Five Things Star Trek Taught Me about Faith

Friday, May 17, 2013

By Steven H. VanderLeest

Star Trek is not Christian.  Although religious themes often arise in this franchise that includes twelve films (counting Into Darkness,  which was released today) and five television series (plus one animated television series), the story lines generally do not overtly support a Christian worldview.  Although some characters have a religious faith, that faith is typically portrayed as a peculiarity—simply an aspect of a particular culture or society. Other times the Star Trek hero would debunk the “gods” of a society (despite the Prime Directive prohibiting the Federation from interfering with the natural development of a society).  For example, in the film Final Frontier, Captain James Kirk asks “Excuse me. I’d just like to ask a question.  What does God need with a starship?”  thereby provoking an alien (posing as a deity) into a rage which thus reveals its less-than-divine nature.    Nevertheless, the story lines often explored the moral foundations of our own society by imagining our traditions conflicting with those of a fictional alien society.

Star Trek is not Christian—not overtly.  However, all the world belongs to God.  Every cubic centimeter of the universe falls under the sovereign reign of Christ, the Lord.  While writers of novels or film scripts can imagine a world without God, that doesn’t make it so.  Science fiction can leave God out, but Christians can still glean wisdom from even atheistic art.  God grants rain that waters the gardens of both the wicked and the righteous.  He grants rational thought and occasional insights to believers and nonbelievers.  Thus I find a sign of God’s grace in the thoughtful gems of philosophy, creative anticipation of future technologies, and moral questions buried in much of science fiction, including Star Trek.  To illustrate, consider five virtues central to Christianity that also appear in Star Trek story lines:  Justice, Stewardship, Humility, Benevolence, and Responsibility.  Spoiler warning:  I won’t give away anything about the new film, but I will discuss the entire plot of several episodes and films of the past in my examples below.

Justice

Justice is fair treatment of others.  God calls his people to act justly throughout the old and new testaments. God is also particularly concerned about those that are less fortunate in society—orphans, widows, the poor.  Justice demands that we don’t let the rich bribe their way out of accountability for their actions, nor walk roughshod over the rights of the poor. 

In the episode “Measure of a Man” from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Commander Bruce Maddox wants to dismantle his fellow officer, the android Lt. Commander Data, in order to learn about him.  Maddox is fascinated by Data—as a technology, not as a person.  Commander William Riker and Captain Jean Luc Picard are forced into adversarial roles in a court case to decide Data’s fate.  Under protest, Riker prosecutes the case to let Maddox have his way.  Picard defends Data’s right to choose.  During the course of the trial, Riker highlights the superhuman (and therefore inhuman) strength and intelligence of Data.  Riker removes Data’s arm, showing the court that Data is “just” a machine.  However, because Riker respects Data as a person, not a mere machine, he whispers an apology to Data while doing so.  In his most devastating demonstration, Ricker flips a switch at Data’s neck to instantly shut him off.  As Data slumps lifeless in his chair, Riker sits down, visibly showing remorse at having “proved” Data is simply a machine and not a sentient being with rights.

For his part, Picard first tries to defend Data by showing how similar Data is to humans.  But that tactic fails in the face of Riker’s demonstrations.  He then realizes, at Guinan’s prompting, that the true issue is that Data represents a new race.  The way humans treat Data hints not as much about the nature of the android but more about our own human nature.  Do we treat him as our slave or as our equal?  Do we require proof before we no longer treat someone poorly?

With this new strategy in hand, Picard calls Maddox to the stand to explore what it really means to be sentient.  Maddox identifies three traits of sentient beings (those that would deserve the right to self-determination):  intelligence, self-awareness, consciousness.  Picard persuades Maddox to admit Data possess the first two traits.  He then convinces Maddox and Philippa Louvoix, the court judge, that the third trait is nearly impossible to measure—that we don’t know how to prove humans, much less anyone else, possess consciousness.  Judge Louvoix suggests the heart of this question is the soul, implying this is the true measure of humanity, but concludes we don’t really know who or what can possess a soul.  She subsequently rules Data is sentient and grants him the right to self-determination.  Data then chooses to decline to submit to Maddox’s plan to dismantle him. 

