Conclusion
And what is natural for us to do, after we have gathered principles like these, is figure out ways to live them out, right?
(Robot: Right!)
But we could also easily take principles from this passage, and say: look, how can I apply these to my engagement with technology; particularly computer and tele-communications technologies. Because these are technologies that often promise increased productivity and promise us the ability to meet our needs more and more quickly: people don’t long for a slower computer, you know. And technologies often promise us that whatever we do produce will be fantastic, will be spectacular; some churches and christians have really come to believe that unless the events they produce are spectacular, they aren’t worthwhile to God. And some technologies do promise us power: power over information, power over people who have been turned into numbers, power over our own destinies and bodies, or the illusion of it. Some technologies promise us easy, illegitimate ways of getting whatever it is we want. Say, the way certain new energy technologies promise cheap, renewable resources…but don’t ask us to do the harder work of using less energy.
So what have we just done? We’ve looked at the Bible, at Jesus’ temptations, we’ve drawn some principles, and then I suggested that the principles we talked about are ones that we could directly bring into a conversation about our technology use. We haven’t talked about how to apply these principles–that’s something we do through conversation and prayer and time with one another and families and God’s Spirit and more Bible. But what I pray we can see is that this is something we could do–if we wanted. We could take principles from the Bible, and figure out ways to bring them into dialogue with our use of technology.
Considerations: Introduction
So in order to bolster my point, and maybe sound a little crazy, let me share with you some other reasons–beyond the ones I alluded to a moment ago–that I have become sort of guarded against the uncritical adoption and adaptation of my life to certain technologies. I have begun to think more deeply about the technologies I use, and how I use them.
So I just offer these as things to consider as you develop a personal technology theology.
(Robot picture)
Considerations: Dependencies
I’m cautious because technology can be very self-promoting. It creates dependencies. Once we have adopted, and adapted to, technologies, it becomes incredibly difficult to give them up. Who has their cell phone on right now–and isn’t, say, a medical doctor on call at a hospital? But who feels like it’s totally reasonable and maybe even necessary to have their cell phone on? Who will check their e-mail or voice-mail as soon as they get home, just in case? Certain technologies–once we’ve adapted to them–are nearly impossible to give up. And this can lead to bad things: if you become used to not needing and opening a Bible during a church service, because the words are on the screen, it can become easier to not need and open a Bible during the rest of the week. If we get anxious and irritable when our cell phone batteries die we should be concerned about our dependancy on them. If even our ability to think and process information is affected by certain technologies, which train us to reject long narratives and complex arguments in favor of sound bytes, text messages, images, and rhetoric, we should be worried a little about how deeply we have given control of ourselves to some thing.
Considerations: Stigmatizing
And if we do give up certain technologies, or never acquire them in the first place, our society–which is dependent upon all sorts of technologies for it to function well–can and likely will stigmatize people. Who wants to hear “You don’t have an e-mail address?” “You don’t know how to use a computer?” But who here has said, “they don’t even use e-mail,” in a shocked, appalled way?
Considerations: Marginalizes
And technology can not only stigmatize certain people; it can marginalize them. It can marginalize those of lower socioeconomic classes–those who don’t have the money to adopt and adapt to certain technologies. It can marginalize those who are older and have not had the lifetime exposure and training to use computers and other computer-based technologies. Technology can be marginalizing to those who for any reason have not had the opportunity to adopt their lives to it the way society has.
Considerations: Economics
And our society probably won’t just stop investing in people’s adoption and adaptation to new technologies. Because our economy, in a thousand ways, is dependent upon technological advances. Technology is supported and promoted by corporations that have economic investments in it. I’m not surprising anyone here. But it is often the case that when it comes to making profits, or people’s good, corporations–which are people–generally choose making profits. They just do.
And because of this, I often feel like technology use is by its very nature morally unclear. Because there is a long gap in between the idea of a neat tech thing and the creation and production of it: and as long as the pursuit to create a new technological product is motivated by money and profits, there is always the chance–the chance, that what’s best for people will be ignored because what’s best for people is not best for stockholders. And so there’s always the chance that my use of a technology results in the detriment of someone else’s life.
