INTERNET - Is the Internet harmful?

The Archbishop of York has warned that the Internet has the potential to damage society by making us all turn in on ourselves. Dr Hope casts us all in a gloomy solitude, sitting wordlessly in front of computer screens instead of talking to one another and enjoying mutual society, help and comfort.

They said the same about the discovery of the printing press and books: that they would result in each of us in unsplendid isolation instead of going about the healthy business of gossip. The press was regarded by some as the devil's machine in the 16th century.

There is much in what the archbishop says. I know from my own experience just how easy it is to get logged on and find it extremely difficult to log off. My wife says I have been known to spend hours completely incommunicado; and I admit I do get tetchy if I'm disturbed.

But no rational person could claim that the PC and Internet revolution is an entirely bad thing. I send and receive most of my parish communications by e-mail. I sent this article from London to York the same way. And I confess willingly and gladly that I am finding the world wide web indispensable for researching libraries, and cheap and quick for ordering books and CDs - perhaps too quick, judging by my monthly bank statements. So maybe that's another point in favour of the archbishop's case!

I think Dr Hope was right to warn us of the dark side of the PC. It does promote social isolation. And it tempts youngsters into addiction to stuff that is as bad for them as the drugs which we hear are daily on sale in the playground.

I mean, the magnificently realistic but ultimately mindless and worthless electronic games. Playing these games hours on end is akin to banging your head on the wall, or listening to pop on headphones day and night. Supporters of the Internet often cite its usefulness as an educational tool. It can be, but again much of the information put out on the web is decidedly dodgy and it is no easy thing to check it for accuracy. The world being the consumerist paradise (or hell on earth, as you please) that it is, most of the sites on the Internet involve a strong commercial interest. They are either selling information or services and the advertising propaganda used is biased accordingly. So too often what looks like genuine information turns out to be sales talk.

And if we're all soon going to order not only our books and CDs over the Internet but our meat and vegetables as well, whatever will happen to that wonderful community asset, the corner shop?

There are good and worthy websites, but there is an awful lot of junk.

The Internet and e-mail are the greatest purveyors of junk mail. Worryingly, there is no effective means of protecting youngsters from its blatant evil either. There are thousands, perhaps millions, of pornographic sites and many of them are advertised in the less scrupulous newspapers every day.

There is no way that what has been invented can be disinvented. So the Internet is here to stay. And we are left with the purely hypothetical question of whether we would have been better off without it. I think the answer is probably, yes. But, like the atom bomb and television, we are stuck with it.

We must find some way of controlling it before it controls us.

I should say, of course, before it controls me - because I admit to signing myself as citychurches@pmullen.freeserve.co.uk

The Rev Peter Mullen is Rector of St Michael's, Cornhill, in the City of London and Chaplain to the Stock Exchange.

NO...says Mike Brown, the boss of York communications firm Triangle Multimedia in Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate.

The Internet is subservient to the society that controls it. Technology does not harm people - people harm people. The Internet provides a modern view of a society that has been repressed by governments and religion for centuries. It unleashes society's capability to create, learn and innovate.

It brings together people from all over the world - reuniting families and bringing hope to the subjugated.

Inevitably some web-sites will contain harmful content but this only reflects a society that contains harmful people. Any decent society protects the innocent from dangerous situations - the Internet community adheres to this fundamental set of guidelines.

The Archbishop of York has condemned the Internet for "moving us towards a soulless society" that will "reduce spiritualism and human intercourse".

Has the archbishop visited any web chatrooms recently?

Chat rooms allow people to talk live to individuals all over the world - people who might never otherwise meet.

This forum can allow conversations, whilst preventing others from being prejudiced against you based on their existing stereotypes.

People can meet others on the basis of their common interests without attention being focused on their differences - be they physical or otherwise.

Young and old can communicate their viewpoints without any threat of violence.

Dialogues can be established with the aim of reducing conflict. This promotes a multicultural global community - one that the church should encourage, not condemn.

Perhaps the archbishop should visit his own web-site at http://www.bishopthorpepalace.co.uk. His site offers a direct line to God himself with a facility to submit a virtual prayer that works via e-mail.

Logically, the archbishop must have God's e-mail address to submit these prayers.

What next, virtual funerals?

Triangle Multimedia would encourage the archbishop to make this e-mail address available for the general public. The archbishop could be allowing people to submit more than prayers to God through his Internet site.

If any readers would like to ask God a question, we are now able to provide an extension of the archbishop's direct line to God via the same e-mail address - please visit www.askgod.org.uk

The benefits of the Internet for education, business, the promotion of free speech, entertainment, communication and the arts far outweigh any harm that it may cause.

We all own the Internet, but with ownership comes responsibility.

If we adopt a responsible approach to our use of the Internet we can only expand our horizons through the marvel of this new technology.