Infinite Bandwidth: Encountering Christ in the Media by Eugen Gan is a book about electronic media including but not limited to TV, radio, movies, celphone, video games, the internet, etc. Gan acknowledges that because of rapid changes in in technology it's difficult to write a book about the subject and not be outdated too quickly.
Gan is a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville so he sees first hand how technology is an integrated part of young people's lives and education. He wants all of us to be aware of the Church's teachings related to media and how to make wise decisions about the use of all that is available to us. Gan has studied over 60 church documents issued by the church in the past 70+ years that comment on media and technology. From his study he has developed "St. Peter's Seven Media Keys" and connected the dots to pull together what the Church teaches.
After a brief introduction Gans devotes a chapter to each 'key' - he explains and describes each key as it relates to Church teachings and real life experiences. Each chapter ends with advice for applying the key in real life. Gans gives practical suggestions for what to pray about, what to research, questions to ask, how to integrate the key into real life and suggestions for passing along the knowledge to our children. He doesn't tell parents to toss out the TV, disconnect the internet or ban video games; he encourages them to use their Faith to make wise decisions concerning technology.
I was pleased to read a balanced approach to technology - not tossing out the baby with the bath water but rather using our conscience guided by Church teachings to make informed decisions on what is best for us and our families in relationship to media and technology.
This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Infinite Bandwidth: Encountering Christ in the Media. They are also a great source for serenity prayer and baptism gifts.
2 comments:
Renee this book sounds interesting,especially for christian bloggers. Being that Gan is a prof from Franciscan University of Steubenville inspires confidence. That is one orthodox and dynamic ray of hope in Catholic education.
Interesting. I am coming from sunday snippets.
Post a Comment