The era of digital distraction

Where are we?  Who are we with?  And what are we doing?  What's that over there?  Who knows?  Who cares?

Gray Brechin sent me the outrageous photo above with the message: "Need I say more?"

On a day when the world yet again celebrates the victory of commodity fetishism -- the release of the iPhone 5S -- it's worth taking a moment to ponder the powerful hold of digital narcissism within our culture.  Recently, I've banned all laptops, tablets, smart phones, other electronic devices in my classroom, except for showing films and videos relevant to the topic at hand.  "We're going to look each other in the eye, talk about the readings and listen carefully to what others have to say.  If you have a problem with that, I invite you to take another class."  While there was initially some resistance to this rule -- "What?  You're depriving us of our Internet and social networking!" -- I find that more and more students get the point and even enjoy visiting a space where the digital umbilical cord has been unplugged.

Community Supported Agriculture & the vitality of localism

                                         Harvesting garlic at Roxbury Farm, Kinderhook, NY

 In the region of New York where I live, there is strong support for ways of blending traditional communities with new varieties of social, economic and political practice.  It's always good to see outside recognition for the success my neighbors are having in their endeavors.  Here's a brief notice I posted recently on a fine website -- IMBY.com [In My BackYard].  

Roxbury Farm finds "sweet spot" in CSA size

There’s an interesting story on the NPR site, “Community Supported Agriculture: How Big Is Too Big?”  Columbia County’s Roxbury Farm seems to have found “the sweet spot.” As a Roxbury member for many years, I’ve seen the combination of idealism and good business sense that Jean-Paul, Jody and crew bring to their work.

I understand that the farm will start (or has already started?) posting its well-written, practical, always inspiring weekly newsletters on IMBY.com

– Langdon Winner 

Update:
The the latest Roxbury Farm newsletter is out, the one for July 22, 2013.  It worries about the weather and other matters, but is hopeful as always.

How will evangelicals respond to DOMA and Prop 8 decisions?

[With this post I'll begin a series of shorter comments about recent events, longer than the truncated observations I offer on Twitter or Facebook.]

Along with much of the nation, I celebrate news of The Supreme Court decisions striking down the benighted Defense of Marriage Act and California Proposition 8.  At the same time this turning point brings to mind surprising moments during two occasions in recent years in which I set foot in a church.  One was a memorial service for a family member held in a suburban Portland, Oregon maga-church.  The other was a wedding of a young couple in Washington, D.C.  Both events were deeply moving and personally meaningful.  But oddly enough, both included brash, tasteless, completely out-of-place interventions of homophobic preaching from the middle-aged male pastors who were conducting the services.  

At the memorial service recalling the life and contributions to family and community of a wonderful women, the clergyman departed from the flow of comment to deliver a vehement condemnation of homosexuality and a warning to younger members of the congregation about its lures.  "Good grief," I thought to myself.  "What's that all about?" 

At the wedding of the young man and woman -- a service enlivened by lots of gospel singing and hand clapping -- the religious master of ceremonies proclaimed the love and personal virtues of the couple, but seized the moment to argue that their bond deserved praise as a notable victory over Satan's treachery of gay sex that had swept up so many defenseless souls in this sinful era.  While the comment did nothing to change the good spirit in the chapel, it did add a distinctly sour note to the proceedings.  I began to wonder if comments like these had become a necessary part of evangelical church services, regardless of time and context.

In this light, it seems to me that this weekend an excellent source of entertainment would be to visit your local, "conservative" mega-church and listen closely to the sermon and the discussions afterwards.  What are the pastors and members of the congregation saying now?