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{"id":1545,"date":"2017-05-20T00:17:10","date_gmt":"2017-05-20T04:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/thezenpagan\/?p=1545"},"modified":"2017-05-20T01:38:34","modified_gmt":"2017-05-20T05:38:34","slug":"blessing-computers-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thezenpagan\/2017\/05\/blessing-computers-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Blessing Computers? Why Not?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"C_3yYxCXoAA11fU\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Regular readers of TZP know that I hold no truck with state endorsement of religion, and having the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church do any sort of ritual at the Ministry of Internal Affairs tromps all over that important line. And Patriarch Kirill is apparently more than a bit of a jerk, who thinks marriage equality poses a \u201csignificant threat for the existence of the human race\u201d<\/a> and spoken in favor of ISIL\u2019s declaration of an Islamic caliphate<\/a>, because in his eyes even crazy and violent advocates of a different religion are better than secularism. So, you know, screw that guy.<\/p>\n

But blessing important tools is a common practice. Indeed, here in heavily Catholic Baltimore, the Cardinal used to perform an annual Labor Day ritual blessing of worker\u2019s tools<\/a>, though that has fallen by the wayside as the economy shifted. (Hmm. I\u2019m now feeling inspired to try to pull off an interfaith version of that old ritual this fall.) And in Japan, Shinto priests have a blessing for personal electronics like cell phones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One doesn\u201dt have to believe in supernaturalism to understand that rituals involving an object change the way we interact with that object. Even the most hardheaded rationalist materialist treats their wedding ring in a special manner.<\/p>\n

While I don\u2019t want anyone making sacrifices to the Great God Com Pu Ter, in the manner of innumerable sci\u2013fi stories, perhaps a little ritual juju can help inspire users to exercise more care and follow security procedures more diligently.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"