A while back I decided to avoid the computer on Sundays – no blogging, no surfing, and no work. It is my way to honor the Sabbath and make sure that technology doesn’t consume me. But I would have never thought to shut down my website and blog on that day, yet that is what CatholicVote.org – the creators of those wonderful videos – is doing:

CHICAGO – CatholicVote.org will unplug its website on Sundays beginning June 21, to encourage people to turn away from their computers one day a week and re-focus on God, their family, and their neighbors.

“If you think about it, every effort to reform our country, our politics, and our culture begins with what we do on Sunday,” said Brian Burch, President of CatholicVote.org. “With this small step, we want to help reclaim the Lord’s Day as a day of worship and rest. For one day a week, we hope people will push back the keyboard.”

On Sundays, the CatholicVote.org website will simply post a message that reads: “Sorry, we’re closed on Sunday. Go to Church. Read a book. Take a walk. Call a friend. Celebrate life. See you tomorrow…”

Visitors to CatholicVote.org will not be able to watch videos, participate in the forums, or donate to CatholicVote.org on Sundays.

In a study released this month, the Annenberg Center for the Digital Future announced that 28 percent of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households. Only 11 percent said this in 2006.

“While the researchers in that study didn’t assign a culprit, the decline in family time correlates with the rise in Internet usage and a explosion in social networking websites,” said Burch.

“Of course, the Bible doesn’t say ‘Thou Shalt Not Tweet on Sunday.’ But it does say, ‘Keep Holy the Sabbath.’ And surely turning off our computers could help many of us to do just that,” said Burch.

During a general audience earlier this month, Pope Benedict XVI said: “Whether immersed in the frenetic rhythms of work or on holiday, we must reserve time for God. … We must not forget Sunday as the day of the Lord and the day of the liturgy, in order to see – in the beauty of our churches, of sacred music, and of the Word of God – the beauty of God Himself, and allow it to enter our own being. Thus our lives become great, they become true life.”

CatholicVote.org chose Father’s Day to launch this Sunday campaign in order to honor our Heavenly Father and to encourage families to spend more time together. CatholicVote.org plans to urge other websites to consider similar efforts to encourage respect for Sunday.

View a preview of the CatholicVote.org Sunday page here – http://www.catholicvote.org/index.php?/site/sundayPage/

Bravo to CatholicVote.org! This is a great idea. Obviously their apostolate has used technology to draw people closer to God and I applaud them for recognizing that technology has the potential to draw us away from God as well.

Perhaps if this becomes the norm, this parody from The Onion will be less true-to-life for us Catholics:

Report: 90% Of Waking Hours Spent Staring At Glowing Rectangles