As much as I like these products and appreciate the convenience that they offer, this reaction might be a tad overboard....
The full article can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/05/19/apple.religion/index.html?iref=obnetworkApple triggers 'religious' reaction in fans' brains, report says By Mark Milian, CNN
May 19, 2011 6:33 p.m. EDT
Filed under: Gaming & Gadgets
At product launches, Apple store employees cheer for the first customers to buy the company's latest gadgets.
(CNN) -- Next time Grandma asks why you're going to the mall on Sunday morning instead of church, tell her you're going to Apple Chapel.
For Apple fans, the brand triggers a reaction in the brain that's not unlike that of religious devotees, according to a BBC documentary series that cites neurological research.
The neuroscientists ran a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test on an Apple fanatic and discovered that images of the technology company's gadgets lit up the same parts of the brain as images of a deity do for religious people, the report says.
The first episode of the documentary shows Apple employees "whipped up into some sort of crazy, evangelical frenzy" at the recent opening of an Apple store in London.
Observers and Apple critics have long accused fans of the tech company of taking their infatuation to an extreme.
People have gone to great lengths to prove their love of Apple with tattoos, bumper stickers and home shrines to outmoded Mac computers. Apple's cult-like following was highlighted in a 2009 documentary called "Macheads."
A blog, aptly titled Cult of Mac, wrote on Thursday about Oakland, California, resident Gary Allen's cross-country pilgrimage to Apple's first store in Virginia to celebrate the retail chain's 10th anniversary this week.
In speeches, Pope Benedict XVI has said technology consumption poses a threat to religion and the Roman Catholic church. The holy leader told a Palm Sunday crowd last month that technology cannot replace God.
However, apparently it may inspire god-like devotion.
I could not help but chuckle out loud when I read this article. If you get whipped into an emotional frenzy about any piece of technology, then you might need to reassess your life priorities. It goes to show you that anything can become an idol!
Some questions do come to mind. Is Steve Jobs the Mac cult's messiah or chief priest? Does one have to wear a black long sleeve shirt and blue jeans sans belt to religious gatherings?
Are faithful followers reincarnated into Apple Store, Fifth Avenue Employees?
These are questions that demand an answer! Or perhaps our time is better spent pondering the following:
Mat 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
I enjoy the conveniences and information availability that comes with technology. But it is just STUFF. My iPad will likely be rendered obsolete in the next few years. Something bigger and better will come along. The toys that the Apple fanatics go berserk over today will be landfill fodder before the next President is elected. They, and all other earthly treasures will soon pass away.
Perhaps our time/excitement/energy is better spent in treasuring heavenly things... Laboring in the kingdom of God. Helping those in need. Prayer. Studying and meditating on the word of God. Call me a fanatic if you must, but these activities will reap longer term benefits than even this:
Lord help us to keep our priorities straight!
Have a great weekend!
2 comments:
"The neuroscientists ran a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test on an Apple fanatic and discovered that images of the technology company's gadgets lit up the same parts of the brain as images of a deity do for religious people, the report says."
Maybe it's significant to note that as Christians, we aren't supposed to have graven images? If we adhere to that principle, will the MRI show something different? Of course that is rhetorical, as we have all been so exposed so many icons and "religious" images that the association is firmly in place, even if we don't overtly recognize such items as sacred.
Bottom line though, I think the article got it exactly backward--what the MRIs revealed was a zealous reaction, a fanatical reaction. But it had nothing to do with religious faith or devotion.
Fanaticism is not the same as faith. IMO, the two should not be confused (though obviously they frequently are). Fanaticism--whether for a sports team, political idea, brand of gadget, or whathaveyou--does NOT mimic religious conviction.
Rather--and this, I think, is an extremely important distinction--too often, so-called religious expression mimics fanaticism. Indeed, if your worship looks and sounds and feels quite a lot like a team victory celebration or the hype and hysteria of a new iGadget unveiling, it might be a pretty good sign that what you are engaged in is not actually the result of true faith or devotion or conviction after all...
In other words, perhaps this phenomenon simply showcases idolatry, rather than mimicking religious fervor or commitment. If I am correct, that makes this quote all the more significant: "In speeches, Pope Benedict XVI has said technology consumption poses a threat to religion and the Roman Catholic church."
Dare I postulate that we see here two forms of idolatry in direct competition? If so, I think it's safe to say that neither one actually has much to do with faith, religion, or devotion.
Haha, I found this to be so amusing (esp. the itty bitty writing stating your use of the ipad in the pulpit...) too funny! You'll have to hear Jim's take on the similarities of church and being a dj (it reminds me a lot of the article).
Sarah- I too think your thoughts are right on- esp. religious expression mimicing fanaticism... so true. It also makes me think of the ones who show more zeal for a sporting event than that of their religious convictions- I think we need to find a happy medium!
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