Why hasn’t social networking been declared an epidemic pandemic natural disaster yet? A TV commercial of late shows a young woman in disgust with her baby-boomer parents thinking they are social hermits because they won’t get on line and hook up with some “friends”. While she’s expressing her disappointment in her parents the commercial scene shows her parents actually enjoying their social life with some other couples in the outdoors embracing nature and exercise. The scene returns to the young woman where she is using her laptop. She sarcastically states that her parents have gained five online friends and boasts that she has four hundred some odd. Then, while staring at the laptop screen, she exclaims, “This is living!” I think, NOT!
UK author Rob Clymo wrote this column entitled, “Is Technology Killing Us?” which appeared on MaximumSoftware.com. “We all love our gadgets and gizmos, but increasingly, it seems that research is suggesting that the electronic devices we use every day could actually be putting us at greater risk than we initially thought. For example, the world Health Organization has just placed mobile phones in the category ‘2B – possible carcinogenic to humans’, which means your beloved headset now sits along side pickled vegetables, printer ink and coffee when it comes to possible threats to your wellbeing. However, much of this is based around how much you use your phone. Certainly, the worrying headlines about contracting brain cancer might help to sell newspapers, but sensible use of a phone is, it seems, no riskier than enjoying your daily mug of caffeine. But that’s the thing with everything we do – ‘moderation in all things’ as they say. That’s not to say that technology does not have a debilitating effect on us, even if we’re using it in a sensible fashion. Let’s face it; we all spend hours in front of screens now, be they workstations, home computers, laptops, netbooks, tablets and smart phones – all are putting an increasing strain on our peepers.” Recent surveys have suggested that people are spending more time looking at screens than sleeping, and over sixty percent admitted they get withdrawal symptoms if they’re separated from their device for a period of time. An additional forty percent say they look for their mobile phone before doing anything else after waking up. A quarter said they did it within three minutes of rising from their slumber. Also, today’s children spend around half as much time looking at screens as they do being taught in school. And, with so many irresistible gadgets around us, the temptation to stare at a screen all day is becoming even stronger. The desire to own the latest gadget on the market is bringing people to do crazy things like spending their last dollar and selling body parts.
[1 Corinthians 6: 12 & 10: 23] Paul writes twice in the same letter; “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything” and “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive”. Alcohol, drugs, sex and “rock-n-roll” evidently weren’t mind controlling enough for the evil one. Satan is using the electronic age to turn billions of people away from God. Gossip, “the sharing of information”, is ruining lives. God has no web page nor is he on Facebook. You can’t “Like” him or have him as an electronic “friend”. You must seek God and study his Word. God loves you and has rewards waiting, in your name.
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