Turn It All Off

“We refuse to turn off our computers, turn off our phone, log off Facebook, and just sit in silence because, in those moments, we might actually have to face up to who we really are.”

-- Jefferson Bethke, author

"Turn it all off!"  I have been saying this for years and still, I keep seeing technology bury us under a repressive weight of self-indulgent crap which that make mega-corporations richer at the expense of our souls.  Author and columnist Chuck Klosterman once wrote, "However, it certainly appears that the main thing the Internet has accomplished is the normalization of amateur pornography."  Okay, so maybe some good came from creating the internet. But, this is, pretty much, all the internet allows us to do - communicate.  The unfortunate by-product of this means of communication is the virus, and this harmful virus is, actually, the internet itself. 

"Guns don't kill people, people kill people."  The tool isn't evil, it's what you do with the tool.  Addiction can be mental or physical?  But isn't mental addiction caused by the tuning on or off of certain chemicals in the brain?  So, we can say there is no such thing as mental addiction, it is just a sidebar to the physical.  Even if you don't let yourself succumb to the evil side of technology, too much of a good thing can also be addictive.

“There will come a time when it isn't 'They're spying on me through my phone' anymore. Eventually, it will be 'My phone is spying on me'.”

-- Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), author

Many of us, whether we'd like to admit it or not, let technology do so much for us that we begin to lose our humanity and we begin to question our sense of self and worth.  We forget how to communicate face to face, and then we forget how to communicate at all.  We forget how to spell, and then we forget how to write, and then we forget what to write, and then we just watch mindless television, and then we become mindless. 

I have an experiment I always dare everyone to try.  It requires you to utilize all the self-control you can muster so I recommend you tell family and friends so they can help you by shutting the hell up for one day.  The experiment?  Turn everything off.  Turn off any electronic communication device.  This includes phone, television, radio, CD, DVD, MP3, etc.  Oh-my-dear-GOD!  What will you do?

“My wish simply is to live my life as fully as I can. In both our work and our leisure, I think, we should be so employed. And in our time this means that we must save ourselves from the products that we are asked to buy in order, ultimately, to replace ourselves.”

-- Wendell Berry, author, poet

Try talking face to face to real people for the day.  Try having breakfast together, lunch, or even a real sit down dinner where you actually talk instead of text or watch TV.  Play a board game; a game where you actually watch each other, and talk, and laugh.  Try listening to live music; a concert in the park, or someone playing an instrument on a street corner.  During the day, try taking a walk on the beach or in a park.  Try going where there are no people, and then sit down, close your eyes, and listen.  Listen to the sound of nature, then ask yourself, when was the last time you took the time to listen to the sound of God.  It is an experiment in reclaiming what it is to feel human, your "human-ness."

When the experiment is over, ask yourself how you did, and be honest.  Can you live without all of it, the technology?  Now, try minimizing how much you use the technology.  When you're with people, be with those people.  Don't keep checking your phone.  Don't keep texting while you're talking to someone in person.  How rude is this?  If you're with me, be with me.

“The internet was supposed to liberate knowledge, but in fact it buried it, first under a vast sewer of ignorance, laziness, bigotry, superstition and filth and then beneath the cloak of political surveillance. Now...cyberspace exists exclusively to promote commerce, gossip and pornography. And of course to hunt down sedition. Only paper is safe. Books are the key. A book cannot be accessed from afar, you have to hold it, you have to read it.”

-- Ben Elton, comedian, actor, author, playwright

Everybody laughs when they see I utilize an anachronism of modern communication - the flip-phone.  It stays in my pocket.  The only reason I carry it is in case of an emergency; when my parents need me.  I utilize technology sparingly.  I've been called a "Luddite" because I have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into technology.  To buy into, totally, all that technology has to offer is to lose your soul.  Rule the technology, but don't let the technology rule you.  Utilize it.  Enjoy it. Learn to walk away from it, every now and then, during your day.

I am blessed to have a beach just two blocks away that is virtually uninhabited.  We have the most beautiful white sand beaches in the South.  They're constantly groomed and litter-free, and they're the best kept non-secret secret.  The benefit of practically uninhabited beaches is the solitude available for meditation and introspection.  But, then, you have to turn everything off, or it is all for naught.

Technology and computers make our lives easier.  The internet allows us to communicate information no matter where we are.  Try to remember you are human, and humans require personal interaction with other beings, or we risk becoming the machines we use; less human and less spiritual than we were meant to become.

“Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.”

--Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), author, philosopher

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.