In case you haven't been apprised of the situation, your addiction to texting and email is ruining your relationship... with god. According to Vincent Nichols, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, modern friendships built around (or involving) heavy SMS volley, electronic mail correspondences, and social networking sites create "transient relationships" which put users at the risk of suicide. Yes,
suicide. According to the British man of the cloth, using electronic communication to build friendships is causing humanity to lose "the ability to build interpersonal communication that's necessary for living together." Sure, it may sound like heavy FUD talk, but there is sense in some of his points. For instance, the Archbishop of Westminster believes that social networking sites encourage people to concentrate on their number of friends rather than build actual relationships, and they tend to view that number as a commodity. Anyone who's seen the growth of Facebook and MySpace shouldn't have trouble making that connection, but when it comes to SMS and email, your friendship has likely moved on, and lumping that kind of one-to-one communication in with the broad relationships of social networking sites seems like an unfair characterization. We put the question to our typically calm and even-keeled commenter community -- are we doomed, or what?
posted August 2nd 2009 11:58AM
of course they do...
I would agree, even about email and texting. I've found that the more and more I text or email, the less I want to actually talk to people. I think these technologies allow us to become less and less personal. Sometimes it seems I'm no longer interfacing with people, just interfacing with my phone. I worry about the kids who grow up with this stuff and don't know any different. I can at least remember a time when this stuff wasn't around and my only option was to call my friends or ride on over to their houses...
Very sad...
Mike, likewise.
While I see your point, is it the technology's fault, or yours for using it in a way that ultimately annoys you?
I do everything threw my iPhone but that doesn't stop me from shutting down the email/sms feature and activating the Phone Feature and actually calling them. I can also activate the GPS feature and drive to their house. The phone does not prevent you from calling or seeing your friends, your choice on how to use it does.
@ gabriel - if you have to activate your iPhone GPS just to get to your friends house, it doesn't sound like you know them very well.
Does a commercial for food that you love - but can cause you high cholesterol and ultimately kill you have anything to do with killing you?
Yeah, I didn't think so jackass.
GOOD!
PEOPLE SUCK!
I dread calling customer care...
the internetts is the way of the future...
I'm just waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to warn against the dangers of indoctrination and paedophilia.
it is funny that the people replying most vehemently to this post are the people who say there is no god (or God). thinking that i developed from a primordial stew (by way of a fish with feet and a chimpanzee) disheartens me. doesn't it take just as much faith (mental acceptance of and confidence in a claim as truth without proof supporting the claim) to believe your high school biology teacher as it does to believe your religious leaders?
Yea there isn't much of warning here. People will be people and still use this stuff. It does lead to less people going out and interacting sometimes. They rather set at home and talk. Then go out. Plus it makes easier to find the oposite sex. Sometimes people do propose more things over the net then they would in real life.
In Other news you should check out this new website www.freewayauction.com I think its on the rise if it actually takes off it might hurt the gian ebay. It has great pricing. You can add this guy who owns it on twitter @FreewayAuction on twitter, So go add him follow his updates. I think this site could take off.
Not really, man. Sorry.
@trumanhw
AMEN! ;-) The Bible is a great book though, but I believe it is just that. We simple did not MAGICALLY appear on this planet! It's Evolution Baby! Flame on all ye who rise against me, I CARE! (sarc)
@ andrewwildman. Dude, you either had an awful biology teacher or one heck of a preacher.
@trumanhw: God doesn't exist as an invisible white man in the sky who behaves like a puppeteer. God is love and everything constructive, while the Devil is the opposite. I wish I could discuss the theology of the Catholic Religion here, but that is not relevant to this blog entry.
All I have to say is that if you are right and God doesn't exist, then you should be the happiest person in the planet. But here you are insulting strangers and saying they have low IQs. BTW, I have a B.A. in Computer Science.
I tried being an atheist. It sucks. It makes your life mean nothingness.
Our social networking media is slowly turning into that "door" from 'The Big Lebowski'. Everyone wants to interact with others they care about and love, but are too afraid to face them because of the surmounting inferiority complex...
@SPOTON
It was meant to be more of a metaphor, but thanks for sharing and for the unprovoked attack. You really socked it to me. I hope you felt better and had a cold beer when you finished ripping me a new one. You da man!!
@ truman HQ:
I believe in God and I am neither uneducated or "low IQ'd"; I have an IQ of over 150. However, I do not believe that everything written in the bible is necessarily true. IMO, the bible is a book written by humans. Not God.
I also believe in evolution. I believe that God is behind evolution. It's a called "Intelligent Design". Look it up.
trumanhw : you better avoid the hospital the next time you fall sick - I'm sure you're well aware that the medical profession has an unusually high proportion of religious people (higher than the general population) ;)
@yuri_dragon_17
There is no way your IQ is above 150.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/IQ_curve.svg
@andrewwildman
You're disheartened by the idea of being an evolved monkey?
I'd be disheartened by the idea of being the plaything of a cosmic bully. There is beauty in the simplicity of evolution, just imagine. You're the product of hundreds of millions of years of evolution and hundreds of thousands of generations, every one more refined than the previous.
@Rommel
I doubt you tried being an atheist if it made your life mean nothing. Religion is what makes your life mean nothing. If, after death, you have eternal life, what's the point? When you know you have a finite lifespan, and have come to terms with that fact, your life will be much more precious than it would be with religion in your life.
