Bird Droppings May 10, 2026
Should we be pondering the idea of faith?

I have been indirectly involved in several discussions lately about the word “faith”. So, I did a bit of research and thought it over. Interesting to be pondering on Mother’s Day.

“Modern technology advanced in such tiny increments for so long that we never realized how much our world was being altered, or the ultimate direction of the process. But now the speed of change is accelerating logarithmically. It is apparent that developing a language and set of standards by which to assess technological impact, and to block it where necessary, is a critical survival skill of our times.” Jerry Mander

These are the words that begin author Jerry Mander’s book, In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations. Mander, a former advertising company president, has questioned the concept of technology in previous books and articles, including his best seller, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. While arguing about technology’s negative aspects, Mander emphasizes that understanding it is crucial and that we should not let it outstrip our knowledge. As I prepare for a new school year, one of the no-books-only-iPods will be most interesting. We now have a generation of children who do not fear the technology their parents invented and, in many cases, do not even hold in awe, but consider it commonplace or boring.

Going a bit further and into more theoretical territory, R. L. Rutsky redefines technology and the humanities’ understanding of it in High Techne, moving humanity toward the post-human. The fine line between technology and art is blended and swirled.

“The position of human beings about this techno-cultural unconscious cannot, therefore, be that of an analyst (or theorist) who, standing outside this space, presumes to know or control it. It must instead be a relation of connection to, of interaction with, that which has been seen as the “other”, including the unsettling processes of techno-culture itself. To accept this relation is to let go of part of what it has meant to be human, to be a human subject, and allow ourselves to change, to mutate, to become alien, cyborg, posthuman.” R. L. Rutsky

Letting go of what we have learned and incorporating and becoming one with what we have deemed the other through history is what many see as the direction of humanity. Could it be that teenagers and young people are allowing themselves to become posthuman, something other than what they were? No longer are they walled in by societal parameters and limitations. Technology is putting the world into an instantaneous realm of immediacy.

The current crop of young people, labeled Generation Y or Millennials by the media, has approached technology with little or no fear, as have many of their parents and the Baby Boomer generation. The acceptance and interaction with technology, and the understanding that comes with them, often lessen the connections to the very society that led them to this point. Technology has found a friend in No Child Left Behind, which, as a catch-all and cure-all for education, has narrowed the parameters of what is construed as education; schools have perhaps left behind pieces of those children’s imaginations and creativity. As I approached the concept of what I believe is missing in children as they access and utilize our accelerating technological advances, I realized that this lack of fear of technology may be creating the void, as I call it, in children.

To believe in a god or gods requires some questioning of who we are and why, albeit the issue of faith. It is the concept of faith that precedes any view of god. But we live in a world of duplicity, accelerated by technology. If you find no reason to question or search for understanding because at your fingertips are instant answers, then believing in anything that is not readily available on the internet or in some virtual experience becomes inconsequential. Perhaps there is a need or void that we try to fill with an idea of god. Each of us perceives the concept of god in our own way, often influenced by those around us and those who taught us. Joseph Campbell, author and teacher, known for his extensive writings on mythology, approaches humanity and the need for mythology.

“During the greater part of this long arc of life, the individual is in a psychological situation of dependency. We are trained, as children, so that every stimulus, every experience, leads us to react, “Who will help me?” We are in a dependent relationship with our parents.” Joseph Campbell

Campbell sees us as needing someone or something throughout our lives. We are taught the myths and traditions of our parents and culture as answers to what we can depend on. In many situations, that could be a concept of god or religion. Campbell goes deeper into his anthropological view of mythology, focusing on life and/or death. Religions down through history have played on either or both aspects. As humans, however, we seem to find the unknown, and it is that unknown aspect of our existence that provides windows or doors, as Huxley states, to understand who we are and why.

“From the records of religion and the surviving monuments of poetry and the plastic arts, it is very plain that at most times and most places, men have attached more importance to the inscape than to the objective existents, have felt that they saw with their eyes shut possessed a spirituality of higher significance than what they saw with their eyes open…What wonder, then, if human beings in their search for the divine have generally preferred to look within.” Aldous Huxley

Today’s children do not have time to look within, as technology provides easy, ready access that occupies every waking moment in one way or another. Children tend to be oriented in their technology, plugged in, online, or texting, with the opportunity of going somewhere within, not worth the time.

Lev Manovich offers his theory on technological advances in media in his book The Language of New Media. Having a background in graphic arts, I find the radical changes and the speed at which they have come in the media field overwhelming. I recall the day an older man came to my office in 1989 or so, looking for work. He had been a hot type, typesetter for forty-five years, and his former place of employment was the last hot type facility that was no longer using hot type. Hot type is where lead is melted, and literally, each letter is molded from that hot lead within the machine. Manovich addresses the idea of having myths in his writings.

“If traditional cultures provided people with well-defined narratives (Myths, Religion) and little ‘stand-alone’ information, today we have too much information and too few narratives that can tie it all together.” Lev Manovich

We are in the information age, and that information is at our fingertips instantly, twenty-four/seven. Perhaps this is the void that I refer to; something is missing, it is that something that is not able to tie it all together.

