How cool would it be if God were on Twitter! I know I would follow him. People would be able to find out all of the new and exciting things going on up in Heaven. I don’t know about you, but I would love to get tweets from God, or even the Pope; and soon, I might just be able to do that… sort of.
According to an article I found on usatoday.com that the theme this year for World Communications Day is, “New Media at the Service of the World.” The purpose of this is to acknowledge technology in the service of evangelism. So basically, the Pope wants more priests and other members of the church to use the internet, such as twittering, to spread the word of the Lord. The article says, “Step right up priests -- as long as you don't forget that Christ, not just showing off your video technical prowess, is the point.” But that leads to this question. Can using the internet really help members of the church spread the word of the Lord? That’s debatable.
Right now most Americans only go to church one day a week, if that. However, these same people probably use the internet every day, either on an actual computer, a cell phone, or any other device. Everything today is starting to convert to the internet. As Croteau and Hoynes say in their book Media Society, “the Internet has become a ‘virtual mall,’ with corporations trying new ways to sell us all sorts of products,” (p. 13). The Pope is suggesting the use of this “new” media to spread the message of Christianity. So, if this can be compared to all the other mediums that have transferred to the internet, does this mean that he is conforming to pop culture? If these other forms are trying to sell their messages and ideologies, does that mean that religion is something that can be sold? Think about it, everyday you’d receive an inspirational message on Twitter or Facebook from a priest, bishop, or even the Pope. People all over the world could read these messages and by doing so they could be influenced to accept the Holy Spirit into their lives.
Why should we even care that priests might start using the internet to spread the word of the Lord? There are two main reasons. The first is that this is a perfect example of how EVERYTHING is moving toward the internet and technology, even God and religion. The second is that people should be aware that the church is making efforts to connect with a more modern perspective, hoping that they may be able to reach out to an even greater audience. I personally think that nothing on the internet can ever replace Sunday mass, but as I said before, Americans are on the internet basically every day and the church wants God to be in people’s lives every day.
David Smith
p.s. here is the link to the article http://content.usatoday.com/topics/post/Religion+and+beliefs/Leaders,+Experts/Pope+Benedict+XVI/16744.blog/1
You wrote: "So, if this can be compared to all the other mediums that have transferred to the internet, does this mean that he is conforming to pop culture? If these other forms are trying to sell their messages and ideologies, does that mean that religion is something that can be sold?"
ReplyDeleteI find these questions absolutely fascinating! One of the great theoretic conversations in communication studies--and especially media studies--is the degree to which the medium one uses to communicate shapes one's message. So, to paraphrase your question, when I try to use the Internet to communicate Christianity, does my Christianity make the Internet more Christian, or does the Internet make my Christianity more, well, more whatever the Internet is? If Croteau & Hoynes are right and the Internet really has become primarily a shopping mall, then does online religion revise faith, making it conform more fully with consumeristic values?
I'm doing research on Second Life right now--Second Life being a massive virtual world--and my interest is mainly in Christian communities and Christian worship on Second Life, so I've been thinking a lot about these questions recently.