Considerations: Promises
And we’ve talked about this a little, but technologies do make promises. Your life would be better if you had this computer, this phone this tv. You will be relevant to your kids if you join this social networking site or get this type of car. You will be popular, and liked; your life will be easy, you’ll get to have consequence-free sex with beautiful strangers, you’ll be able to do and buy and eat and drink all without negative consequences. You’ll end up with a great job. And wait until the future! We’ll populate the moon! We’ll grow organs on plants! It will be amazing! We’ll harvest the sea for delicious food, and your children’s children will rest in peace. Who needs the promises of God when you’ve got the promises of the biotech industry! I don’t. And no one is held accountable when promises fall through; and no one is held accountable, when your kids don’t think you’re awesome cause you have a myspace page and an iPhone.
Considerations: Relationships
And I am concerned that the meaning of friendship, the unspoken commitments that are part of being in a relationship with a person are reduced by certain technologies. It feels like “relationship” has been reduced to “being connected”–which often simply means knowing information about another person. So certain technologies can sometimes enable us to offer and receive a lot of information about people; without actually caring all that deeply about them.
Considerations: Other
There are other things that make me uneasy about unreflective adoption of technologies. The fact that most technologies I use; if they break, I cannot fix them. And they do break, occasionally, and cost me time, and anxiety, and all sorts of things. And how technologies, which change so quickly, promote an incredibly high rate of consumption, promote–because they turn on so quickly–a tendency toward meeting my immediate wants, fast.
I am concerned about the way technologies can decontextualize us from our surroundings. It concerns me that when someone calls another person on the cell phone, the only context for that person they are calling is their own need. All that matters is my need when I call you: not what you are doing or who you are with or even where you are.
I’m concerned with the weird tension between the anonymity that, say, the internet feels like it provides–so that we can say and do things online or by e-mail that we’d never do in real-life, and the way really, almost all of the interactions we have with digital technology is trackable and traceable; the government has come under fire for tracking and tracing people’s calls and internet usage recently.
I’m concerned with the way virtual things–internet and computer based things–take on an importance larger than real things, and end up becoming more real to people than flesh & blood life. I am concerned about how we can feel we have accomplished so much in a day when all we’ve done is read wikipedia articles, followed rabbit-trails of internet links, or triumphed in some virtual competition over anonymous people. These things trouble me. They do. They concern me.
Considerations: Conclusion
But then none of what I’ve mentioned is guaranteed, right? It’s possibilities. The problem is that what technology doesn’t often do, is challenge us to ask how my engagement with this “technological thing,” may affect my life or someone elses. It doesn’t ask us, often, to consider the moral outcomes of our engagement with things like our computers and our cell phones, and whatever great new “breakthrough” is coming down the line.
Toward a Technology Theology:
So let me own these as my concerns, right? Maybe ones you’ve never thought of, and even as I share them think they’re kind of inflammatory or reactionist. Okay. Fine.
But. We are called to live our whole lives for the building of God’s Kingdom, for Jesus’ sake, and not our own. We were bought with a price, right? So we’re to glorify God in our body. Christianity 101. And as long as we’re alive in contemporary America, we will be interacting with technologies of all sorts, but especially computer and tele-communications technologies, new energy technologies, and others–I mean, we haven’t even really talked this morning about various medical and bio-technologies, that hold out great promises of healing and good, but function in areas of life where the “right” decisions are not always clear.
And so, we need to be people who think about the consequences that come from our adoption and use of certain technologies. We need to consider how using some great new technology will affect our lives, our relationships with people, our relationships with God, and other people’s relationships with God and us one another, because our behaviors do affect other people’s lives.
We need to wonder if we personally have let some biblical principles go by the wayside in favor of some benefit that a technology seems to provide us with.
Conclusion: Ask Yourself This
Ask yourself this: Does my use or adoption of this technology come with any costs. Are they costs to me personally, or to others? What are the benefits of this technology for me or others, for my church or my children? What might I be trading away if I use this technology? How might I grow unhealthily dependent upon it? And what biblical principles should I rely on as I engage with this technology?
I wish we could do this–with our TVs, and our laptops, and our energy choices, with the things we buy and the things we throw away or recycle, with the medical decisions we make.
We need to be people who think critically about our use of technology, because we are called to be a people who think critically about everything going on in our lives, right?
Prayer: