Well... I sure didn't see this one coming. It seems to me that the Catholic Church will never cease to amaze the world with something new, but what does the digitization of a religious process mean for the world? We already see robots conducting marriages in Japan, so does this take the humanity out of religion, a main aspect that defines us as humans? Does this usher a new era for a technology worshiping religion? Already we have scores of people lining up to buy the smallest changes in i-Pod technology, and it seems some people need need to take these devices with them wherever they go; almost religiously. I can see that maybe this would help for people who can't possibly take the idea of sitting in a room and confessing their sins to a priest, but otherwise I don't see the point of it.
5 comments:
I think the main incentive for having robots do many things that humans would normally do is convenience. With advances in technology, there's just a lot more things that we can do faster and cheaper. Having a robot conduct marriages lets priests commit their time to more valuable issues at hand. A lot more can be done with robots taking care of repetitive tasks that don't need much skill to do.
I think this is one of those things that people do just because they can. I can't see this robot marrying people become a big hit among the rest of the world. One of the reasons this probably works out in Japan is because people are not really attached to a certain religion and therefore getting married by a robot is just a ceremonial ritual to them. I don't think we have to read too far into this.
I think the main point that Michael is addressing, is the Catholic Church's approval of a new iPhone app that allows users to enter the "confession booth" thorugh a tiny hand held device. Call me old fashioned, but i think this app takes some of the religious purpose out of the confessing of one's sins. But this is how the world progresses, and simplicity is on top of most people's priority lists. Many things are now done in ways that could have never been imagined...and who knows, one day we might have a computer for a president.
The article says that the iPhone app is not meant as a substitute for confession but a preparation for it. That is a relief. Trying to do confession over an iPhone app is ridiculous and defeats the purpose.
Using an iPhone app to prepare for confession may be less ridiculous, but I don't think it's a good idea. The only thing I can see it doing is changing reflective meditation into impersonalized checklisting. Which would also defeat the purpose of confession.
I'm Catholic.......idk why its being taken seriously, i thought it was funny.
I intend not to offend the non-religious folk....anyways
the point of the a priest or pastor is to lead a community of christians through worship of God as well as everyday life. But this app is promoting religion in the wrong way through pharisaical worship. Observing and practicing religious customs and ceremonies for the sake of doing them without understanding it's intended purpose.
Doing them for the sake of just doing them defeats the purpose as Jack says. You got to understand the big picture of God's will in order to actually do good with what the religion tells you to do.
Put it his way, not all Christians are Churchgoers, but being a Churchgoer does not make you automatically Christian.
Sooo... downloading this app does not mean you are now following God's will.
FYI, if you believe in God, and want him to forgive you, just talk to him directly. If he's as great as all them people say he is, he'll understand. It's called "Praying"
*Proper use of air quotes*
-Raymond Lim
Post a Comment