Digital Devils

I don't think things are getting worse...I just think that we are getting better at reporting and recognizing the "evil" aspects of ourselves and our society. The internet is far from the cause. I would argue to the contrary, that it has created a consensus reality on a global scale that makes us more acutely aware of inequalities and travesties that exist universally and allows us to take action. Pornography has always existed, but access to it was slightly more difficult. Sexual violence used to be damn near expected in society as women were sometimes considered property or spoils of war. Violence has always bee a part of human existence, more so it the past then now actually. We experience it as a sanitized version whereas our ancestors were often direct participants. How many of us have killed and prepped our own meat? How many of us have buried relatives with our own hands? Sawn off a diseased limb? Birthed a baby in the bedroom?

I think things are better now.

I remember growing up in a farm community just thirty years ago. It seems, at a glance, pastoral and innocent…I am finding out after all of these years that many of my friends experience horrific sexual and physical abuse at the hands of their parents, neighbors and church leaders. This would never fly now, but the lack of access to laws, reporting procedures, knowledge; etc regarding the practice was not in place even three decades ago. You just didn’t talk about it back then. Some of the abuse was generational and had become family culture.

Yea, were talking good, rural, Mormon communities here… I know. I grew up there. I saw it. I am shocked in retrospect to realize the gravity of what we had to navigate as children in those isolated, pastoral, ideal communities. These people would be in jail if they tried to live that way now. Some of them are, finally. Some of their children and grandchildren are seeking help and healing now. Options that were unavailable, and even unimaginable, just thirty years ago.

Technology and knowledge as a bringer of evil???

Here’s my opinion: Technology, like alcohol, enhances and disinhibits tendencies within an individual as opposed to instilling theses tendencies. If someone is predisposed toward seeking pornography and vicarious sexual gratification, he will find it regardless of ease of access. Maybe he will buy it at the corner store, drive to Wendover, cruise North Temple or create his own. It will require more effort, but it will be acquired regardless of the degree of access available.

Violence is another issue altogether. Video games of a violent nature, according to recent study, actually satiate the drive toward violence. They fill an evolutionary niche.

It boils down to locus of control really. Internal VS external. The Christ archetype VS The Lucifer archetype. Are we gonna govern ourselves, or do we require governing?