Has anyone seen this? The SSPX is promoting an unplug from technology challenge, which in itself is great. But the method they are using ... why?? It's copying all the activist "challenges" that attempt to go viral. You have levels to the challenge, a "10 Commandments for Lent" to go with it, you sign up and get a badge, and you have to share and promote it among family and friends.
http://sspx.org/en/challengeBoth my husband and I had such a negative reaction to this, as we do with all these gimmicks. Why is the SSPX doing this now too?! I have a hard time believing that serious priestly minds would go along with such games. Why couldn't leadership simply send a message to all the priests to give more fire and brimstone sermons about TV and internet?? That is what is expected of priests and that is what is needed from them. Trying to make everything cool and up-to-date cheapens what is actually a very serious subject.
The write up is also full of modern buzz words, "detox", "challenge", "inner peace", "personal relationships", "campaign of social self-improvement". Did a traditional priest write this or a PR rep? It's all very
nice and focused on having manners and not being offensive to others but has little to no mention of the serious danger to souls. The closest you get to something stronger is in the article that is attached which suggests towards the end to do something radical like throw out your TV. Otherwise it's all very soft.
They just don't get it. We can Google 1000 articles on cell phone manners. We get gimmicks and activism from everyone else around. We get soft from everyone else around. We do not want soft from them. We want hard truths and wake up calls from them.
Our negative reaction made us wonder if we are just typical old grumps who don't understand what the kids are into these days. But that same question kind of proved the point. The SSPX is trying to cater to whatever modern fads are out there. I don't understand how in all their wisdom they don't know that this does not work. Are we not living among the very ruins of VII's attempts to modernize the Church?