What indeed makes us human?  In classes I have taught at Calvin, I sometimes as my students to make a list of characteristics that make us human.  They sometimes list the ability to learn or the ability to use tools.  They sometimes point to consciousness or the soul, but like Picard, Maddox, and Louvoix, we are quickly stymied when trying to measuring the soul. With Hamlet we ask “what is this quintessence of dust?”  Pointing to the soul quickly becomes a circular definition of humanity:  only humans have souls; we know someone has a soul because they are human.  I myself am hesitant to draw the boundaries of humanness too brightly.  In our attempt to define ourselves carefully, we may stray towards arrogance and pride.  In drawing boundaries tightly, do we seek power over other creatures?  If we require proof of humanness in order to grant rights, do we then create a slippery slope whereby we discard our aged because they are senile or discard are young because they are not yet developed enough in the womb? 

When we limit another’s freedom, it can be for our own ease and for their bondage.  How we treat others reflects our own character.  When I interview candidates for engineering positions at DornerWorks, I often attempt to wander through the coffee kitchen at about the time they are scheduled to arrive, because from there I can observe how they interact with our receptionist at the front desk.  Unbeknownst to the visitor, she is not simply a receptionist but rather our office manager.  Thus this initial moment is often the most telling interaction, hinting at the true character of the visitor.  I look for candidates who treat all others respectfully, not just the boss who might give them a job.  Respect of others is a personal virtue that leads us to seek justice in society around us, particularly for those less fortunate.  In the fictional Star Trek society, we see that though Maddox has a noble goal, any society that treats some better than others can easily be perverted.  In Picard’s defense of Data and his questioning of Maddox’s motives, I hear echos of Orwell’s Animal House, where despite initially noble intentions, eventually “some animals are more equal than others.”

Stewardship

One of the most unusual, but also most beloved episodes of the Star Trek: The Next Generatio was focused almost entirely on one member of the regular cast— Patrick Stewart playing his regular role of Captain Picard—along with a guest cast as the inhabitants of a heretofore unknown world, Kataan.  Picard lives a lifetime on Kataan while under the influence of a strange probe for just 20 minutes of real time.  He raises a family, having children and then seeing his grandchildren.  He learns to love the people and place of Kattan and thus becomes the perfect cultural representative when he returns to consciousness and learns the planet no longer exists because of a supernova long ago, with only the probe remaining—and now Picard feels a kinship with that people and comes to represent a kind of sole survivor.

The deep sense of belonging and community that Picard (known as Kamin) develops is analogous to the Christian sense of calling and vocation that draws us to serve as the body of Christ.  We have a deep connection to our neighbors and also to our world as its stewards.  God calls us to care for the creation, to cultivate it, to develop it.  The story of Kataan tugs at our heart because we innately feel the deep sense of loss when an entire culture is destroyed.  That same grief should touch us when the last speaker of an exotic language dies, when an animal or plant species dies out, or when a society is decimated by war so utterly and so long that they lose their traditions and forget their customs.

Humility

Some of the best Star Trek episodes and films are those with a strong villain, such as we find in Khan Noonien Singh.  The second film released for the Star Trek universe, “The Wrath of Kahn” provided a sequel to the original show episode “Space Seed”.  Part of a cryogenically frozen group of superhumans, Kahn proves to be one of Kirk’s toughest foes.

Stories that teach a moral frequently use the ploy of teaching a virtue by first depicting the associated vice.  Kahn is anything but humble, and by depicting the vice of pride, he teaches us the virtue of humility.  He is unrelentingly proud and confident in his own abilities.  Although the storyline suggests he is a superior human because of eugenic modification, we can all see our own predilection towards pride in this reprobate super man.  Kirk goads Kahn into mistakes by playing on his pride.  In the end Kahn’s pride is his downfall. 

Benevolence

In the “Squire of Gothos” from the original show, the alien creature naming himself “General Trelane .. retired”, turns out to be a temperamental child, chided by his parents by the end of the episode.  Trelane is a buffoon, but also a bully.  He has technological power so advanced that it appears almost magical to the crew of the starship Enterprise.  However, he uses the powers to manipulate and coerce others.  Again we see a morality story that shows us vice (selfishness, greed,  and corrupt power) in order to teach virtue (selflessness and benevolence).

We can draw a lesson from Trelane when we use our technological gadgets today.  Like Trelane, we sometimes wield the power provided by our technology to control and intimidate others for our own pleasure.  Like Trelane hovering constantly near the mirror that hides his wondrous machine, we hover close to our technology, worshipping at the high-tech altar, hoping to direct god-like power to our own purposes.  We steer tons of metal at high speeds along the highway, easily becoming enraged when another vehicle impedes our progress.  Our road rage goads us into becoming road bullies.  We drive recklessly in order to intimidate the object of our wrath, using menacing maneuvers to scare them into submission.  Power so easily corrupts that we easily forget our own place, becoming prideful so that we use power to control others rather than to show generosity and benevolence. 

