A Blessing for the Chronically Online

Pope Francis—the one even committed atheists seem to find quietly tolerable—declared the internet a gift from God. Not a network of cables, he specified, but a network of people. It’s the most generous possible interpretation of what the thing actually is, and I respect the commitment to it.

Hold that blessing close. Keep it somewhere warm and accessible. Think of it specifically the next time you’re deep in a corner of the internet devoted to extremely particular Japanese pornography—girls shitting in cups, faces pressed into it, whatever specific arrangement of bodies and functions you’ve found yourself watching at two in the morning—and remember: God’s gift. A network of people, consecrated by the Vatican. The Pope looked at the full picture and called it good. Who are any of us to narrow the terms of that.

Hallelujah.