Family life breaking down because of texts and emails warns Bishop of Stafford
Family life is breaking down because of the emails and text messaging and the church is at risk of becoming a "lifeless dangerous and useless distraction" a leading Bishop has warned.
Firstly: bollocks. Define "family life", for starters. My family, immediate and extended, grew up moving. We have always been at some physical distance from someone we loved. At one stage, I was in the UK, one of my brothers was in the Sudan, another was in the US, my sister was in Toowoomba, my parents were in Cairns and my 3rd brother was holding down the fort in Brisbane. Technology made it possible to stay together and in touch.
Having said that, if the good Bishop meant that constant connection to the world diminishes family connectivity, then he may have a (limited) point. Being constantly online, to the point where your brain is NEVER engaged with the people you live with, is a barrier to communication, but is it any more or less difficult than dealing with a child who lives on the phone, a husband who watches footy at the pub with mates every night, a son who hangs out with mates until the lure of food and/or money draws him home? Technology is only the latest potential barrier to family interaction, not the epitome of it.
Secondly: the church may be at that risk, but it's got nothing to do with technology. Luddites should not be allowed to make public policy declarations, or the church absolutely WILL be seen as an institution out of touch with the world!
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