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The Internet: Threat Or Defender Of The Faith?

The Internet: Threat Or Defender Of The Faith?

19.12.2014 13:10

Church leaders are using the web to reach out to followers - old and new. But while some see it as a way to save the church, for others it's the path to hell... He's 80, he's a priest and he has more than 107,000 Twitter followers - Bob Maguire, or @FatherBob as he's known online, is one of a number of Christian leaders that have taken to the internet to spread their messages and attract more - and younger - people to the faith. One of the ways in which Maguire and others are harnessing the power of the internet is through social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook. These they use to fuel traditionally Christian (and other religions') causes by becoming an outlet for social-oriented activism, according to Heidi Campbell. The associate professor of communication at Texas A&M University, who has studied the evolution of religion online since the early days of the world wide web, says: "Religious groups are leveraging the power of social media to raise awareness of social just

Church leaders are using the web to reach out to followers - old and new. But while some see it as a way to save the church, for others it's the path to hell…

He's 80, he's a priest and he has more than 107,000 Twitter followers - Bob Maguire, or @FatherBob as he's known online, is one of a number of Christian leaders that have taken to the internet to spread their messages and attract more - and younger - people to the faith.



One of the ways in which Maguire and others are harnessing the power of the internet is through social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook. These they use to fuel traditionally Christian (and other religions') causes by becoming an outlet for social-oriented activism, according to Heidi Campbell.



The associate professor of communication at Texas A&M University, who has studied the evolution of religion online since the early days of the world wide web, says: "Religious groups are leveraging the power of social media to raise awareness of social justice issues."



Indeed, Maguire made a splash with crowdfunding, raising more than AUS $50,000 (US $40,921 / €33,300) for his Fr Bob Maguire Foundation, an organization created with the aim of ending homelessness. He proposed recording an album, 'Father Bob Sings for a Million' and asked social media users to send song suggestions with the hashtag #songs4bob.



Embracing the internet



And he's not alone. Another prominent example of this is civil rights icon Reverend Al Sharpton. The American Baptist minister garnered international attention by reaching out to his 433,000 Twitter followers to call for "no justice, no peace" in the wake of white police killings of black men in the US.



Still, while some are embracing the internet, there are problems, says Campbell, such as the shift of religious authority as social networking sites have increased the ability of individuals to secure themselves a following.



A blogger with lots of followers can become influential without being well-vetted, Campbell says; there's a lack of accountability. However, she observes that the most recent wave of online influencers are leaders of traditional places of worship like churches; offline leaders who have become more technologically savvy.



The mix of religious authorities online is what Campbell terms a "double-edged sword, that's both challenging and empowering religious leaders".



24/7 religion: Engaging church members



Certainly, online advances have caused offline Christian communities, who feared their influence was waning, to shake up their ways of engaging their members. Increasing numbers of churches in the US now rely on the internet for mobile versions of the Bible and for communication needs, says Scott Thumma, professor of sociology of religion at Hartford Institute for Religion Research and author of "Virtually Religious: Technology and Internet Use in American Congregations".



"If churches don't adopt these tools and use them effectively, they are indeed guaranteed never to capture the imaginations of the younger digital native generations," he says.







As for worshippers, modern technology is helping them take their faith further, Campbell says. "We're seeing the development of a lot of apps for expressing faith. Religious entrepreneurs are developing apps so that religion can be 24/7."



One particularly sleek-looking app, InstaPray, allows users to compose and share prayers with a huge community worldwide. "Instapray is the first beautifully designed app that makes praying with others a positive experience," one of its users, Jan Johnson, writes in a testimonial on the site.



"Remixing religion"



But what of memes like AdviceGod, which offer such pithy pieces of wisdom as: "Don't pray for a bike, I won't give it to you. Steal a bike and pray for forgiveness, I can give you that"? Or the dozens of Facebook groups, such as Jesus Daily, with over 27 million followers, peppered with posts including the odd Muppet Show video. Aren't they insulting Christianity?



Such memes and groups do transcend the religious-secular divide, Campbell says. But she's not too critical. The phenomenon is what she terms, with DJ-like slang, "remixing religion" and "mashup theology" - where people mix stock religious characters or phrases with humour "for at once comic and meaningful effect."



In fact, the associate professor sees memes like AdviceGod as increasing engagement with faith; a way of "critiquing religion as well as showing you are into popular culture." That ties in with a recent study by the US-based Pew Research Center, which found that 21 percent of young Americans (18-29) share their faith on social networking sites or apps each week.



"DIY spirituality"



From memes to heretical hashtags, Campbell perceives evidence of a wider online trend that is shifting the boundaries of organized religions like Christianity. "The internet is raising a spiritual rather than religious discourse," she says.



It's a shift that Reverend Charles Henderson, who created The First Church of Cyberspace aka godweb.org back in 1994, has also observed, albeit in a more extreme way.



"It is clear to me that we are already well into the age of "do-it-yourself spirituality," the Presbyterian minister, communicator, publisher and broadcaster, says. "People essentially create their own personal faith from elements taken from Christianity, other world religions, pagan traditions, pop culture, and so on."



Seen that way, one might say that social media does pose a threat to the future of age-old religions like Christianity.



But as Father Bob told the Australian in an interview after being asked what Jesus would think of his vast Twitter fan base: "Social media is a public forum and he spent most of the time in public forums."





 
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