From my own experience working with teenagers, I have found that many teenagers and young adults will allude to atheism or an agnostic approach, as the name they will throw out, and the concept of god they do not believe in, is an anthropomorphic entity of a Judeo-Christian construct with a white beard and castle in the sky. Seldom will teenagers offer a belief structure. Fredric Jameson points to religion as the focal point and reference point for civilizations.

“Religion was perhaps the most ancient organizing concept in the emergence of anthropology as a discipline: the ultimately determining instance for national or racial character, the ultimate source of cultural difference itself, the marker for the individuality of the various peoples in history.” Fredric Jameson

Looking at teenagers, perhaps technology defines them more than religion. Issues of faith and trust are daily topics in the news and media that teenagers have access far more readily than we do as adults. News articles of men of faith who lied and cheated and yet continue to do as they did before getting caught. Churches are turning their backs on children who were molested, and/or buying their silence. It is not difficult to see where faith and trust can be subverted. Sometimes it is easiest to go back and look at a view from a more traditional standpoint. Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, is first and foremost Oglala; he is an attorney and ex-marine pilot who has flown 110 combat missions and has participated in seven sun dance ceremonies. He writes extensively on spirituality and the earth. McGaa discusses religion deeply in his book Native Wisdom: Perceptions of the Natural Way.

“Who is God? Before I can begin to answer such a question, I must explain that any answer, or attempt to answer, is based on my background, my personal experiences, and that which has influenced me upon my journey down the Red Trail of life, or as some may call it, my journey within the Natural Way.” Ed McGaa

As I consider myself a searcher, I am always observing and pondering. Many times, when talking with youth, I will ask them to define god, whether they believe in god or not, but not to use pronouns or scripture. To date, very few have succeeded; their experiences limit them. So much of who we are is based on where we came from and what we have experienced. In attempting to find what I believe is missing, perhaps rethinking where I have come from.

I attended Candler School of Theology at Emory University from 1973 75. I have always questioned others’ views on god and faith. As I took classes in theology and biblical studies, I would often be on one side of the table alone, as we argued or discussed various views. While I was never a student in Dr. Fowler’s classes, I was impressed by his books and articles. Dr. James Fowler was a Professor of Theology and Human Development at Emory University. He was director of both the Center for Research on Faith and Moral Development and the Center for Ethics until he retired in 2005. Dr. Fowler has written numerous articles and books on his concept of faith and on his theory of how faith develops. This idea of a developing faith could impact how technology also fits into human awareness. Could it be that through the intensive use of technology, we are circumventing a stage in our development? Looking back at Campbell’s thought, could it be that we are finding in technology a substitute for that parental dependency within society? Dr. Fowler starts his book The Development of Faith with this thought.

“Anyone not about to kill himself lives by faith. It is what keeps us going when love has turned to hate or hope to despair. Faith carries us forward when there is no longer a reason to carry on. It enables us to exist during the in-between times: amid the dangers of radical discontinuity, even in the face of death. Faith is a sine qua non of life, a primal force we cannot do without.” Dr. James Fowler

The idea that faith develops even as a child grows physically and progresses through developmental stages has intrigued me for many years. My journey has been intertwined with my studies and readings, as well as with my experience dealing with people, including my students. Faith is a word that is very difficult to dissect and analyze scientifically. For different people, faith will have different meanings, often associated with religion. In my journey, I found an author, William Eleden, who was a former fighter pilot in World War II and a Pastor, and is now 96 years old, still an author and columnist.

“Words can lead us into dead-end canyons, and what is the bottom line? In this, Words fool us into thinking we have experienced what we talk about. Take water, for instance: I can read volumes about water, listen to a thousand lectures on water, and develop an exhaustive vocabulary about water, without having ever experienced water. I will know more about water after drinking a glass full, or diving into a lake, than if I attend lectures on water for the rest of my life.” William Edelen

The implications to faith, trust, soul, god, and even education from this statement are many. In writing about faith and researching faith, it is a similar situation. It is the experiencing of faith that is the true teacher; not all the theologians, professors, dictionaries, libraries, or philosophers in the world can truly explain faith. It is in the experiencing. Perhaps children cannot experience faith when using their technology? Children do not need to imagine or create, as virtual realities are at their fingertips by the boxful. Essentially, all they can afford.

In a recent discussion with several other teachers about John Dewey’s book, The School and Society, and The Child and Curriculum, a fellow teacher made a statement that impressed me. “A good teacher is also and foremost a good student.” I have always felt that to teach, an individual has to continually stay vital and awake, in a constant state of educational evolution. A good teacher must always be a good student, continually learning from others. Living as a student is growth; it is a constant acquisition of concepts, of materials, ideas, and theories. It is the ingestion of these and the cognitive development of these that provide the base from which we can attack, mentally, the rest of life, including faith. I suggest that, in some cases, technology detracts from learning by always providing answers without providing the actual context for those answers. It is another morning, and so much more to ponder today. Please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts, and always give thanks, namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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