The Bishop’s Dilemma: From Surveillance Capitalism to Digital Distributism

I invite you to join us for our study day on October 16th from 9:30am to 12:30pm. We will be discussing “The Bishop’s Dilemma: From Surveillance Capitalism to Digital Distributism” by Mark Maguire and Charles Fernandes.

We plan to hold an outdoor hybrid meeting at the Newman Centre Guelph, 325 Gordon Street, Guelph. If weather does not permit meeting outdoors, we will meet in Newman House. Please bring a mask.

I am pleased to announce that the authors will be joining us in person as well as three respondents.

Refreshments will be provided. Please bring your own lunch.

The following is taken from the Introduction to the paper:
Barron diagnoses the situation of churchgoers this way: It is likely that the overwhelming majority of people in churches own smart phones, use them, and are addicted to them. In a more personal vein, he confesses, “I spend too much time on social media.” So where’s the dilemma? Can’t we just get off social media? Unfortunately, he claims, “The toothpaste is out of the tube; it’s not realistic just to tell youth to stop.” (Of course, such addiction is not confined to youth.) Further, when Barron asks himself, “Should I check out completely?” he answers that this would undermine his ministry of propagating the Gospel online. This is the Bishop’s dilemma: how shall we reckon both with our dependence on the Internet, and on our growing awareness of its pernicious effects on us?

In preparation for the discussion, please consider watching the following videos:

The Social Dilemma by Netflix (1:33:41 hours)

The Social Dilemma by Bishop Barron (31:29 minutes)

Here is the schedule for the day:
9:30am – Gather and Prayer
10:00 am – Presentation: Mark Maguire and Charles Fernandes
10:30 am – Discussion
11:00 am – Break
11:15 am – Three Respondents
11:45 am – Discussion
12:30 pm – Lunch (bring your own)

To request zoom info, request a copy of the paper and be added to our mailing list, please contact Father Mark Morley (See Contact Us page).

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