If Moses had Twitter, would the Ten Commandments have received wider coverage?
If the Wise Kings had Waze, would they have found the manger more easily or maybe missed the traffic jam in the Galilee?
If Muhammad had Facebook or Buddha LinkedIn, would the essential pillars of major religions be different today?
Let me be clear: I am not being facetious or making fun -- au contraire -- as so many have created a religion out of their belief that nothing existed before today's technologies and because this time of year often leads to general spirituality -- whatever your beliefs -- I have been seriously pondering these questions and more.
Technology has always affected religion and impacted both its leaders and followers.
Gutenberg's movable type forever changed the way the common person interacted with religion by making texts available to all; broadcast technology built on that access by creating new opportunities for global evangelism; and clearly the Web built on both by making just about everything available to just about everybody.
So I ask again: Would our essential belief systems be different today had our technology been available then?
My answer is no -- except maybe for religious wars and such -- I shudder to think of just how great the bloodshed would have been with modern weapons...
All of which leads me to share with you a video that I have not seen in years but that I remembered this week as I seriously wrestled with what the treasures of our age are really worth... it is a song and a clip that had an immense impact on me as a teen, and my wife and I both became emotional listening to it again -- as its message resonated across the years -- maybe even more so today...
Watch: One Tin Soldier
Bottom line: As we struggle with a world where everyone seems to be spying on everyone else; where we have lost the plot of nuclear energy as a sustainer of life; where entitlement is baked into technology, eliminating personal accountability for its use; where people still go to bed hungry and wake up scared... here is my final thought and wish for this holiday week... listen:
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."
Jimi Hendrix<
There won't be any trumpets blowing come the Judgment Day...
What do you think?