Symposium Presentations Review
Something very interesting that I learned from the presentations was the contrast of media idolatry and technophobia. This was talked about in Schultze’s book Communicating for Life.
Media idolatry is when media and technology become an idol in our life and we make it the most important thing. Ultimately, it is putting media and technology in the place of God. Media can then be our only sense of relationships and interaction with the world which is not healthy. Also, it allows people to present themselves in a way that they think others would like instead of presenting themselves how they actually are. Media is a good thing but when we make it into something beyond just a way to communicate to the world is when other problems come into place.
Now that the media is an idol in our culture the people who are producing it are tailoring it to people who idolize it. This leads to fake news because people are putting out stories just to get positive feedback and views. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Technophobia. This is known as the fear of technology. Often times in churches and faith communities many people look at technology and the media and just think our world is going to hell in a hand basket. They think it would be best to totally remove themselves from it rather than use it to connect with others.
The Christian community needs to be asking how can they reach others with the media rather than just complaining about how broken our world is. The world has been broken since Adam and the media just makes it better known to the masses; however, it does not mean we cannot use it to reach others with the gospel. If the media can be used to reach so many people, we should use it to do just that.