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Gutenberg Got the Same Question
Are social media tools a blessing or a curse for people of faith? Should we use digital technology to commune with the divine? Does God tweet?
No one actually knows how Johannes Gutenberg (1398-1468) got the idea to mass-produce printed bibles. But the combination of movable type, suitable ink and a wooden press became a revolutionary technology. But could God's word be conveyed on the printed page with the same devotion as the laboriously hand-made and gloriously decorated manuscripts? Apparently so. But I like to imagine Gutenberg got a version of this same question. Could God be encountered in a mass-produced book instead of a hand-decorated manuscript made by monks?
Even the new technology of a "book" was a big step forward compared to the scroll. In a hilarious YouTube video a guy from the "Medieval Helpdesk" teaches a puzzled monk how to open a book and use it without losing data. The staggering learning curve for the monk who is afraid of this new technology is familiar to anyone who has tried a new electronic application. You try it, you find you can't open it, then, when you finally open it, you are afraid you'll lose the text you've stored, and then once you close it you can't open it again.
And so, by stages, we come to God on Twitter. The technology doesn't matter. From the oral recitation of memorized texts, to scrolls, to books, to Facebook and other social media and finally to Twitter, it's the spiritual connection that counts.
"God is in the connections," as the famous feminist Christian ethicist Beverly Harrison once said. Those connections can be printed or electronic, verbal or hand-lettered. But, without real connection, God is not there.
By
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
|
August 12, 2009; 11:06 AM ET
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Posted by: Paganplace | August 13, 2009 3:56 PM
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This may seem like a stupid topic, but it's quite interesting to some of us. Actually, I was just talking about something similar the other night with my husband. I am curious as to how Pagan groups - which were in the forefront of Web 1.0 - are making use of new media. Unlike Christians, Jews, and Muslims, we who follow the Old Ways are often separated by large geographical boundaries and can't always find a local group. I am also curious about how other religious denominations are using new media, to make a comparison. Do groups hold worship services in virtual worlds like Second Life, or in conferencing features over Skype? Do people who are very religious take on a character like a priest, monk, or nun in MMORPGs? I'm looking at this more from a sociological aspect rather than as a user. I have no desire to get involved in Second Life or World of Warcraft, and I don't Twitter. However, I am interested in the spiritual behavior of those who do.
Personally, I think that the Divine is in everything, including cyberspace. The question is, which aspect of the Divine? William Gibson, the cyberpunk author, claims that Legba, the trickster Orisha, governs the Global Information Web. This is because Legba "opens the way" for communication with the Orishas. Others may feel that the Internet is governed by Hermes, the God of Communication, or the Archangel Gabriel (Patron Saint of telecommunications).
Posted by: Athena4 | August 12, 2009 4:58 PM
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"Personally, I think that the Divine is in everything, including cyberspace. The question is, which aspect of the Divine?"
I'd say, any and all we can bring. Maybe a few we can find along the way. :)