Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Part Two - technology is the "ontology of the age"

In response to a post over at Ressourcement, the following needs to be said.

My blog has not "folded." Please do not misrepresent the facts of my case. It just will not be as active as it once was (i.e. daily posts) and I will limit my posting to more important matters. I still value the internet, but it's a prudential matter on how a person chooses to use it. Like Dr. Chris Burgwald at Veritas or yourself, sometimes there are more important matters which should take priority - our job, our families, our friends, our local communities, etc. There must be a balance my friend. Even Blosser and Hand recognize this as you do as well I hope.

For your information, Hittinger first published his article at a conference, which was put into a book. Only later did it go on-line. Very little of Senior's or Brende's work is on-line. Eric doesn't even own a computer, very much like Wendell Berry. I know this for a fact. I have been to Eric's home. The article by Arnold was an explanation on why the Bruderhof Community killed their popular website. There is a lot of truth in what they write.

I feel the questions on "how much technology is good" and "can it de-humanize us" are important. Dawson, Guardini, Schindler and many others have asked similar questions. It's worthy of further research as Blosser would say.

If you have not read it, I refer you to the original post which began this discussion.

7 comments:

Christopher Blosser said...

A return to matters pertaining specifically to the ressourcement theologians can only be a good thing. Although the references to Noam Chomsky, William Bennet and 'Crunchy Cons' were interesting, given the 'essence' of the blog as conveyed by its title, they didn't seem to "fit" -- although I have enjoyed discussing such tangents.

Catch-22 -- in order to convey his criticism of modern technology, Johann Arnold relies on it to distribute his editorial. Computers and the internet aren't essential to human civilization, and they certainly are no replacement for a functional "flesh" community -- but not even Arnold would deny its demonstrated effectiveness as a tool of communication.

. . . As evidenced by the fact that as soon as Bruderhof online committed virtual hari-kari, what sprang up but a support group of those who were touched by their presence (BringBackBruderhof.com:

On December 9, 2005, Bruderhof abruptly shut down their online presence. Among the services and sites they closed were daily inspirational email services, online articles and free e-Books about living a life inspired by Jesus.

Bruderhof not only provided a wealth of 'idea' resources -- their very presence online offered a perspective on Christianity that is all too rare in today's world...


As one who appreciated the Bruderhof's presence online, I'm sympathetic with their pleas. At least they've responded by resurrecting their publishing house.

Not to deny the legitimate criticisms of the internet (I would direct others to the criticisms of the late Neil Postman), but I also think that, were every member of St. Blog's Parish to suddently arrive at a similar revelation as Arnold's and cease their virtual existence, along with the other Catholic and religious websites we enjoy, the internet would be greatly impoverished.

Fr. D.L. Jones said...

Christopher, we are in agreement. The question for me was never one of elimination, but of moderation, personal moderation. I would never attempt to impose this on any others, unless of course you consider my witness an imposition. But I do think there is something we can all learn from this experience and the referenced writers.

Fred said...

Christopher, Walter Ong has called the paradox of criticism "Ong's law" and traces it back as far as Plato's 9th letter.

Anonymous said...

Hi David,

Just a quick note to say I was sorry to learn that you're folding this very fine blog ...

Just kidding. :-)

Regards.

John Lowell

Anonymous said...

Fred, my advisor was Ong's student! I bet you can't claim that!

Fred said...

Ahem. S, I think that you know that I can! I also had two conversations with Fr. Ong.

Christopher Blosser said...

So many miss the Bruderhof presence on the Internet with their gentle wisdom and peace witness. We are all the poorer for its withdrawal and joine those who hope for a speedy return to the world community and the homebound on the Internet. -- TCRMusings.

Check it out. Stephen Hand and I agree on something! =)