In his book 1984, George Orwell detailed a dystopian world wherein a person or persona called “Big Brother” saw everything that people did and where the central government pushed its agenda through propaganda, spying, monitoring, and thought controls. That book was published in 1949. It is now 2017, and while we do not exactly have Read more
I am going through a personal crisis. I used to love reading. I am writing this blog in my office, surrounded by 27 tall bookcases laden with 5,000 books. Over the years I have read them, marked them up, and recorded the annotations in a computer database for potential references in my writing. To a Read more
More than one-third of 15-year-old children in the UK could be classified as ‘extreme internet users’, or those who are online for more than six hours daily outside of school. A report from UK think-tank Education Policy Institute (EPI) states that children in the UK have a higher rate of extreme usage (37.8 percent of all UK Read more
The archbishop of Suva, Peter Chong, has called on Catholic teachers to be creative in their teaching skills so students can enjoy learning. He said one of the effective ways to teach children today was to make use of visual media. “That is the culture we are living today. The children of today are ‘screen Read more
Not long ago Time magazine ran a cover story about Internet trolling with the alarming but not inaccurate cover blurb “We’re losing the Internet to the culture of hate.” Trolling and other antisocial behaviors are widespread online. They can even be found in devout Catholic circles, though outright trollery and the “culture of hate” are Read more
How do we comfort others in this digital age? Is a text message or emoji enough? When, pray tell, should we actually use the phone to call? Or…talk face-to-face?! A recent NY Times commentary, “The Art of Condolence” by author Bruce Feiler, wades into these choppy waters of shifting cultural expectations. Penned after Feiler’s own mighty Read more
The Church of Scotland is considering online baptisms and communions to help reverse a decline in membership. The plans are due to be presented to delegates at the Church’s annual gathering on The Mound in Edinburgh next week. It is hoped the plans will start a debate about how to engage more with parishioners while also Read more
A Vatican communication aide has chided Catholics for turning the Internet into a cesspool of vitriol in the name of defending the faith. Fr Thomas Rosica told a World Communications Day event in New York that sometimes Catholic conversation online is more “culture of death” than “culture of life”. “Many of my non-Christian and non-believing Read more
Exposure to pornography harms children so much that it should be considered child abuse, Australia’s Catholic bishops have said. A commission of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference gave a statement to a senate committee in their nation last month. The committee was making an inquiry into the harm of Internet pornography. “Children have a right Read more
Protesters shouting slogans like “Pope is a Satan” have disrupted several Masses in churches in Las Vegas. The group behind the action, Koosha Las Vegas, have been entering churches during services, shouting at Catholics that they need to repent now or else. The group has filmed the acts and posting them on the Internet. This Read more