If I were the devil…

If everyone is either a technophobe or technophile, I’m not sure which category I would fit in.  But I should start with full disclosure, however – I certainly use technology.  For example, I own an MP3 player.  I use it to listen to music, podcasts, and the radio.  I compose audio letters to a friend with it, and have pictures of my children on it.  I don’t want to suggest that all technology is bad or satanic.  Technology provides us with opportunities that we can use for good.  And we know that we have three enemies – not just Satan, but also the world itself and our sinful selves (Eph 2:1-2).

That being said, I can’t help but think that Satan must be pleased with the direction technology has taken, no matter how much or little of the direction has been of his doing.  Surely if humans had never fallen into sin, technology would have advanced to even greater degrees, but I have little doubt it would have followed a drastically different path than it has.

There are four things that I imagine I would want to accomplish if I were the devil, here in this modern world.

First, I would want to distract.  After all, living in a twisted world with sinful natures, no doubt we’ll tend to drift downstream if we don’t bother to row.  If only he could keep us from really thinking about thigs – really evaluating our beliefs.  At this point, he doesn’t even need to lie – even distracting us with things that are good and wholesome will suffice.  Let’s just spend our time thinking about less important things.

I’d also want to divide people.  Then there’s less chance that people will protect one another.  Surely the advent of TV and radio helped along these goals – no longer would families sit and talk to each other, they would sit and focus on the outside entertainment.  Better yet, why not put a TV and radio in the children’s room, that way we don’t need to watch TV together!  Further division.  Then along came VCRs, walkmans, DVD players, the internet, the cell phone, the iPods and MP3 players.  All the better to distract you all the time.  You never have to stop and think about your life, you can just absorb what other people think 24 hours a day, or at least during your waking hours.

Distraction and division are really good enough, but why not do more?  Next I would like to get back to my old tricks – distortion – good old fashioned deception.  Take the truth and twist it little by little.  Use music and good cinematography to make boring or bad things sound great.  Feed God-given passions in slightly the wrong way.  Better yet, flavour the evil with just a little seasoning of righteousness.  Block out the truth.  It won’t be hard because most people aren’t trying very hard to find it.  Help people “reform” by replacing one evil with a more subtle one.

(Currently, the top album in Canada is Much Dance 2007, including songs with titles like Promiscuous and Hips Don’t Lie, and with lyrics including misuse of God’s name and encouragement to engage in immorality of various kinds.  Much of today’s popular media champions death, abuse and violence toward women, and other kinds of evil.  This is the popular stuff – let’s not even talk about the many genres and niches of culture.)

It’s been argued that the major driving force behind VHS tapes and the internet itself is pornography.  Conservative statistics today claim that 12% of websites are pornographic, and 8% of emails.  Many emails and websites are disguised so that a child could come upon them by accident, or see them on the computer beside theirs at the internet (not everyone is studying WWII history).  It’s been said that 90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn online, usually while doing home work.  Filters are imperfect, to say the least.  And today 17% of women struggle with porn addiction (you already know about the men).

Finally, if I were Satan I would look to satisfy demand.  Make this divisive, distorted distraction available upon demand.  The internet has done this as never before.  Want someone else to justify your position?  You can see what you want to see, and find what you want to find online.  You can access it from everywhere – in fact, more and more it’s being suggested that free internet access is a human right.  Today, you can carry a cell phone, camera, web browser and email client all in one small device that your friends and families can’t even see.  Your music can be hidden right into your clothes, so that you can listen in class.

Yes, I would put sin within an arm’s reach of desire, so that you’d always be able to give in to temptation at a moment’s notice.  That way, a person can live an upright and righteous life, and in one single moment of weakness can destroy themselves.  I’d aim for total immersion in my propoganda, total isolation from anyone who might care.  (There’s a name for this in Japan – hikikomori.  It’s a growing problem that people are never leaving their rooms, just living on the internet).  With the division, no one would notice how I was destroying each life.  With the distraction, no one would really think about it.  Thanks to the distortion, no one would even think it was a bad thing.  And by making it available upon demand, I would do deep, lasting and horrible harm in no time at all.    Hate of self, hate of innocents, hate of others, hate of God – all of life can be filtered through these messages.  People would think they were seeing the truth, but it would always be through my filters.

So whether this convenient situation just fell into the devil’s lap, or whether it’s the result of years of careful planning, I don’t know.  And whether you love technology or hate it, be aware that technology is power – and power, unless weilded by a loving God – can be used for deadly purposes.  This is the world we live in – be aware, and be in prayer.