Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Smartphones Receive Holy Blessing

Posted by samzenpus on from the blessed-are-the-phone-makers dept.

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.'"

12 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. Has anyone noticed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Has anyone noticed that sampenzus is a worse editor than even Jon Katz could ever hope to be?

    1. Re:Has anyone noticed... by Kral_Blbec · · Score: 2, Insightful

      and yet you are posting in one...

  2. Absurd? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Is this any more absurd than waving other tools in the air and praying for assistance from the divine?

    1. Re:Absurd? by fastest+fascist · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, it does, however, raise the possibility of holy tech support. Prayer circles praying for your tech problems to be solved, for a small fee, of course.

      I have a terrible feeling that already exists somewhere.

    2. Re:Absurd? by Anonymous Coward · · 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.

    3. Re:Absurd? by McNihil · · Score: 3, 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.

    4. Re:Absurd? by mosb1000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Apple users will first pray to Jobs, and only then resort to an alternative deity."

      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.

  3. Re:How is this by Chad+Birch · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It's no mistake either, he does it very regularly, one to two posts per day. They're boiling the frog, they'd love to turn this site into Digg.

    --
    Sturgeon was an optimist.
  4. Turn in your nerd card. by Singularity42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Faith is incompatible with being a nerd.

    1. Re:Turn in your nerd card. by mdwh2 · · 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.

  5. Re:Are they serious? by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 3, 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 (even as they were being persecuted elsewhere) after William the Conqueror arrived. The old Jewish quarter in London includes prominent streets like Old Jewry and nearby old landmarks like St Lawrence Jewry.

    "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"), 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.

  6. Redundant by mosb1000 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The content of your post is implied in all Slashdot stories, since there inevitably is someone who will find anything irrelevant.