Responsibility

As the story of “Duet”, from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine unfolds, we learn the story of the guilt of a Cardassian.  Major Kira Nerys visits the infirmary to greet a Bajoran ill with Kalla-Nohra disease.  Instead of a Bajoran liberated from the Cardassian slave labor camp at Gallitep, she finds a Cardassian.  It is hate at first sight for Kira.  The Cardassian is Marritza, a filing clerk that was present at the camp during the mining accident that caused Kalla-Nohra.  Commander Sisko wonders how Kira can be so sure he is culpable—guilty “just for being there”.  Kira is insistent because no Cardassian could stand by during horrible atrocities and not bear some responsibility.

The dialog between Kira and Marritza is a duet of call and response, with Marritza prodding Kira into a frenzy.  He unmasks her deep abhorrence for all Cardassians: “You see, you’re the one who’s lying now, Major. It’s not the truth you’re interested in; all you want is vengeance.” 

Kira reflects how many felt after the real atrocities of war crimes over the last century.  The blood of the dead cried out to the living survivors to pursue justice by punishing the perpetrators.  Lieutenant Jadzia Dax gently persuades Kira to the realization that she wants Marritza to be guilty so that Bajorans can have satisfaction that at last justice has been served.  The implication for Kira is that she might be as bad as those she condemns if she blindly seeks vengeance so far that she would punish an innocent man.

As Kira reconsiders, Marritza pushes harder.  New facts uncover his true identity, not as Marritza the filing clerk, but as Gul Darhe’el, the despot who ran the camp and directed the massacre of thousands of Bajorans.  Once unmasked,  Darhe’el admits no guilt but simply claims duty.  To Kira’s objection “nothing justifies genocide”  he responds “what you call genocide, I call a day’s work.”  Infuriated, Kira is ready to send him to Bajor for a speedy trial and inevitable execution.  But as we watch this scene unfold, the viewer is left wondering why Darhe’el would be so eager to claim responsibility for war crimes and so intent on provoking Kira.

The plot twists yet again when Odo and Bashir dig a little deeper and find they have been subtly misled.  This is not Darhe’el in their holding cell because Darhe’el is dead and furthermore, Darhe’el could not have contracted Kalla-Nohra because he wasn’t present at the camp on the day of the mining accident.  Thus Kira returns to the cell to confront Marritza, who only pretended to be Darhe’el.  He bristles at the suggestion: “You mistake me for that bug? That whimpering nothing? Oh you stupid Bajoran girl, don’t you know who I am? I’m your nemesis. I’m your nightmare. I’m the Butcher of Gallitep!”  But Marritza cannot maintain the charade.  When confronted with the proof that Darhe’el is dead he proclaims “I am alive. I will always be alive! It’s Marritza who’s dead! Marritza, who was good for nothing but cowering under his bunk and weeping like a woman.”  And now he himself begins to weep:  “Who every night covered his ears because he couldn’t bear to hear the screaming… for mercy… of the Bajorans…”

Finally we see the truth.  Marritza seeks atonement for the guilt of all Cardassians.  He pursues his own execution out of extreme remorse for doing nothing while Bajorans were tortured.  He calls himself a coward, yet we see he has gone to great lengths to stand alone and vulnerable to answer for crimes he did not commit.  He has evolved from the self-described coward to become a courageous supplicant in the hands of a Bajoran officer he has manipulated towards hostility.  He is the hero who wishes to sacrifice himself as a token satisfaction of Cardassian complicity.  Yet he himself was not responsible for war crimes.  His guilt was only that he did not raise a voice of objection.  He recalls his failures to Major Kira in the end:  “You have no idea what it’s like to be a coward. To see these horrors and do nothing.”  Could we expect him to do so?  He was an excellent filing clerk, and did that filing in some way contribute to the deadly efficiency of the labor camp?  He himself feels the guilt by association.  He himself wishes to represent the stereotype and expiate that guilt. 

