Christians traditionally celebrate the incarnation of God the evening before after sunset. If we leave aside all the dogmatic subtleties from 2000 years – after all, the majority in the world do not believe in this God – the festival could be reinterpreted as a reflection on human existence, the return himself.

With the power of technology, we are countering the virus pandemic in the form of computers that enable us to be isolated at home learn and work to keep in touch with each other and buy the things that we no longer get in stores during lockdown. Thanks to science, a vaccine for a worldwide epidemic is available faster than ever and modern medicine helps people with Covid to breathe hard.

The same energy drives people to rob nature of its space. In doing so, they make it more likely that viruses will come to them from the animals. So the virus could be the price for the exploitation of nature, for the striving for dominion over the earth.

Dominium terrae: “Be fruitful and multiply, populate the earth, subjugate it and rule about the fish of the sea, about the birds of the sky and about all animals that move on the land, “says Genesis. Gudrun Lux, member of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), believes that the actual character of the quotation has been lost through the translation of the original Bible. It is not about subjugating the earth, but about taking care of it.

Let us leave the wide scope of interpretation of the Bible and Christmas and hope that the now even quieter time may lead to reason and Empathy gain the upper hand. This is what the entire team from heise online and the editorial offices of c’t, iX, Technology Review, Mac & i, c’t Digitale Fotografie, Make, Techstage and Telepolis as well as heise Security, heise Developer and heise Autos wish you.

May you look back on the past few months at your leisure and prepare for the coming. We wish the despondent confidence, all the sick recovery, all the mourning consolation, the exhausted strength, the lost a guide, fearful courage, hateful insight and all refugees safe accommodation.

The IT world will be until Do not stand still at the turn of the year, we will also provide you with the latest news on the holidays and between the years as well as with some longer reading pieces. We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a peaceful, happy and successful year 2021 to all those who do not stop by before the New Year. Stay healthy!

(anw)