I grew up in a conservative Christian church with a robustly literal view of Satan. He was pictured as an actual being with mind-invading capacities for temptation and an insatiable lust for doing evil. Despite my upbringing, I had never been able to believe in Satan as anything more than a quaint, outdated metaphor. There's no need for a supernatural tempter. Humans are capable of monumental evil all on their own.
But I've recently changed my mind. Now I'm convinced. There is a Devil, he is real, and he lurks in our cell phones. And our iPads, laptops and desktops. The Prince of Darkness buries himself deep in the demonic depths of the computer, the microchip, the touchscreen, the instant messager. Seduced by the possibility of communication that is both faceless and conducted at lightning speed, we step, perhaps innocently at first, into an infernal realm that soon overtakes us. We find ourselves texting and writing messages we'd never communicate face-to-face with a real person. Our perception of evil is warped by our ubiquitous electronic telecommunication devices that promise faceless communication at lightning speed.
The electronic devil isn't adorned in a red cape with horns and smoke shooting out of its nostrils. It is shrouded in the effortless speed and sexiness of simulated relationships served up by our electronic gizmos. The magic of the computer world blinds us to consequences, politeness and due regard - our basic ethical principles. Full story...
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But I've recently changed my mind. Now I'm convinced. There is a Devil, he is real, and he lurks in our cell phones. And our iPads, laptops and desktops. The Prince of Darkness buries himself deep in the demonic depths of the computer, the microchip, the touchscreen, the instant messager. Seduced by the possibility of communication that is both faceless and conducted at lightning speed, we step, perhaps innocently at first, into an infernal realm that soon overtakes us. We find ourselves texting and writing messages we'd never communicate face-to-face with a real person. Our perception of evil is warped by our ubiquitous electronic telecommunication devices that promise faceless communication at lightning speed.
The electronic devil isn't adorned in a red cape with horns and smoke shooting out of its nostrils. It is shrouded in the effortless speed and sexiness of simulated relationships served up by our electronic gizmos. The magic of the computer world blinds us to consequences, politeness and due regard - our basic ethical principles. Full story...
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