Religions, or some form of belief system, have existed since the beginning of time. However, the internet has not. But the vast reach of the internet these days suggests that religious messages can reach more people around the world, than just the traditional proselyting on foot can.
*Here is a map of religions around the world, mapped by distribution. (See Wikipedia)
* Predominate religions of the world, mapped by state. (See Wikipedia)
Even by searching on google for "Religion and the Internet," many religious sites are found, from God Online, to results from Wikipedia, and the Religions Guide.
According to Wikipedia: Religion and the Internet, "Many sites are discussion groups, others theological debates and some attempt to provide advice concerning religious doctrine. There are also sites that aim to provide a religious experience facilitating prayer, meditation, or virtual pilgrimages."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no exception. There is a member-friendly LDS.org website.
The Mormon.org website for those who have broad or specific questions about life in general or want to find answers about the Mormon religion.
There is even a YouTube channel, Mormon Messages, where short videos are uploaded monthly, if not weekly. From the YouTube channel, you can find more Mormon Messages on Facebook or Twitter.
The Newsroom site is the official Church resource for news media.
And the newest addition to the LDS internet team is the Newsroom Blog, which comes straight from the Church Public Affairs office, and is on a more personal note.
The most interesting of all the LDS internet sites to me, is the Mormon.org - Live Chat.
Here anyone can chat online with a missionary or member in the Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center (MTC). Just this past year (14 months), 4 missionaries were called to serve in the Referral Center of the MTC, full-time. Because of their efforts, over 52 people were taught completely the lessons of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and baptized. Now, over 12 missionaries will be called directly to the Referral Center in the MTC to teach and preach over the internet to people around the world. (TRUE STORY)
QUESTIONS:
1. Has the internet changed the way we view religion as a whole (negatively), or has it just added to the good we already have?
2. Will the internet really convert people to a religion in the "traditional" sense of going to church and being proactive in religious endeavors or will it stifle our faith to mainly internet usage of religious themes?
3. Are all the different internet uses by the LDS church; LDS.org, Mormon.org, Newsroom, Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Live Chat - really making a difference? Does the good outweigh the bad in terms of feedback from others outside the church as they view the amount of internet persuasion the Church uses?
4. Is the "old-fashioned" proselyting by foot-missionaries around the world a better practice than the "new and advanced" online Live Chat the Church offers? Do people value the traditional more so than the advanced technology fad? Or is the Church just appealing to different people and different age groups by using both methods?
Stacey,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I didn't know that the church had a blog or full-time missionaries dedicated to answering questions on live chat. It was interested to find those things out.
I'm going to choose question #2 and #4 to answer specifically.
Question #2- I think the Internet definitely has the power to convert people to a religion. However, as far as the LDS church goes, I don't think that's the main purpose with their social media endeavors. I would think it would first, be a place were current members can obtain additional information about the church. Second, be a place to clarify misconceptions and answer people's questions. And lastly, be a place to convert others to the LDS religion.
Question #4- I think personal proselyting and personal anything is always the better option and has obviously worked well for a long time. However, the new is good too. As far as church missionaries go, I don't think it will ever replace the old but merely enhance it. I'm not sure exactly how the online chat works, but I would assume that if someone is showing enough interest, then the online missionaries send standard proselyting missionaries to go teach them personally.
If this is the case, the "new and advanced" is not really replacing the "old-fashioned," it's just giving the old fashioned more options and reaching some publics that may have been unavailable to the proselyting missionaries.
Barbara Fuller
1. Has the internet changed the way we view religion as a whole (negatively), or has it just added to the good we already have?
ReplyDelete- it depends on who "we" is, i think the internet can be a distraction from religious things...for example when half my ward is using the facebook app on their iphones in sacrament meeting. but on the other hand, i think that the internet has really enhanced the way i view my own religion in that i have to choose to be bold in my own forms of social media in which i choose to participate. also, my religious experience is enhanced with the help of the internet because the church website is so interactive and easy to find exactly what i'm looking for, which makes my personal study and research much more time efficient.
2. Will the internet really convert people to a religion in the "traditional" sense of going to church and being proactive in religious endeavors or will it stifle our faith to mainly internet usage of religious themes?
-i think that the internet in general can stifle religious objectives. i don't think that internet church service creates that necessary community that God wants us to create with each other where we can learn to love, serve, and care for one another in a person-to-person manner.
3. Are all the different internet uses by the LDS church; LDS.org, Mormon.org, Newsroom, Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Live Chat - really making a difference? Does the good outweigh the bad in terms of feedback from others outside the church as they view the amount of internet persuasion the Church uses?
-i think that those sites are making a difference. with more LDS word out in the community, the more prevalent we will be in searches and the more easy it will be to access the truth about our church as well as the truth of what our church believes.
4. Is the "old-fashioned" proselyting by foot-missionaries around the world a better practice than the "new and advanced" online Live Chat the Church offers? Do people value the traditional more so than the advanced technology fad? Or is the Church just appealing to different people and different age groups by using both methods?
-i don't think that one could rightfully say that one way is better than the other. everyone learns and gives credibility to different sources upon which they can build his or her testimony. I think the church is definitely just appealing to different people in different age groups by using both methods, i believe both messages are necessary in order to communicate to the wide range of audience members. i think person-to-person communication is more effective because body language is important in communicating and when people are in a one-on-one setting, they tend to have to focus more and pay 100% attention, as opposed to being distracted by internet multi-tasking and using cell phones, etc. when people are in contact with humans in actual life, it becomes a more personal situation.
I found the information presented in this post very interesting. I was unaware that the LDS Church has started to call full-time missionaries to proselyte online at the MTC Referral Center.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Question #1, I don't think the internet has negatively changed the way we view religion in general. Despite some negative effects, and because of the inherant lack of reality, the form that religion is taking online will never replace or transcend the individual relationship that one can develop with Diety, or the personal interaction with a congregation.
In response to Question #3, I think that the Church's presence online is definitely making a positive difference, for the simple reason that it allows the Church to control the messages being sent about the Church in this particular medium, rather than passively letting others do so for it. There is so much inaccurate and misguided information online that the good far outweighs the bad for the Church's active involvement in terms of feedback from others outside the Church.