Kira also comes to see the truth, developing a more refined sense of justice through the course of the episode.  In the beginning, she condemns Marritza simply for being present at Gallitep, the forced labor camp.  She slowly moves from a black and white measure of responsibility to recognizing there are degrees of culpability.  The story line reminds us of the search for justice and sometimes simply vengeance in the aftermath of liberating prisoners from concentration camps at the end of World War II or after the discovery of mass graves in the killing fields of Cambodia.  Was every Nazi and Khmer Rouge soldier equally guilty of mass murder?  Not at all.  Those that commanded innocents to be killed along with those that directly carried out the orders bear much responsibility for heinous acts. However, those that were present but did not object bear less responsibility.  Objection or subversion would likely have resulted in severe punishment for the objector.  Objecting might be heroic, but since it wouldn’t likely save any lives, we might also consider it as much foolhardy as praiseworthy.  At the episode’s conclusion, Kira no longer stereotypes all Cardassians as equally guilty.  Yet we are reminded that hate and bigotry are a disease much more prevalent than Kalla-Nohra.  As Marritza is about to leave the space station, a Bajoran—who himself has had run ins with the law— steps up and stabs Marritza to death.  Kira exlaims “Why? He wasn’t Dar’heel! Why?”, to which the killer responds “He’s a Cardassian! That’s reason enough!”  With Kira we realize that no, one’s race or skin color or gender is not enough to justify ill treatment.

Conclusion

Science Fiction may sometimes seem ambivalent to faith and sometimes seem even anti-religious.  However, Christians can find glimpses of the deeper truths and the fundamental reality of the universe around us.  Knowing that our world belongs to God and knowing that the observable universe is his creation gives us comfort and calls us to service.

Even in Final Frontier, after unmasking the fake god, Kirk philosophizes that while God might not exist in physical form in space, that does not preclude his existence.  Of course Christians realize that God is a spirit, but God the Son also took on physical form and flesh.  We thus have in Christ one who is “true God in order to conquer death by his power, and truly human that he might die for us in the weakness of his flesh.” (Belgic Confession, Article 19). 

Permalink

The Evil of Technology

Thursday, April 18, 2013

By Steven H. VanderLeest


Kyrie eleison.  Lord have mercy.  Evil is in our midst.  Evil has struck again.  The bombings at the Boston Marathon and the ricin letters to federal officials have been front page news this past week.  Much of the discussion about these events has centered on determining whether the label “terrorism” is appropriate, and if so, identifying whether it is domestic or foreign.  The news hounds are chasing leads about possible suspects.  The pundits are sifting through the political and social fallout.  The photos and video show us the human face of misery in the innocents harmed by these violent acts.

Amongst the flurry of facts and conjecture, another thread of the story emerges:  the technology of violence.  We are learning more about the apparent construction of the bombs.  Likewise we are coming to understand how easily ricin can be produced.  This is not unusual.  In almost every story of terrorism or mass-murder in the last century, technology quickly emerges as the tool of the killer.  This is not coincidental.  Humans have always used tools to pursue their goals more effectively.  Our technology extends our reach and expands our power.  Too often, humanity is not prepared to wield that power.  Too often we are careless.  Almost any technology can be dangerous.  Certain technologies are particularly prone to harm and thus particularly dangerous in the wrong hands. 

There is no easy response to senseless violence.  How do we identify who has the “wrong hands”?  It is not simply the criminal or deranged mind that can make indiscriminate use of weapons—the normally rational, law-abiding citizen can also become volatile when infuriated.  Even if we can make a reasonable identification, which technologies should be kept from those hands?  Some devices are designed to be weapons for mass killings.  This is why we zealously hide the design details of nuclear weapons and work against nuclear proliferation.  Other weapons are not as devastating and because they are less restricted, they are more easily obtained.  Even a tool not normally considered hostile, such as a hammer, can be a murder weapon in the hands of a killer.  Even if we can reasonably categorize the technological tools most prone to ill use and if we can also reasonably categorize the individuals who should not have access to them, how do we prevent that access?  Laws generally respected by law-abiding citizens may serve as only a weak deterrent to criminal behavior, depending on the perceived risk of getting caught and the attendant punishment.  Restricting supply can be difficult when the technology is easily produced.  Restrictions often have the unfortunate side effect of placing hurdles to legitimate uses of the same tool by upright users.

