Is GodblogCon A Result of Technology Reflex?

Before I address the point of this post, I should probably define my terminology.

Technology reflex is the involuntary motions leading to the immediate adaptation of technology in the name of progress and the Good.  A reflexive movement typically represents an involuntary response to an internal or external event.  For example, the motions of the body beginning with the irritating of the nasal mucosa and terminating in a watery bath of one’s nearest neighbor is a muscle reflex of sneezing.  One usually cannot help sneezing, their body does it against their volition.  Similarly, there is a contingency of persons who are wondering if Godbloggers are not suffering from a kind of technology reflex when Christians hastily scoop up a new technology and attempt to redeem it as a new tool for the kingdom – Sword of the Spirit 2.0.  Such an idea ought to send twitters up and down one’s spine.

Unfortunately, one blogger named VIA raised the concern that GodblogCon might be the fruit of technology reflex.  VIA red-flagged the following excerpt from my last post:

Christians can not afford to critique these changes, to curse the darkness, from the safety of their pews and cultural commentaries. Christians must bring the light of Christ to the fore of this new industry;

VIA then offered the following for consideration:

While controversial, I can’t help but continually suggest that as we engage with this rapidly changing world, and the vehicles of its communication, faith and life are also being radically transformed and even redefined as it takes on these new forms and interacts with these mediums. I appreciate the sentiment that the post above ended with (in the last paragraph, italicized), but it must also be noted that the changes that are happening are perhaps just as influential to our faith as our faith is to the world. The medium is the message, as McLuhan has taught us. So yes, while negative critique is an activity we ought to avoid, especially when it is “cursing the darkness,” not only ought Christians be the light, but we ought to ask the question, what kind of a light are we also becoming? (Emphasis Original)

VIA then offered a series of points for consideration:

Are we becoming less human as we approach a technology that is designed to expand human communication?

Could it be possible that the very mediums that we are using to “reach out and touch someone” (c.AT&T) are actually diminishing our abilities to connect?

Could it be possible that we actually lose power or any real grasp of interpersonal and interconnected relationships as we engage more through electronic means?

And are we really being wise in embracing this new technology so freely, and so fully resulting in a “Huxleyan” enslavement?

To be clear, GodblogCon is not about the mindless adaptation of technology for Christ.  The line quoted above should state that Christians cannot merely critique the technology from the comfort of their pews.  Rather, Christians should think about and utilize the good opportunities which the technology makes available.  In addition to this, Christians should wrestle with and respond to the sorts of questions which VIA has raised.  These are the sort of “concerns” to which I made reference in my last post.  Answering these questions amongst a fellowship of visionaries involved in working with the technology is precisely what we do at GodblogCon.

Web media technology is redefining mass media standards.  Christians can, and should, bring a healthy Christian perspective to a media world that has been unhealthy for quite some time.  Each year we attempt to build a conference with people like VIA, and others who share his/her concerns, in mind.  We hope that as we work to bring a healthy Christian perspective to the forefront of web media we will do so having wrestled with and resolved questions such as the ones raised by VIA.  GodblogCon is an opportunity for Christians to come together for face-to-face conversations about the promise, and the problems, that web media technologies presents to us all.

I recommend reading VIA’s post as it provides an interesting critique of technology reflex and raises some valid concerns about some of the presuppositions undergirding certain forces within the web media movement.

Once you have finished reading his post, REGISTER for GodblogCon and join in the conversation about the problems and promises of web media technology.