Technology and Religion

Computer Based Information Systems
Week One – Technology/Religion Essay
October 2010

Technology has drastically changed our religious habits and traditions over the past decade; however, I do not believe it has changed our morals, or our Christian message. God is, and always will be, the same yesterday, today, and forever; but we as a developing people are always changing. We no longer have to leave our homes to attend a church service. We do not have to remember to pray, (we can set reminders for that). We don’t even have to go on a mission trip to see how our fund raisers are affecting people’s lives all over the world. Our entire world is instant. We can live, work, play, and even socialize from the comfort of our own homes. We have replaced handshakes with emoticons, and a friendly cup of coffee with a text ending in LOL. Even our education is achieved electronically. Yet our basic moral values are still the same. Love, compassion for fellow man, and charity for those in need are still exemplified, and war, hate, and contempt are still condemned. What was considered evil fifty years ago is still considered evil in today’s society? Children are still considered as precious creations, and although their toys have been replaced with IPODs and PS3’s, they are still born needing love.
I agree with Billy Graham’s conclusion from the video, Billy Graham: Technology, faith and human shortcomings, that technology it’s self is not evil. Technology is only as good or evil as the person controlling the technology. We do not associate a butcher’s knife with evil, yet it could be used to do evil if an evil person were to use it to kill someone. A machine gun may be considered to be evil, yet unless an evil person uses it to kill, the item it’s self is not evil.
I think the reason we sometimes associate technology with being evil is because as we chronicle our lives on social networking sites, we are encouraged to divulge our every thought onto the internet for review. What was once kept private is now plastered all over the internet. That doesn’t make us as a society any more immoral or evil than we were before. It only ‘shows our true colors’ so to speak, to everyone. Our core values and thoughts are the same. They are just expressed more freely.
In a way, technology has lowered our self-preservation mechanisms and has caused us to be more open with our thoughts and feelings, yet it has had the opposite effect on our perception of self-image. We now feel confident about telling others how we feel, yet a lot of people, especially young girls and women, cannot stand to post a picture of themselves on the internet, without first editing and polishing it with some kind of photo editing software. In essence, we have traded our quite thoughts and modest looks for boisterous ideas and plastic bodies.
Although our expression of thought is changing, the thoughts themselves remain the same. And although our religious traditions are changing, our foundation is still the same. A new society requires a new type of church, and although some valued elements of the traditional church may be lost, new ways of sharing the message of Christ will emerge. We will now be able to reach more people, in more places, and in more situations. I do not believe anything is wrong with the traditional church setting, and in some areas of the world, the traditional church setting still fits best. I also believe that the tradition of actually going to a church to gather with others should never be done away with. Rather, we should use our new technologies to reach out to those unable to attend. In my opinion, we should use our technologies more as a reach out, as opposed to using it to try and enhance the church experience. I think we can too easily get carried away when we begin to try and enhance that which God has provided. The enhancement should be left up to God. However, if we do not use the tools God has provided us with, technology in this case, to reach out to the lost, then we cannot say we have done everything that we can to ensure every human being knows about the saving power of Jesus Christ.