The cover of the December 16, 1996 Time Magazine had a bif glowing picture of
our most (in?)famous religious character -- the Big J. Underneath his radiant
face were the words "Jesus Online". Enough said?
Time's cover article basically outlined the different religious options
available on the Web. I simply played around with the website Time created
on the subject. What I discovered? Links to websites for every major religion
from Catholicism (www.vatican.va) to Hinduism to the First Church of
Cyberspace (www.execpc.com/%Echerlon), complete with blurbs about what each
site has to offer. Who needs to seek out religion and faith if you can simply
log-on and find a god?!?
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Favorite statements from the godly pages:
"The Holy Father really wanted it (to be on the Web). He sees evangelization
as something that can be carried out via the Internet."
-- the writer for the Vatican site
Compared the Internet to the works of the "Holy Spirit" --"silent & invisible".
Pastor Charles Henderson who created the 1st Church of Cyberspace views the
Internet as having an effect equal or greater than that of the Gutenberg press
on religion. Since printing the bible made religion more accessible to the
Common Man, then the Web should offer religion to an even wider audience.
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Popular religion and media appear to walk hand-in-hand. The first book printed
on the Gutenberg press was a bible. And now Jewish minyans occur over online
bbs'. Crazy, technology-inspired/obsessed world we live in. It is only
concerning that fancy, colorful websites crusade for converts. Also, that Time
magazine (media, media, media) publicizes Internet religion and creates its
own website to make it that much more accessible.
--Tova Peltz
In-Reply-To: 199702120756.CAA04594@sweet-potato-water-buffalo.MIT.EDU