Smartphones Receive Holy Blessing 154
jeffmeden writes "Plow Monday is normally for blessing laborers and their tools; as the name suggests it is aimed at those who work the land. A church service in London, England Monday decided to go after a more modern audience: office workers and their modern communication gadgets. From the Times article: 'The congregation at St Lawrence Jewry in the City of London raised their mobiles and iPods above their heads and Canon Parrott raised his voice to the heavens to address the Lord God of all Creation. "May our tongues be gentle, our e-mails be simple and our websites be accessible," he said.'"
Has anyone noticed... (Score:3, Insightful)
Has anyone noticed that sampenzus is a worse editor than even Jon Katz could ever hope to be?
Absurd? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Absurd? (Score:3, Insightful)
I have a terrible feeling that already exists somewhere.
Re:How is this (Score:2, Insightful)
Turn in your nerd card. (Score:3, Insightful)
Faith is incompatible with being a nerd.
Re:Absurd? (Score:1, Insightful)
The church in in the financial district of London. The people with the phones are the moneychangers of the day. Irony abounds. Most of their colleagues probably are believers of the religion known as the Free Market and bathe at the Temple of the Greenback.
Re:Absurd? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not assistance they ask for, it is that the tool doesn't break/crash or become otherwise inoperable and IMHO that approach is less absurd and hints at the users humility.
How much did a plow cost back in the day? If it broke? Without it you and the rest of the family would have a hard time to live.
Now the absurd is that iPod's and the like should not be included. A persons main computer or server farm that pays the families bill... hell yes.
But then again most modern people may be Atheists and could care less.
Re:Has anyone noticed... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Are they serious? (Score:4, Insightful)
This church is called "St Lawrence Jewry"? What a confusing and possibly offensive (to Jews) name for a church. Unless there's something I'm missing about British English.
It's not something you're missing about "British English." It's something you're missing about history.
With just one search, you could have clarified the historical reasons for this. The name dates back to a time when Jews were welcomed into England [wikipedia.org] (even as they were being persecuted elsewhere) after William the Conqueror arrived. The old Jewish quarter in London includes prominent streets like Old Jewry [wikipedia.org] and nearby old landmarks like St Lawrence Jewry [wikipedia.org].
"Confusing"? Potentially. But it's a reference to an address whose name is almost a millennium old. "Offensive"? Only if you don't know anything about history. It sort of reminds me of the idiots who want to remove the term "Providence Plantations" from the name of the state Rhode Island (whose official name is "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" [slashdot.org]), because they somehow think that "plantation" only refers to places where there were slaves. That's not what it meant in the 17th century, when the colony was founded.
Historical ignorance offends me. In the name of reason, try to educate yourself before assuming that a term or name from centuries ago must be intended to offend people.
Re:Absurd? (Score:5, Insightful)
Are you crazy?! A true believer would never pray to another deity. If Steve doesn't fix your problem, it's because it doesn't need to be fixed.
Redundant (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Turn in your nerd card. (Score:2, Insightful)
The problem is we're just conflating two different definitions of the same word. There's that definition ("Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing."), but the one that we should criticise is the one that is often supported by many religious people: "Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence." (or also "The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.")
Faith should depend on evidence and reason - it should not simply be something to have for the sake of it.