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November 06, 2007

Jesus and computer-shopping

I was recently given a couple of generous gifts towards buying a much-needed computer to help me in this new phase of ministry. But which computer to buy, and how to decide...?

Everyone who has one raves about how much better and more cool Macs are. But the money wouldn't stretch that far, so then I looked at good deals on Dell, who supposedly produce solid workhorse computers at good prices. However...

While I obviously needed a computer that can do the job, that was within my price range, and that has reasonable customer support, a question that concerned me, but that is rarely addressed even by Christians when it comes to computer-buying, is the ethical dimension.

Jesus and Shopping
Of course we are all now buying fair trade coffee, I hope... But what about fair trade computers? Are we willing to let our ethical values shape our attitude and decisions to shopping in general, and to buying computers and technology in particular? Or is the "cool-ness" of the thing my bottom line? A Christian ethic requires Christ's Lordship over all our lives, including our shopping.

Consumerism works because of greed.Quite apart from the issue of whether we actually need all the stuff we buy - and whether our willing and unthinking submission as disciples of consumerism is compatible with following Jesus, there is another question: are we concerned about whether the stuff we buy is part of a system that oppresses the poor in the pursuit of profit at all costs?

For example, is it right to seek the cheapest model, if by doing so, I drive down prices paid to the worker, and thus actively oppress the poor? Or if I buy a model which has better performance, but from a company which has a poor human-rights record? Or a computer which is cool, but produces pollutants?

Ethical computer-buying
So I went to the Ethical Consumer website. This charts the ethical values and practices of different companies for a whole range of products - including computers. They look at Human, Environmental, Animal, and Political issues. You can tailor the results to reflect the values which are most important to you - for example if respect for human rights is more important to you than whether they use animal testing.

The chart on the right shows results it comes up with for computers, showing the score out of 20 for each company. A more detailed breakdown is here

I finally decided to go for an Evesham model. And I must say I have been very happy with it so far, (especially having decided to take the leap and escape Windows and load a Linux operating system onto it).

"One-tenth to Jesus I surrender"...?
Now of course, this could appear to be a smug, self-righteous rant. And you might disagree with the ethical values chosen by the site or with its accuracy. You might even argue that we don't even need computers at all - that they are all a waste of money. You might accuse me of hypocrisy and point out other areas where I spend money unwisely.

All I'm trying to say is that we need to stop mindlessly following as disciples of Consumerism, and instead allow Christ to rule over what we do with his money. I know it is unpopular to suggest you can't do what you want with your money, but I'm afraid as a Christian it is true. And it is not just the tithe that belongs to God. It is all his. We are stewards of everything we have and are called to use it for good, not just for self-indulgence. Shopping is a Christian issue.

What do you think?

Tags: computers ethics christian ethics shopping christianity

Posted by Keith at November 6, 2007 11:11 AM