‘The first time I saw an Athonite monk pull a smartphone out from the pocket of his long black robes, I nearly fell over backwards… the pit that appeared in my stomach when I first saw a monk on the Holy Mountain with one of those black mirrors in his hand came from an instinct I’ve long had: that the sacred and the digital not only don’t mix, but are fatal to each other. That they are in metaphysical opposition.’
~ Paul Kingsnorth, ‘The Neon God‘
He sees a monk on mount Athos take a smart phone
from his black robes and nearly faints in horror
whereas I run on – a nun of Annwn
with an Apple watch on my wrist telling me
when I have completed split one, split two, split three,
the exact mileage I have done, my pace, how many calories burned,
congratulating me when I close my move ring and exercise ring,
teaching me to breathe by mimicking
my breath with a cool blue cloud.
When I look into the black mirror I wonder
whether it is a parasite or a companion,
a trustworthy advisor
or a replacement for my body’s knowing.
I pose the question – IS TECHNOLOGY HOLY?
The black plastic reminds me of the primordial material,
the dark matter of the womb from which the universe was birthed,
the cauldron from which spilled the elements that would make
ion-x glass, liquid crystalline, an aluminium case,
a polyester with titanium strap,
the lithium ion rechargeable battery
(from cobalt mined by children in the Congo).
By age, height, weight, gender, heart beat movement, workout type
it measures whether my day has been a success.
Like counting the fall of apple, cherry
or orange blossoms I wonder
if it is beyond good
and evil?
It keeps
my horarium
for now and warns me
when the sun will be too hot
and when my heartrate is too high
but what the cost is yet to be considered…
The Sanctuary of Vindos 
What a great provoker… having abandoned the wrist watch for twenty years I’ve just put on an Ultra… lots to consider. But it’s still alway…”Now”
So, according to Paul Kingsnorth’s own instinct, everything he writes on the internet must automatically rule itself out because of this metaphysical opposition.
Yes, I spotted that problem too, he does talk about it a bit in his article and the video he links to. He hates technology yet he makes a living from his Substack!
It is a paradox too big to simply overlook. When people talk about something being wrong, often from this “gut reaction” to it, it is the recipe for a dogmatic, reactionary, response, often leading to a dictate for others. Something Christians, and other monotheists, often do, I have noticed. I can almost see them standing at some recycling plant in front of big containers, to be loaded on ships, labelled “right” and “wrong” and “sort things out” through asking their “almighty god, who has made them in his image”, where to put stuff and which container never to crawl into or even get too near to. It makes absolutely no sense. I also find it deeply contradictory when some monotheists claim to be “very humble”, yet speak for “an almighty god”. It is, in fact, impossible, both the existence of an almighty god and the position of being “very humble” when believing in such a being. In Denmark, where I live, it is still possible to discriminate for priests in The Danish Church (Folkekirken) against homosexuals and women, who wants to be priests, and the government are still “making room” for this discrimination, because it is considered “a religious choice” of some sort and still “something to debate”, and this church and the state is not separated. Random laws made by people who tend to bless how they curse others. The terribly old story of creating scapegoats. Happily, though, more and more people choose to not be a member of The Danish Church anymore, and a lot of the members are just people who have not yet thought about leaving, because they are members due to their parents choosing that, when they were very young. I wonder how many member there would be, if it was an active choice to become a member instead of the other way around. It is like a big book club you are a member of, until you realize you pay every month for it. And they do not have many books.
I think its good that spiritual people live in the same world as the rest of us
Underneath the robes and ceremonies – including those we’ve just had plastered over the airwaves this Coronation weekend – we’re all just humans after all.
Smartphone tech is not the tool we think it is, though, and it takes more than it appears to give. We just don’t see the value in what it takes. Which, I suppose, is why it’s so easily taken.
Hmm. Lesson there?