Should we give up in despair?  No, we must muddle through.  The answers won’t be clean nor simple.  We’ll need to balance multiple interests.  We’ll need to seek justice.  We’ll need to offer mercy.  We cannot simply eradicate technology.  It is too pervasive.  Pervasive because technology is part of who we are.  Humans are tool-makers.  We are creative developers.  Careful design of technology can help reduce accidents, e.g., safety locks on guns.  Some technologies can help detect illicit activities, e.g., metal detectors at airports or use of seismographs to detect illegal nuclear tests.  Not perfect, but perhaps that is the best we can do.  We cannot simply eradicate evil.  Evil is not in certain hearts alone, so that we can segregate the malevolent from the merciful.  Laws may be less effective than we hope, yet imperfect laws will provide some help.  Addressing the root causes of poverty, injustice, and bigotry may go some distance to preventing hate and hostility.  As far as we are able, let us pursue these preventative measures.  Not perfect, but perhaps that is the best we can do.  Evil lurks in every heart.  That’s not how we were created, but sin now taints us.  Only by God’s grace do we endure, only by Christ’s blood are we redeemed.  Lord have mercy.  Kyrie eleison. 

Permalink

Virtual Life

Thursday, March 28, 2013

By Steven H. VanderLeest

Remote presence, telecommuting, virtual meetings, virtual offices—these are the technologies that define the futuristic work space.  Online communication has not only crept into our places of employment, but also found its way into the interactions of our families, our schools, and even romantic relationships. 

Work Online

Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo (and formerly a high ranking executive at Google) recently made waves in the business world by revoking Yahoo’s policy that allowed employees to work from home.  Best Buy made a similar move, eliminating their vaunted Results Only Work Environment (ROVE) program.  Both companies have been on the decline for a few years, with new management looking for ways to quickly turn them around.  Is this a sign that telecommuting has failed?  Despite all the hype about social networking, is remote, always-connected access mainly a boon for our personal lives, but a bust for business?  What about online education?  If these businesses believe physical presence is necessary for productive work, does that imply distance learning doesn’t work?

At DornerWorks, an engineering services company where I am a partner, the company policy only permits working from home by special permission.  The normal expectation is to be at the office in person, although we provide quite a bit of flexibility with the actual hours.  Some folks start later in the morning and work late.  Others start early and leave early.  Others work longer one day in order to free up some time for personal errands on another day.  We’ve found that in cases where an employee does work at home, productivity can vary quite a bit.  If they are home because of a sick child or a snow day for all their kids, then productivity might be fairly low (likely because of distractions at home).  However, sometimes their remote productivity can be quite high.  Instead of lots of formal and impromptu meetings along with interrupts and distractions, they can focus on their work in a quiet space within their own home.  Our open floor plan for most of the workstations of our engineers is meant to encourage interaction and teamwork, but it also sometimes serves to break one’s concentration, making it difficult to focus on a single stream of work on a complex task.  Many of our engineers resort to listening to music with noise-canceling headphones in order to block out the noise and conversations around them.  Even though the executive managers have their own offices, even they sometimes find it necessary to go across the street to the local coffee shop when working on a large task, literally hiding out to avoid a constant stream of interruptions.


If tech companies have not entirely jumped on the telecommuting bandwagon, does that mean virtual communication is not effective?  No, even if telecommuting isn’t embraced, big companies like Yahoo or small companies like DornerWorks still use many electronic means to do business, including web/video conferencing, email, and more.  Even if telecommuting is not the norm, it can provide temporary flexibility so that work does not preclude family life.  “These technologies [videoconferencing] are making inroads, and allowing easier integration of work and family life.  According to the Women’s Business Center, 61% of women business owners use technology to ‘integrate the responsibilities of work and home’; 44% use technology to allow employees ‘to work off-site or to have flexible work schedules’”.  (Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” The Atlantic, July/August 2012, p. 94)

Facebook Family

In former days, families that were dispersed across the country or across the globe could maintain family ties via written letters or the occasional care package that might take days or weeks to arrive.  Later, wide availability of telephone service augmented the written letter, providing live communication, albeit limited to a relatively poor-quality audio connection.  More recently, those communication technologies have been augmented and sometimes completely replaced by Internet-based tools including email, instant messaging, social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, and video conferencing such as Skype or Google+ hangouts.  These tech gadgets help parents stay in touch with children studying or working in distant locations.  They help spouses connect when one is away on a business trip or called to active duty in the military.  They help siblings catch up on each other’s lives when living in different states. 

The content of the communication is affected by the tools we use, as McLuhan famously quipped, “the medium is the message.”  The length of the message impacts what we say and how we say it.  The available communication channels influence heavily interpretation and nuance.  You might hear irony in their voice, even if the words don’t immediately tip you off.  You might see irritation in their body language, even though their voice sounds calm.  Our use of sideways smiley faces :-) when chatting online are, in part, a recognition of the lack of body language signals in that medium. 

