Over the past few years, I've heard the Internet described in every complimentary way possible.  I've also heard the words of skeptics like Clifford Stoll, who, to me, seems to be dead on the money.  I've watched as people have sacrificed many things to this new medium.  I've seen friendships thrown away, and I've seen countless hours wasted.

I've seen good things.  I've seen bad things.  The Internet offers us new possibilities - and new problems.

There was a day when I would have gladly agreed to the destruction of the Internet.  There are days that I still would agree to the destruction of the Internet.

We've heard the nightmare stories of child molesters lurking on the 'net.   We've heard of cyber-thieves.  We've heard of cyber-stalkers.  Check the news daily, and you'll find daily problems on the Internet.

In my mind, the Internet, as a whole, has done irreparable harm to my life - and will never be able to "compensate" for the harm it has done.  At times, I look with disgust at these web pages, wondering why I now seemingly embrace this out-of-control, uncaring monster.  We cannot form the communities we need to locally, and now, someone has inflicted this so-called global community on us - where individualism, truly, is king.  To me, I see this as one more problem we need to fix.

What good does it do me when friends across town no longer have time to talk, because of the time they need to spend on the Internet?  Does it help when people need to pull together, to support a friend going through hard times - or can only the local, caring, personal message do that?

Consider this - you have a close friend who is dying - and they're 2000 miles away.  What would mean the most to them?  I cannot speak for everyone, but if all I got from a close friend was an E-mail message, I'd be offended.  I'd expect at least a phone call from most.  Some - those who were closest and knew they were closest - I'd expect to visit - even if only to say goodbye.

The Internet - as it stands - is not capable of delivering the personal messages we need it to in order to cement together our communities.  What it CAN do is give the idea of a constant presence.  Then again, how many of my close friends, even distant ones, have I written E-mail to in the last week?  I can't think of a one.

Have we seen the best the Internet has to offer?  I think we've scratched the surface of it.  Perhaps real live voice and live video over the Internet - if we ever get it - will help replace phone calls.  Then again, how much more bandwidth will we need for that - for me to see Rafael in Savannah or Lloyd in Longmont or Brad in Bloomington?  How much longer must we wait?

So, have we seen the worst the Internet has to offer?  I think we've scratched the surface of it.  Distribution of child pornography, posting of personal information for use in harassment, and uncaring individualism are pretty bad signs indeed.   Can we sink further - into perhaps live exploitation of children, or computer-based attack regimes - cyberterrorists?  How about possibly live lynchings, or on-line databases of targets for murderers and mercenaries?  Certainly we can sink further.

So in a world where we haven't got our individual communities straightened out yet, we dump this hulking giant of a community, with the same problems we already face.  We've got online cliques, cyber-prejudice (ask many people how they feel about an address that ends with "aol.com"), and just many more faces to the same old problems.  Somedays, you think it's just to much to ask of us to straighten it all out.

The Internet is NOT the future of mankind.  The future of mankind is what we develop in our communities, with our friends.  The Internet could be made a part of that future - but not yet.  Now, it must be watched with protective eyes - guarding it for a time when a more civilized human race can unlock the potential that is there, and seeing that it not become a haven for all the things that we cannot allow in society.

The Internet will never provide the joy that I get when Rafael comes to Columbia from Savannah to play basketball.  It will never provide the joy I get from going to Chicago to watch Wild Mountain Thyme perform.  It will never provide the personal touch of playing ping-pong with Brad, or of going places with Skander.  These are the personal things we must see that the Internet never endangers, because, like any new technology or gadgetry, it can capture interest, and make us forget what our priorities are.  I've seen it happen.  I've had a friendship destroyed by MUDs and the Internet.

The Internet is not a toy - and it could even be a weapon.  But it is what we allow it to be - for better or for worse.  We owe it to humanity to see that the Internet turns out good.  But sad to say, I don't see that happening, and have serious doubts that I ever will.  But I'll do my part - which starts with this page, as a caution to everyone else.  I hope to do more, with my web site as a whole.

I hate the potential that the Internet has for destroying those things that are most important - I'll never stop hating that fact.  Some wounds don't heal.  But I can't ignore my own responsibility to making sure it doesn't happen that way anymore.   Perhaps that's why I'm here - maybe to help make things better, or maybe because I've been through it.  Where this goes from here, I cannot say, but I can say that I'm here - if someone needs me to listen, or to discuss, or to advise, or to pray.   And if I can do that, then maybe the harmful potential of the Internet will never be developed.

This page last updated 11/13/2006 .