@yuri_dragon_17
You can't quote Intelligent Design as an explanation for life and the world. You're only pushing the problem back one step. Instead of "how did the world come to be?" the question you undoubtebly should be asking is "how did the designer come to be?". If your answer to the second question is "the designer is eternal", you already accept that something can be eternal, so why shouldn't the universe be?
Question everything.
God doesn't want you to have any fun or enjoy yourself. You must give all your money to the church and live in a hut without power.
These days everything ruins our relationship with "god," because he is dead.
Something can't die if it never existed.
Do people who say that God is dead believe then that he was alive at one point?
Might you be confusing relationship & romance with a living God with religion & rules, my Friend? I'm unable to find anywhere in the Bible that God asks us for money. That's religion and its purveyors! Re the Bishops comment, are we wise to blame our tools for our sins? As for using i-Pod GPS to find a friend's home, oh my! Blessings All!GPS to
@demotic
All the Church is trying to say in this instance is that people should strive for moderation in their communication and not let things get unhealthy through too much faceless communication. The bitter puddle of words you just threw up is so tragically cliche that I feel the need to point out the following:
1. The Church (meaning the catholic church) does not require payment of anyone. You can go to church your whole life and never give the parish a dime. But just like any organization, they need money to function in our modern society, so they encourage a donation. The church hasn't received money from me against my will. I challenge you to find someone to testify differently.
2. I can only guess that you think that because you cannot do whatever you please if you are a Christian, that means you cannot have fun. Well sir, if you must do whatever you please without restriction or common sense to enjoy your life, then you haven't much to live for.
3. You can sit behind your computer and be angry at God or the Church or anything all day long, but if that's what you choose to do then I would recommend knowing something about what you criticize before you do it publicly. It's easy to trash something that you clearly know nothing about.
@ puhsitch
Only dumb nihilists who don't know how to read Nietzsche.
@ Gary
From Numbers 18:26
“Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering."
I am not a Christan nor am I Jewish. Just stating the fact that it does say to pay tithe in the bible.
@zbv:
Thank you.
@zbv
You dumb or just that naive?
All your sins forgiven - only $19.95 with FREE shipping!
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@puhsitch
No, "god is dead" does not imply that god was alive at some point, just that the belief in him as a moderator in society is no longer needed, and therefore the belief is no longer needed.
@zbv
Saying that someone is "angry at god" is assuming that there is a god. Since there is no definite proof in either direction, I shall believe the one that has produced the best results and has helped us understand our world better. When standing on top of a mountain, would you rather trust your "god" or a product of science, the parachute? When you are sick, do you just trust that your god will heal you, or do you use a product of science, medicine?
So no, we are not "angry at god", we simply do not believe that he exists. Being angry at god would, for me, be about as productive as being angry at Sauron, Voldemort or any other fairytale antagonist.
If anything, I am outraged at how religion is gripping the hearts of so many people and creating such hatred, mistrust and false hope.
Religious flame war?
Well if the network goes down you certainly do feel like killing yourself.
Did you know most religious institutions are bribed to make themselves look bad in public?
It happens all the time.
Who's been reading Dan Brown?
No one should read Dan Brown.
Do you work for the church Jon? :p
@Imran
LOL, you'd have to know me to understand just how funny that suggestion truly is.
No, I just like good books, and Dan Brown is even worse than the chick who writes about shiny vampires.
LMAO!!!
The head of the RC in England is complaining about technology?
Isn't the RC the same group that was responsible for some medevial book burnings?
I bet the guy is a Dominican. A Jesuit would never have said anything that stupid.
RTFA, he's not complaining about technology, he's complaining about the trivial interpersonal relationships that these services seem to encourage. Which is true to an extent, facebook/SMS/twitter need to be used primarily as a tool for enhancing real-world networking--not as a replacement for it.
No what he's doing is using the popularity of twitter to get in the (sunday) newspapers, and he's running the risk of losing his soul being so lame and shallow I guess huh?
Good one :-)
They Said the same thing about TV, and look how much better off society is with great news networks like Faux news and CNN.
There is no doubt in my mind that we are doomed. If the catholic church says it, then it has to be true. When have they ever been wrong before?
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/01/world/vatican-science-panel-told-by-pope-galileo-was-right.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE5614DL20090702
The Vatican has been admitting it was wrong about Galileo since at least 1992. The papacy has even acknowledged the possibility of alien life on other worlds. For Christians, they're actually fairly rational where science and technology are concerned.
http://miscellanea.wellingtongrey.net/comics/science-vs-faith-big.png
Catholic teaching is that anything in science is good as long as it is not used to disprove that God exists. So, on evolution, it is allowed to be believed that that is how humans came to be. What we don't know is if it is true or not. I am a geologist and I believe that God willed life to be created through evolution. "But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day." 2 Peter 3:8
So they now believe in evolution, but just cant seem to get the time scales right??
Evolution has been going on for billions of years, and as far as the catholic church is concerned the earth is only 6000 years old. It doesn't really fit. Neither do most of their archaic stories that are not relevant in our current day since they were written 2000 years ago.
If our legal system still worked like religion does we would all still be getting stoned to death for minor things like someone thinking you are a witch.
I don't see how the awfully backward teachings of some sect who have bestowed themselves with the power to condemn current society have any relevance in today's society.
@TristanKing
The Catholic Church believes no such thing. Other denominations may think the earth is 6000 years old, but the Catholic Church takes a rational view of a whole lot of stuff including evolution and geologic time. Thanks for playing though.