There are certainly some messages that lose much when sent electronically:  a hug of comfort, the good-natured slap on the back for good work, the fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies or freshly picked flowers delivered in person as a token of apology.  On the other hand, sometimes a new medium provides a new opportunity.  “I have so many stories of people reflecting on the ways technology gave their parents voices they didn’t know they had.  I remember years ago, people—mostly 20-,30-, and even 40-somethings—reflecting on the fact that when e-mail and text-messaging came along, they suddenly heard their father in a way he’d never been before.  It gave a generation of taciturn men a way to have affective relationships across their families.  I still hear that about the way people are connecting on Facebook.”  (Genevieve Bell, Director of Interaction and Experience Research for Intel Corporation, in an interview with Alexis Marigal in “What Makes Her Click,” The Atlantic, December 2012, p. 42.)

Distance Education

I have blogged previously on online learning in Mediated Communication” .  Let me simply add here that the desire of Yahoo management to bringing employees into the office for better engagement is not much different from the teacher’s concern to engage students in the classroom.  I think online employment or education probably works best for employees or students that are self-motivated or perhaps incentivized to be engaged.  The less inspired, self-starting, and mature they are, the less likely the online experience will be productive and the more likely they will be distracted—and distractions abound when one is using online tools. Sitting captive in a classroom is no guarantee that a student isn’t checking Facebook on the sly or reading a pulp novel tucked in front of the class textbook.  However, the environment matters.  The supposedly “multitasking” learner who not only has an online lecture streaming in one window, but also has Facebook, iTunes, gmail, Twitter, and YouTube all tiled across their laptop screen will no doubt have trouble focusing on just the lecture. 

I don’t see online education completely replacing live classroom instruction in the near future, but I do see it augmenting and enhancing education, just as the telephone didn’t completely replace the written letter, and just as Facebook didn’t completely replace the telephone.  That’s what technology does.  It augments.  It is a tool that extends our abilities.  It is the hammer that extends the reach and power of our arm.  It is the telescope that extends our sight.  It is the automobile that enhances our speed.  One of those educational enhancements is to give a new voice to those that have been silent:  just as email enlivened the “taciturn” father, so too electronic communication can be the voice of a shy or taciturn student.  “I think professors can help out by including an email option for participation so that introverted students have a way to share their ideas. I know one introverted friend who has been extremely grateful to professors that provide that option because she feels included in the conversation without having to fight other extroverted students to have her voice be heard.” (from an editorial by Ryan Hagerman , “Calvin needs to understand, support introverts,” Chimes Calvin College Student Newspaper, 1 February 2013.  )

Remote Relationships

The easy distractions of all our online tools, which can make online learning challenging, can become literal temptations when it comes to romantic relationships.  The ease with which we flit from one YouTube video to the next can lull us into thinking our real-life relationships are as easily interchangeable.  Dan Slater examines the online dating phenomena in his article “A Million First Dates:  How Online Dating is Threatening Monogamy.” ( The Atlantic, Jan/Feb 2013, pp. 41-46)  He finds that greatly increasing the available choices leads to less satisfaction and less engagement with any single choice. “Gian Gonzaga, [eHarmony’s] relationship psychologist, acknowledges that commitment is at odds with technology.  ‘You could say online dating allows people to get into relationships, learn things, and ultimately make a better selection,” says Gonzaga.  ‘But you could also easily see a world in which online dating leads to people leaving relationship the moment they’re not working—an overall weakening of commitment.’” (p 42)  This is not surprising—it is simply another aspect of the distraction that can plague any aspect of digitized life.  Slater points to Barry Schwartz for an explanation: “a large array of options may diminish the attractiveness of what people actually choose, the reason being that thinking about the attractions of some of the unchosen options detracts from the pleasure derived from the chosen one.” (p. 43)  Furthermore, much of our digitized world is also monetized.  Where capitalism drives the medium, then subtle incentives and disincentives will appear that might not align with the customer’s best interests. “Indeed, the profit models of many online-dating sites are at cross-purposes with clients who are trying to develop long-term commitments.  A permanently paired-off dater, after all, means a lost revenue stream.”  (p. 42) 

