Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology Book

Albert Borgmann does an excellent job of demonstrating how the rise of technology and its offspring, consumer culture and commodification has evaporated a sense of the sacred from life and broken down social bonds. That is the central message and the best out of the book. For instance, the dinner table, a "shadow" of the Lord's Table, has been abandoned in our society today. Families do not eat together (my family and I watch the news when we eat!) and even the preparation of the meal, which can be a source of great joy as family or friends peel the vegetables, fry the chicken, stir the sauce, etc...has been replaced by quick and convenient "fixes" like frozen pizza popped in the oven.

Borgmann's discussion of technology is overly broad - he does mention such things as transportation technologies and he interacts with critiques of the technological culture such as Harvey Cox and Robert Bellah, but I think Borgmann should have been more particular. The Internet and its impact on society is neglected. I don't think the Christian response comes out as well as the subtitle suggests and Borgmann, a philosopher, makes far more use out of philosophy than he does theology.

Overall, the first third and the last chapter are what I appreciated best. Borgmann's identification of the problems posed by technology are good but his responses to those problems were not as compelling.