Oh this one got my stirred up! There were moments in reading that I agreed whole-heartedly
with Postman’s comments: “When the supply of information becomes
uncontrollable, a general breakdown in psychic tranquility and social purpose
occurs” (72) and “social institutions of all kinds function as control
mechanisms” (73) believe me, as the mother of a 3-year-old, I agree! Even the
blunt statement, “when there is too much information to sustain any theory,
information becomes essentially meaningless” (77).
However, there were also moments that I wanted to scream
aloud at Postman. To endorse the
words of Hillel; and imply that the Bible is a theory, was about all that I
could take. Especially when his
understanding of the “theory” was so inept. He completely missed
Christ and grace. I wouldn’t
endorse “His” theory of the Bible either… and I’m a Bible teacher! Not to
mention- his theory wouldn’t save anyone.
I also disagree with him that (Biblical) religion aims to
control information. Instead, I
think the Bible is God’s way of teaching us to deal with information. Why
else am I teaching adolescents about prostitution, rape, murder, and homosexuality
through the stories of the Old
Testament? Believe me, I don’t do
it because it’s fun. We teach our
students something great when they are able to discern- not when we shelter
them from inconvenient information.
So I’ll uphold that the Bible gives meaning to life and guidance (which
I’m sure Postman would call me naïve for even saying). But I disagree that it
“seals off unwanted information” (79).
I find Postmans’ opinions on Technolpoly’s bureaucracy,
expertise, and machinery leading us away from morality to be true. His comments on page 90 lead me to
related thinking on the difficulty of “grading” in Bible class. How do I quantify someone’s faith? How do I objectify faithfulness,
goodness, love? If you’ve ever
tried to create/score those character traits that often show up on report cards
you feel my pain. Is this all a
result of technology?
Do you think religion (specifically Biblical Christianity)
aims to be a controlling institution?
Has Technology (Technopoly/expertise) led us away from the
moral universe?
Are we cheapening the fruits of the spirit (faith in
general) when we try to objectively “score” it with a grade?
“Mommy, Lukas said *&%#- what does that mean?”
(Some controlling institutions ARE needed)