I have a cell phone. I always worried that they might not be the best thing for your health, but now I find there is a moral objection to it.

I was reading my horoscope in Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology, where, of all places, I read that "If you use a cell phone, you have in your possession a metal called coltan, a component that's essential to the cell's function." Quickly, I did a mental review of the Periodic Table of Elements, not a complete review, of course. What is coltan?

My horoscope further went on to say that "Most of the world's coltan comes from the Congo, and is mined by Rwandans who survived their countries genocide in the 1990's. They often work for militias that sell coltan illegally to finance their military operations." I looked it up on the Internet, and there it was, nearly word for word as it was written in my horoscope.

Another Internet article from the San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 2009 discusses "Cell Phones and Congo's War Against Women".

"So even though the issue we have in common is our use of products dependent on the Congo's resources, the issue that really unites us is that the Congo - with the highest rates of sexual violence globally - has become the world's most dangerous place to be a woman or a girl. This is not the first time that armies or militias have used rape as a weapon of war."

As we use our cell phones, computers, iPods and video games every day, we are benefiting from Congo's natural wealth. We need to stand up for the women of the Congo and the world and let our elected officials know that we want to see an end to that violence. We need to let the electronics companies from whom we buy our products know that it matters to us where they get the raw materials that run the devices. How does that get done?

The question of how to do that remains mostly unanswered because, while people are uncomfortable with the issue of violence against women, they find it hard to write a letter or pick up a phone and make a call to an elected representative or a cell phone company. It's not really that difficult. Elected officials maintain a staff that answers phone lines. Manufacturers have similar staff. You can look up contact numbers on the Internet or ask your local librarian to help you find contact information. A brief and polite call simply stating that you are concerned alerts the representative or manufacturer that people are thinking about the subject.

There is little point in throwing the cell phone in the rubbish heap right now, but since I seldom use it, it will be a long time before it wears out.

Our cells phones could be the electronic version of conflict diamonds.