iDol

I am a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy, even going so far as to buy the companion work "The Silmarillion". I'm also the sort of guy who actually reads Prefaces, Prologues, Footnotes and the like. In the version of "The Silmarillion" that I have, there is given, as a sort of Preface, part of a letter that Tolkien sent to a prospective publisher of his book explaining his intent and I found it most interesting. He writes:

"...all this stuff is mainly concerned with Fall, Mortality, and the Machine. ... By the last I intend all use of external plans or devices (apparatus) instead of developments of the inherent inner powers or talents - or even the use of these talents with the corrupted motive of dominating: bull-dozing the real world, or coercing other wills. The Machine is our more obvious modern form though more closely related to Magic than is usually recognized."

The last line really struck me. The Machine is more closely related to Magic than is usually recognized. Magic is something that I know enough to steer clear from. Magic is not foolishness, in the sense of being a farce, but rather is something dangerous. I have often noticed that the issue with Magic or the Occult is that there always seems to be a question or who is in charge. Are we really controlling powers to work on our behalf, or are we being seduced into handing ourselves over to powers we absolutely and essentially cannot trust? This is the archetypal story of selling your soul to the devil. I have a good level of sensitivity to this danger.

But Tolkien is saying here that the Machine is just a modern form of Magic and that is something I have not been sensitive to. Machines seem to me to be someone aspiritual, as if there is some logical inconsistency to bring up machines when discussing spiritual matters. But I have often thought that it seems that all of these modern conveniences - cell phones, laptops, iPods, Wi-Fi - don't ever seem to deliver what they promise. If you look back 30 to 40 years ago, there was this idea that modern technology would somehow allow people to have more and more time on their hands since we would be more and more effective at getting our work done. But this has never happened, and at this point, I don't think it will. A cell phone doesn't generally add convenience, rather it adds stress. Computers haven't made it easier for engineers to get their work done faster so that we can go home and spend more time with our families. Rather, they have readjusted managements expectation of how long it should take to get things done and now people just ask for things faster.

Most recently, there is the rise of the personal electronic devices - the iPods and iPads, which seem to promise tremendous convenience. But these are accompanied with unprecedented access to pornography, whether explicit or implicit in music.

And pornography is slavery.

Who is really in control in regards to technology?