A Pilgrim's Compass

The Pilgrim’s Compass below is based on a Christian worldview. It is in no way a comprehensive statement of the ancient faith, and it may not work for people with different spiritual backgrounds. Still, it’s an example of how a spiritual story might anchor us to our core meanings in life and situate technology’s proper place in the order of things.

A Pilgrim’s Compass:

1 – I believe there is a God, who is Reality, who is Love, who is One and who is a Relationship, who is free, who feels, who creates, who thinks, who speaks, who made the unseen realm and the physical reality with its primary elements, including earth, animals, plants, water, sun, moon, and stars—and human beings.

2 – I believe human beings were made in God’s own image, to dwell on the earth and have stewardship over the primary creation. Therefore:

3 – I believe that to be human, we must strive to be in relationships of love, the first of which is our relationship with the Creator, the second of which is our relationship with each other. Love is not empathy but can include empathy. Love is not compassion but can include compassion. Love is an action that encourages and supports another person or oneself to be in right relationship with Reality.

4 – I believe in real relationships within marriage, family, and local community, including people who are different from us. I recognize that virtual relationships exist, but their existence does not render real relationships arbitrary or dispensable.

5 – I believe we must stay in close contact with the primary elements of creation. Staying close to the primary creation keeps us within the right order.

6 – I believe that, as God is a primary creator, we are sub-creators who desire, and should, reshape creation for the purposes of play, exploration, and invention. Sub-creation includes art, but it also includes technology.

7 – I believe that when we become too preoccupied with our sub-creations, we risk becoming absorbed in our own power and self-love. Therefore, responsible sub-creation requires vigilance, discernment, and self-denial. Some things should not be created. Some created things should be destroyed.

8 – I believe in cognitive liberty, which is the freedom to concentrate, reason, remember, feel, imagine, perceive, and use language, without manipulation or control by others or technology.

9 – I believe in the liberty of the body, which is the freedom to choose what food, medicine, manufactured chemicals, or technology, is allowed into or onto my body, without compulsion or coercion by others.

10 – I believe in the liberty of hearth and home, without surveillance or control by outside persons or unwanted technology.