Last week a group of ultra-Orthodox rabbinical authorities issued a ban on unmarried yeshiva students possessing 3G cellular phones, and married students bringing them onto yeshiva premises, because of the Internet content they deliver.
As a result of this directive, haredi newspapers will probably stop carrying ads for 3G phones. This carries positive messages for all consumers, regardless of their level of religious observance:
Perhaps this is a contemporary Hannukah message: that a determined fight can defeat the negative aspects of a dominant culture."There are some very unprogressive aspects [to]... "progress" [of which we need to be more concious]...and it is possible to [examine the effects of "progress" and sometimes decide to] resist them.
"The truly noble value of freedom of expression, which was originally aimed at enriching man and his society, is being used by cynical people with vested interests to legitimize the basest urges.
"[The problem] also exists in [economics, in] the clear preference for economic efficiency over the dignity of man, a preference in whose name workers are required to labor seven days a week, often in harmful working conditions, all for the sake of someone's bank account.
"One need not accept the exact boundaries laid down by the ultra-Orthodox to adopt the principle that "man's superiority to the beast" means, among other things, the ability to live not only according to instincts and urges. Rejection of determinism is vital not only for the current battles but also for the battles to come, in particular confronting the ability to exploit science and technology for the destruction of man.
And on a more basic level, of course, there is the simple message that it is possible to live and breath perfectly well without a portable, 24/7, umbilical connection to an IP network.
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