Five Ways to Stop Modernity From Ravaging Your Mind, by Julian Kwasniewski

By Julian Kwasniewski, Crisis Magazine, Oct. 9, 2023

Julian Kwasniewski is a musician specializing in renaissance Lute and vocal music, an artist and graphic designer, as well as marketing consultant for several Catholic companies. His writings have appeared in National Catholic Register, Latin Mass Magazine, OnePeterFive, and New Liturgical Movement.

What practical steps can we take to stop modernity from ravaging our minds via the internet and the reality distortion that comes with it?

Whenever I travel, I’m struck by just how poorly most of modern America lives. I’m not talking financially—I’m talking about spiritual poverty. While it’s true that traveling is a wonderful way to enlarge one’s view of the world, discover new interests, and see new people and places, it also can expose you to evils you might normally avoid. Seeing a fellow passenger on a flight from Los Angeles to Denver watching semi-pornographic music videos for the duration of the flight reminded me how much grotesque and dehumanizing content people consume or are exposed to.

Even though I have no desire to watch erotic rap videos, I remain conscious of the dissipation caused even by browsing a good site with intelligent content, like Crisis. As my schedule gets fuller and fuller with the beginning of the school year, I’ve been thinking about my priorities and have wondered how to minimize the distraction caused even by the “good” media I use for work and education. …

Continue reading >>>>