Οὐαὶ τῷ ἔσω ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξω 1





Since the advent of portable devices—especially smartphones—that allow a person to view, among many good things, images (and to a lesser extent, text) of a violent and/or pornographic nature that were unlawful to be shown in any format a short time ago, a virtual industry of articles and books, written mostly though not exclusively by Christian authors, has emerged to sound the alarm of unprecedented harm being done, not only to traditions of moral virtue, but with special emphasis on the vulnerability of young people, even to the physical organ of the brain. The best of this work is very convincing: conscientious in its presentation of scientific evidence of the possibilities of physical harm, and rigorous in its scholarly mastery of ancient traditions of philosophical and theological ethics, it creates for many a self-evident case for society’s obligation to intervene to stem the flow of such images. However, amidst public debate over the ethical concerns regarding the content available on digital devices, what is not nearly as well noticed or well discussed is the possibility that great damage is being done to the human person by the sheer quantity, protean appearance, and deceptive power of images universally considered to be morally neutral.2 Perhaps because most of the ethical arguments against violent and pornographic images are made on websites and social media formats that themselves constantly bombard the reader with advertising imagery, ranging from the coarse and crude to the subtle and sophisticated, one may be given to understand that the distractions posed to the reader are a small price to pay for the quick and efficient dissemination of information vital to the welfare of society. Nevertheless, considered in light of the principles of contemplative prayer common to many religious traditions, the habitual viewing even of images considered morally neutral, and found on sites without any cause for moral censure, poses a threat to the human person precisely because it disrupts acquisition of the peace of mind that is a prerequisite for external moral agency. Even when one is not really alone, the act of viewing digital images usually takes place under conditions of virtually total mental isolation that effectively render the viewer the sole arbiter of what should or should not be seen—and does so not with explicit reference to moral norms but through the subtler requirements of the inner silence and clarity contemplative traditions consider indispensable for seeing God within the soul.

All the virtues arise from the silence and stillness of the heart.3

If our inner man keeps watch, he becomes empowered to guard the external man.4

Given the clear consensus among traditional religious leaders that individuals must guard themselves against the moral corruption of some online content, mustn’t they make a comparable warning against habitual exposure to digital images per se if, over time, such exposure diminishes the power of the soul to react spontaneously, with a spirited rebuttal that is more intuitive than rationally deliberative, against images that disturb the stillness of the heart? For, according to the teachings of at least one contemplative tradition, that of Eastern Christian Hesychasm,5 this is exactly what they do.

The habitual and excessive engagement of the human mind with digital images that once was limited to workers in the tech industry has become common to people of all ages. The workers’ obligatory isolation is now a portable solitude in which anyone can effortlessly focus the mind’s attention with an intensity and constancy that few can maintain for any other task. Such a degree of mental concentration, of course, requires no skill on the part of the viewer; rather, the gaze is held by a diffusion of digital images that, both singly and in tactical formations, evoke in the recipient such a congeries of emotions that they overwhelm the inner life of the human person.

The intellect is a biddable and guileless thing, easily ready to follow the images, and hard to hold back in its pursuit of unlawful fantasies, unless there is something to prevent it at all times, and to bridle the willful deliberations of the passions.6