Spiritual Connections

Our spiritual connections to God are in some ways similar to our virtual connections in the digitized world.  We have limited mediums, not because our God is limited, but because we ourselves are finite.  God speaks in an audible voice or appears in visible form very rarely to very few.  However, he speaks to all us through his Word, communicates to all of us through the body of believers in the community of the saints, exhorts all of us through the preaching of the gospel.  Our communication links to God are equally varied.  Instant messages are carried by our prayers, video conferences are through the sights and sounds of a heart-felt worship service, tweets are found in our personal journals.  God hears and sees them all and he doesn’t miss any of the nuances, since he knows our heart.  While acquaintances might misinterpret humor in an email because they don’t know us well, and even close friends might not always understand us even in intimate, live conversation, God knows us better than we even know ourselves.  “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (Romans 8:26, NIV)

Permalink

Words on my Mind

Thursday, March 07, 2013

By Steven H. VanderLeest

“Bless the Lord, O my Soul”  … Quickly, where is that passage found? 

It was Wednesday evening.  Our praise team was practicing singing “10,000 Reasons,” the song by Matt Redman, in preparation for the Sunday morning service.  Our team leader planned to do a short prayer just before the song and so she wanted to review the passage corresponding to that line from the song.  We all recognized it.  It was on the tip of my tongue!  A psalm?  Yes, certainly.  Which one?  A quick lookup on my smartphone zeroed in on the passage, though it wasn’t quite so immediate, because my Bible app was the New International Version, and the NIV translates that first word as “praise” rather than “bless” so my search didn’t yield any psalms on the first try.  A quick switch to biblegateway.org and a lookup in the King James version yielded Psalm 103 in short order.  I should have known it was Psalm 103, having memorized that passage as a child.  Why had that memory faded so far? 

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”  Deuteronomy 11:18 (NIV)

I wasn’t always so slow to remember a verse.  After finishing 5th grade, I attended a summer camp with my cousin.  The week-long event was sponsored by the church my cousin’s family attended, so along with outdoor activities from hiking to swimming to volleyball, it also included Bible lessons each morning and chapel every evening.  Camp was not for the faint of heart.  We learned how to survive in the woods and how to survive in the ice-cold water of the camp showers.  We ate the unidentifiable chow served in the dining hall and lived to tell about it.  During chapel we sat on long benches constructed from rough hewn wood during even longer meditations constructed from rough hewn personal testimonies of the speaker for the evening.

On the first day of camp, the head counselor announced a memory verse contest.  The student who was able to memorize the most scripture passages from the official contest list would win a monetary prize.  Five dollars might not sound like much today, but to a fifth grader back then, that sounded like a small fortune.  The first passage on the list was Psalm 1.  An entire psalm?  Yes, that was the first hurdle.  But the first psalm is only six verses, and I had already memorized the first couple verses some time previously in Sunday School.  I set to work repeating the first couple verses over and over again, until I had them down pat, then added another verse, repeated the longer string of words over and over, finally getting the entire psalm firmly in my head.  I raced to my cabin’s counselor and the words flew out like water from a firehose, partly from excitement and partly in fear that I might forget if I took too long to recite the scripture passage.  Other students also got through that first Psalm and recited it.  I tackled more and more passages down the list, racing to stay ahead of the competition.  Over the course of the week, I had memorized my way through the entire published contest list (including the first five verses of Psalm 103).  Eventually the counselors had expand the list and assign a few more to me.  When we assembled for the final chapel on Friday, the head counselor pulled out a crisp five-dollar bill and announced that I had won the contest.  I was ecstatic.  I walked up to collect my prize and only when I turned to return to my seat and the whole group applauded did I feel a just a smidgen of pride. 

The following year, I once again attended the camp and on the first day they again announced a Bible memory contest.  This time the prize would be a airplane flight, piloted by one of the church members with a private aircraft pilot’s license.  Here was a prize worth pursuing.  I had never flown before.  The winner would get to see their house, their school—their entire neighborhood from the skies above.  This year the counselors were prepared.  The list of scripture passages was long and varied.  Some of the passages were familiar favorites, while others were obscure little pieces from little known corners of the Bible.  I attacked the list with fervor.  All other camp activities paled in comparison with this pursuit.  Every moment of free time we got, I had my nose in the Word, practicing the next verses on the list.  When we assembled for the final chapel on Friday, once again the head counselor stood up to announce the winner.  I held my breath.  He said a little about the importance of memorizing the Word of God.  He thanked all the students who had participated and memorized so many verses.  I was on the edge of my seat.  My feet were twitching with nervous energy.  Finally he proceeded to announce the winner.  Me.  I was ecstatic!  He handed me a certificate for the plane ride and once again the group applauded.  Later that summer I enjoyed my first plane ride, taking off from the Kent County airport to fly low over Grandville, Michigan and get a bird’s eye view of my house, my church, and my school.

