Blackbarely and iPhony...The Demons of Distraction

Technology officially scares me. Today I watched a Youtube video of Microsoft's new gaming technology "Fluid", which allows a human being to literally be the game controller. I watched two(I'm guessing 35 year old) grown men jump around in a taped off box on the ground, giggling like little princesses and was all but mortified. The machine is a souped up version of the Wii remote with a sensor that detects things like motion, heat, height, weight, sexual orientation, blood type, deepest fears, insecurities, ingrown hairs, and the ultimate destination of your soul. Keep in mind that this is just the beta version and that the finished product, which should be available next year, will allow you to go online and actually take another human life. Thanks Mr. Gates! You've ruined yet another child's innocence with your abnormal genius! I know the numbers of your rising geek army are growing every single minute...

This generation will always be known as the real technological boom. The internet/iphone/Xbox era has been the most rapid advancement in technology since the late 1800's. With the internet and it's stream of interactive and accessible media rivaling the motorized vehicle as quite possibly the single most influential invention in our communication based world...it's getting a little scary. Now, the future isn't necessarily scary because of my hyperbolic comments about the future of gaming as much as the safety and future of our worlds focus on what is real, what is truth.

I pray for my generation, for the 90% of us who begged for the iPhone, got it, dropped it, cracked it, got another one, put a case on it, dropped it, barely cracked it, told we have to keep it this time because you can't afford our lifestyle anymore. I pray for my generation who affectionately but perhaps not all together misguidedly call their phones Crackberries to allude to the unhealthiest, however still highly addictive form of cocaine. Very cute.

Yes, perhaps it could be argued that in an age of communication that these tools help us keep in touch with the world and people around us. I get that. Trust me, I'm thrilled to know what Sally last tweeted about, really I am, and I hope she gets a better haircut next time, but I'm under the thick impression that God created us to be a bit more interpersonal than our ialones and lackberries allow us to be. I'm not saying we have to go Adam and Eve or anything, I don't need to see all of that. Honestly, I am much less likely to talk to a naked person than a clothed one electronically...but I think you know where I'm going.

I am concerned about the distractions we face and will continue to endure do to our continual progression into a virtual world. Think of the distractions the first century Christians faced. Perhaps their wily goats escaped from the pen and the round up cut into their quiet time. Maybe they were focusing so heavily on giving their 13th son a terrible name that they simply lost track of time and...oops...late worship is already over. Check it, I don't mean to belittle antiquity, every generation is different and has served it's purpose in God's plan. The reality is that people were dying everyday for a reason. And the reason was obvious, they lived according to their faith and because of that were chastised and many of them murdered. But what about in a time when things aren't so obvious? What about in a time of reality celebrities, twitters, and facebooks? What about a time when were are lulled fast awake by the distractions and speed of this world that we no longer remember the reason we suffer, or how to suffer at all?

So am I saying that the Xbox, Facebook, and Cell Phones are from the devil? Yes...100%


No, no, no... you knucklehead...you're cute though.

What I am saying is this... I don't find it hard to believe that in this specific space and time that some of the powers that be in this unique spiritual battle might be using these luxuries to his benefit as the "great deceiver" to distract and deny our fervor and energy from being placed on the almighty God.

Is any one inanimate object evil? No.
Can evil be done with an inanimate object? You bet your blackberry.
Can we control it? Maybe.
Will we? Actually, I think Steve Jobs is coming out with the new iPhone this week....oooooooooo I want that...

See how they get you? It's just that easy...

Be weary and wise friends-there's not an app for discernment-

Yet.

-Steven D. Arnold