Lent: A Technology Fast?

The Lenten season started last week with Ash Wednesday. Many people take on the personal challenge of giving up something during this season of reflection on the sacrifice of Christ. Personally, I am too weak and poorly disciplined to take on such a challenge. Some acquaintances pledge to not each chocolate, do service community, go without a meal and give the money to a hunger program, etc.

Today, I read with keen interest about Italian archbishops urging their parishioners to abstain from technology: texting, surfing the Internet, listening to their iPods, etc. Accepting that some people must use technology for their jobs, the Bishops urge people who can to forego using technology, focusing instead on the importance of concrete versus virtual relationships.

Here's the USAToday story (emphasis added):

Dioceses and Catholic groups in Modena, southern Bari and other cities have called for a ban on text messaging every Friday in Lent, which began last week with Ash Wednesday.

"It's a small way to remember the importance of concrete and not virtual relationships," the Modena diocese said in a statement. "It's an instrument to remind us that our actions and lifestyles have consequences in distant countries."

The diocese said the "no SMS day" seeks to draw attention to years of conflict in Congo fueled in part by the struggle for control of coltan mines. The mineral is an essential material in cellphones. [Interesting!]

The Turin diocese is suggesting the faithful not watch television during Lent. In the northeastern city of Trento, the church has created a "new lifestyles" calendar with proposals for each week of Lent.

Some ideas: Leave cars at home and hop on a bike or a bus; stop throwing chewing gum on the street and start recycling waste; enjoy the silence of a week without the Internet and iPods.

Italian laity and clergy have reacted cautiously to the proposals. Some say Lenten abstinence should be a personal matter, and others contend that people who need technology to work shouldn't be asked to do without.

"What does giving up mean? If the use is capricious, then abstinence is welcome, but if technology is needed for work it makes no sense," said the Rev. Giancarlo Angelo Andreis, a priest at a Rome basilica.

Feeling rather overwhelmed these days with the inundation of new technology in my classroom, school building, career, and personal life, I kinda like this idea of fasting from non-essential tech stuff. But, give up my iPod .... no way! (Hey! I do listen to Christian podcasts in the morning as I get ready for work. So, at least half the time I use mine in a devotional manner.)