Page 335 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

W H AT I S S E C U L A R I Z AT I O N
but harmful when it introduces virtual reality and disrupts hu-
man relationships? Does not the same ambiguity exist even when
it is used for religious purposes?
The same applies to the internet and other technologies. Can
the Church proclaim a message against the homogenizing ten-
dencies of globalization while simultaneously adopting and, in a
sense, legitimizing the very means that promote it in its most
leveling form?
The answer cannot be simple. Nor can it be said that technol-
ogy is neutral. The first thing required is the recognition that the
means of technology and communication are not innocent, but
deeply ambivalent—even dangerous for the very message the
Church seeks to convey. They carry within themselves the po-
tential to threaten human freedom, the dignity of the person,
and even the natural environment.
For this reason, the Church must be restrained in her use of
such means.
More importantly, she must preserve intact those institutions
and practices that, by their very nature, bear the eschatological
character of her life. Among these, two stand out in a unique
way: monasticism and the Divine Liturgy.
Monasticism, from its very origin, is a protest against secular-
ization. It embodies a departure from the world, a form of life
that reminds all that “the form of this world is passing away.” If
monastic life adopts worldly methods in order to gain influence,
it becomes a contradiction and loses its very purpose.
The same is true of the Divine Liturgy. The Eucharist is, by its
nature, a “gathering in one place,” a bodily and personal com-
munion that anticipates the Kingdom of God. When this gather-
ing is replaced by its transmission through technological means,
something essential is lost. The most eschatological moment of
the Church risks being secularized.
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