Christianity & Technology
Today, I walked into church for a church meeting early. I sat in the library and picked up a Mary Baker Eddy book. Lead pastor Luther walked in, saying, “if you don’t know, everyone is always late here.” And Ann walked in, looking at the Mary Baker Eddy book that I took from the shelf, which was crusty and corroding in my hand, and asked, “oh is that your bible?” and I said, “no it’s Christian Science. I’m learning about Animal Magnetism,” and Luther said, “We’re very open minded here,” sarcastically, and I said, “it shows,” before starting the meeting.
Pastor Luther and gay intern are going to Cameroon to do some work. They’ll miss a Sunday. So, we decided to broadcast their trip over Zoom. “We will do magic,” the pastor said. Gay intern will send me a video of Cameroon-style worship. Two steps forward, one step back, in a processional dance, before singing, pastor Luther described. Gay intern said, “will we be able to upload it in time for the Sunday service?” and I thought, “maybe if we compress the video correctly,” but did not say that, and instead, on my blank page notepad, wrote down, “Christianity and Technology: the Virtual,” before the Pastor ran into a problem.
“No one will be there to do communion,” he said, and Ann the worship leader looked at Julie the office secretary, and they said, “we can have Lynn do it.” Silence cut the room. The pastor looked at Ann, and said, “I am not opposed, but,” and gay intern interrupted, “the council did not like that last time. They do not like that regular people can distribute communion,”
“But Lynn deserves to distribute communion,” Ann said, and gay intern said, “what about Carol,” and everyone turned to the intern and said, “that’s a bad idea–Lynn could do it but Carol could not,” and the pastor said, “this church does not like progress,” and then the meeting continued.
Pastor Luther and gay intern debated dates for preaching. “Oh, the congregation will get all upset if their pastor is across the world preaching to another congregation.” Or, “they will get upset if their pastor is about to leave and does not send them off with a message,” and gay intern, who seems to want to preach every Sunday and take over, continued to negotiate: “oh you’ll be preparing for your trip…let me preach,” and I thought, “won’t gay intern also be preparing for the exact same trip?” and I thought of this strange little power struggle between the intern and the pastor, knowing, as Julie said earlier, “the congregation is very susceptible. They’re impressionable.” And I looked at Julie with wide eyes, knowing.
For Christmas Eve service, Ann and pastor Luther talked about candles. “Will we have candles on the outsides of the pews?” Luther asked, and Ann said, “yes, as always.” And Ann added, “you know, last year you did not hold a candle, and that did not go well with the congregation,” and pastor Luther said, “well jeeze I guess I need a candle then,” and the gay intern said, “it does not have to be a big candle: just a small one will do. We don’t need to differentiate ourselves from the congregation,” and Ann said, “they’re expecting a big candle.” Two men up front, gripping large and burning candles: A Happy Christmas Eve it will be.
Progress this sanding down of church roles. A democratizing of the church. I thought of a Queer Theology essay, describing the church as a microfascist institution, adopting the structures of “capital,” (especially in ways where the capitalism, as a secular ideology, relies on self-proclaimed freedom from the repression of the church…) which, in some senses, means that the church markets itself in particular ways. God is up for consumption & mediation, implicitly. The divine made real through a contemporary medium. Isn’t that what religion does?
Pastor Luther left the meeting, and Ann and gay intern talked about where Jesus was from. “Was he from Bethlehem?” gay intern asked, knowing that this was a sort of game. “Or was he from Nazareth?” and Julie said, “I thought he was born in a cave.” And Ann said, “well, what’s the answer?” and gay intern (playing a little game), said, “it depends on the source,” and I thought of the synoptic gospel problem, and how these questions were sort of useless (or worse: boring!), and he said, “some authors want to fulfill Old Testament prophecy,” and I stopped listening because I learned this all in a community college class once, and undergrad gets you into trickier territory of “method,” but gay intern continued to speak about reliable testimony, and how the census was “improbable” (why would people travel home to take a census?) and I thought of a book I was reading about first century “reality:” how first century populations believed statues walked and talked, so there’s no point talking about proof based on ancient documents (really: what is there to prove?). Maybe we can talk about imagination. Belief stacked on belief.
My mom and I talked about Donald Trump. About how people expect that he can just do anything. That even before he’s become president, the news is reporting on the legislation that he is passing. People just expect some authoritarian leader; people will believe then make real; people shrug off “democracy,” as if that’s a certain way of looking at things, a certain disposition, and hold on to their masculine authority figure.
I sat at a coffee shop before church today, editing nudes of a guy. After the meeting I told Ann and gay intern about it. Next to me, Christians held a bible study, saying things like “synoptic gospels,” and also, “John’s eyewitness accounts,” and “why are Matthew and Luke the same plot?” without recognizing that the term “synoptic gospels” really sort of breaks down the two latter themes. They were religious with their knowledge. Or they were religious because they did not know. They were susceptible.
And two men sat next to me, on the other side. One opened his laptop. The other stared at him while they talked; the one on his laptop, all of a sudden loading and playing League of Legends. He played League of Legends while his friend sat there trying to have a conversation, and so, I told Ann and gay intern, I sat there shocked and took a picture. “Why did you take a picture?” asked Ann, and I said, “well isn’t it strange? That two people show up to a place to meet and one brings his videogames and stares at them throughout the whole conversation?” and gay intern said, “that’s just how things are these days,” and Ann said, “Patty’s daughter married a man like that. They’re divorced now,” and I thought of the term “virtual,” and told the gay intern, “do you want to go set up the livestream so it works for Cameroon? Or should we do that later?” and he said, “let’s do it later.”
Animal Magnetism, I learned from the two pages I read of the Animal Magnetism portion of the book (before the meeting started), was studied by the French Government and denounced. “The seizures are made up. It’s all a performance.” And Mary Baker Eddy acknlowedged that. But she had something else to say: “its effects upon those who practise it, and upon their subjects who do not resist it, lead to moral and physical death.” Mary Baker Eddy still, in opposition, believed. The government did not.
For Mary Baker Eddy, and for many Christians (or Christian Scientists) that believe today, and for many that believed a while back, freedom only was truly free if you did what the Christians believed. God’s order was the only free order. It was, ultimately, a freedom to believe that we will do magic.