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The new religion

I took this photo last year while on holiday in Berlin. It shows the Marienkirche (St Mary's Church) in the foreground dwarfed by the 368m-high Fernsehturm (Television Tower) in the background.

 

This image resonated with me at the time because it unequivocally declared the new religion. A beautiful 13th Century building representing the power of the church through the centuries, lorded over by a modern (some may say gaudy) structure representing the overwhelming dominance of mass communication in the present day.

 

It wasn't until I watched Bendito Machine III as a participant in The University of Edinburgh’s E-learning and Digital Cultures course did I realise the parallels between the Judeo-Christian story of Moses climbing Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God and how modern consumers submit to technology today.

 

Whether it assumes the form of a flat-screen TV or the latest mobile device, we are only too willing to worship our one true god. That is, of course, until the next version is released...

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Uploaded on April 6, 2012
Taken on February 23, 2012