In the weeks and months afterwards, many of those memorized passages faded from my memory.  Now decades later, only a few favorites come easily to my lips.  The sands of memory get smoothed out and fade under the ocean waves of time.  Does technology speed up our forgetting?  While ubiquitous wireless access puts an incredible array of information at our fingertips, are we really smarter?  I can google an answer for you, but does that make me wiser?  I suspect the convenience of the Bible on my iPhone gives me the excuse to memorize less.  However, humans have long used lists, and writing in general, as a tool to help us remember.  Perhaps a Bible app is just another one of those tools.  In the past I have rarely carried a Bible around with me, but now I have it with me daily, in my phone.  Few of us could memorize and retain the entire Bible, so we all need the crutch of the written Word occasionally.  On the other hand, I think it is still a good spiritual discipline to memorize some of scripture, so that God’s Word lives both in our minds and our hearts.

Permalink

Why I couldn’t read the Bible in church

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

By Steven H. VanderLeest


Our church holds its Sunday morning worship services in two locations within our building, connected together by a video link.  The upstairs sanctuary holds a couple hundred folks in the traditional double aisle of long pews from front to back.  Our Family Life Center, which functions as a gymnasium, cafeteria, activity room, and more during the week, becomes the downstairs sanctuary on Sunday mornings, with flexible seating in widening semi-circles around the stage where a praise team leads singing and where a projection screen carries the video feed of our pastor who is upstairs leading prayer and preaching the sermon.  Sometimes the pastor leads from downstairs and the upstairs folks get the video feed (just to keep it fair).  The upstairs pews are stocked with Bibles and songbooks, but not so with the downstairs seating. 

One Sunday morning my family decided to sit downstairs for a change, instead of our normal upstairs spot.  While many of you habitually bring your personal Bible to church, we had lost this habit in depending on those handy Bibles in the rack in the pew.  So here I was sitting downstairs watching the pastor on the video screen as he commenced reading the scripture passage for the day’s sermon.  Wait, I didn’t have a Bible handy!  Sure, I could listen to his reading, but I really preferred to follow along in my own Bible, since I’m more of a visual learner. 

No problem, I could pull the passage up quickly and easily on the Bible app on my smartphone.  It would be even better than reading the print version, since I would be able to compare multiple translations, instantly click through any footnotes to see reference passages, pull up commentary notes, and more.  However, when I pulled out my phone and fired up my Bible app, my wife and teenage son quickly put the kibosh on the entire plan.  They were obviously mortified, so I quietly put my phone away and politely listened to the pastor read the verses for the day. 

After church, I queried my family about the incident.  There were a several reasons for their dismay.  First, it might be distracting to other parishioners to have someone using an electronic device.  True, an electronic reader on a smartphone or tablet device typically has active lighting, so it would catch your eye more easily.  It also may require more manipulation, especially on a small screen device like a smartphone, where you’ll need more swipes to turn the small virtual pages compared to the necessary page turns of the physical book.  Second, it might give the appearance of bragging about one’s possessions.  Perhaps that would be the reality—that using one’s smartphone in church was no different than wearing expensive clothing or gold jewelry to advertise one’s wealth. 

Since that day, I’ve noticed a few other church members using an iPhone, Kindle, or other device to follow along in scripture, so perhaps I’ll try again at some point.  In any case, I am now a bit more thoughtful about how I use my gadgets.  As an engineer, I’d like to think I only use the most effective, efficient tool for the job.  However, that’s not always my entire reason for buying a technological product, whether I admit it or not.  I must be careful to avoid the pride of possessions or the gluttony of rampant materialism.  I must show care for my fellow believer down the aisle.  I must consider stewardship—both of my finances and of our natural resources.  In short, I must honor God in all I do and all I own.


Etymological bunny trail:  By the way, did you know that “kibosh” has a long history going back at least to an 1836 Dickens short story, but appearing in some newspapers and court proceedings even earlier.  There does not appear to be strong consensus about what or who a “kibosh” might have been or why it came to mean putting an end to something.

Permalink
Page 1 of 18 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »
(c) 2012, Steven H. VanderLeest