Religion May Not Survive The Internet

[guyser]

. Just look at the problems we're getting now because of the internet. Think about it. From social media to scams to vices and all sorts of entertainment that can keep you glued to it 24/7! Heck, some people die because of it!

We best get rid of the internet and scams and vices will go away and we'll be back in the early 80's when those things had never occurred before.

Phew...its so easy to correct!

[betsy]

Many of us, an ever increasing number in fact, do the exact opposite.

Yes. Especially the younger set. We also have those who commit apostasy - they abandon their faith,

for whatever reason(s) they may have.

To a lot of folks, there comes a time when suddenly they find the need for spirituality. We see a lot of conversions from more mature or older folks.

For some, all it takes is feel helpless, hopeless, and alone.....and they seek God for comfort and hope. Testimonies show a lot of converts had reached rock bottom to find God.

Contrary to what non-believers think - converts must truly - voluntarily - want to find God. Persuasion and cajolement, and even enticements seldom result in a faithful convert. One has to have that "need," I think. That desire.

For some, God gives a strong "nudge," thus there is a feeling of "something missing," or a feeling of "restlessness". There are also extreme cases of sudden conversions by non-believers. An example of that is the Apostle, Paul. Some former non-believers had experienced what is called, an "epiphany," the reason why they suddenly became believers.

For a non-believer to find God, usually all it takes is to ask God - in all humility - to help you find Him.

And He'll do the rest.

Edited January 27, 2013 by betsy

[betsy]

We best get rid of the internet and scams and vices will go away and we'll be back in the early 80's when those things had never occurred before.

Phew...its so easy to correct!

One must be dead to not know what I mean. Adults in the forum know.

Edited January 27, 2013 by betsy

[betsy]

With all the suicide-murders going around like it's just the norm these days.....one couldn't help but wonder why? Of course there are numerous reasons why they'd go that length - when it's no longer enough to just commit suicide, but also drag others along with it.

What could be the root cause?

And the kind of evil that lurks in the internet - videos of torturing animals, sex crimes on children, dismemberment.....one has to be so disensitized to not see what a very sick world this is turning out to be.

The writer of that article should investigate further. Will religion survive the internet? You bet!

When you take stock of everything happening all around us - world economy, world crisis, war, various diseases, chaos, hunger, natural disasters, etc.., - all easily seen on the internet like watching an apocalyptic trailer...... I'll put my money on religion. Especially, the Christian religion!

How many do you think will run to God with just this one scenario.....the economy wiping out your nest egg?

Edited January 27, 2013 by betsy

[guyser]

One has to be dead to not know what I mean. Adults in the forum know.

dl

Edited January 27, 2013 by guyser

[Sleipnir]

We best get rid of the internet and scams and vices will go away and we'll be back in the early 80's when those things had never occurred before.

Or back to the ways of the Amish

[Smallc]

Yes. Especially the younger set. We also have those who commit apostasy - they abandon their faith,

for whatever reason(s) they may have.

Because we start to realize more and more that the idea of a sky fairy is pretty ridiculous.

[Bonam]

Free in what sense? My cousin's employer was putting a lot of pressure on to take the job at their Atlanta office. His wife wasn't thrilled about the move, but felt that the advantages could be worth it.

Free in the sense they didn't have to pick that particular place in the boonies and instead live in any of a million other places nearby, with different types of communities.

[Canuckistani]

Do you believe or have faith in any of the Greek Gods? Zeus? Aphrodite? Apollo? If not, why not? Would you make the claim that they do not exist, or will you make the claim that you do not believe in those gods?

Actually I'll go with the Jungians and say they are archetypes of the collective unconscious. I have no more or less an idea if they exist vs a Christian God - both seem very unlikely to me to be what we consider objective reality. In fact by definition they can't be, since they surpass our objective reality. And our objective reality gets pretty shaky sometimes. My belief is that there is a universal all encompassing consciousness we are all a part of. I've had some experiences in that direction, but couldn't prove to you that my belief is the correct on. In fact it's likely to be incorrect, since it's being held by my very limited consciousness, and is almost certainly to be incorrect as far as you are concerned, since your limited consciousness is different from mine. I think.

[WIP]

Free in the sense they didn't have to pick that particular place in the boonies and instead live in any of a million other places nearby, with different types of communities.

I didn't say they were still living in the same place. They moved to that rather remote suburb for many of the same reasons that a lot of people decide to buy a home in the burbs....including me about 25 years ago....for them, having a brand new house that was affordable and near a picturesque, natural location, made up for the long drives....at least for awhile!

[WIP]

Actually I'll go with the Jungians and say they are archetypes of the collective unconscious. I have no more or less an idea if they exist vs a Christian God - both seem very unlikely to me to be what we consider objective reality. In fact by definition they can't be, since they surpass our objective reality. And our objective reality gets pretty shaky sometimes. My belief is that there is a universal all encompassing consciousness we are all a part of. I've had some experiences in that direction, but couldn't prove to you that my belief is the correct on. In fact it's likely to be incorrect, since it's being held by my very limited consciousness, and is almost certainly to be incorrect as far as you are concerned, since your limited consciousness is different from mine. I think.

I am more inclined to believe that the feeling of oneness with the universe that can come through meditation or other mental concentration exercises, or the use of drugs, or even as a result of exhaustion and dehydration happens to us because our brain function has to continuously generate body maps to tell us where we are in space and where our bodies leave off and the rest of the world begins. This ABC 20/20 excerpt about the studies conducted by Andrew Newberg provides a brief explanation.

To me, this universe appears to be too chaotic and empty to be the product of design and purpose of a planned creation, and I'm skeptical of pantheism for the same reason. I could go along with a simpler form of pantheism called panpsychism - which doesn't contend that the universe is one big conscious mind, but that the particles or substance of this universe have conscious properties....which when combined in a highly organized system (like the brain) result in a thinking, self-conscious being. I don't know if Australian philosopher - David Chalmers created this theory of panpsychism, but he is the name most associated with it. His reasons for proposing that matter has conscious properties is because he believes that materialistic theories of mind -- whether reductionist or based on the principle of emergence, do not explain qualia - the subjective conscious experience. He created a thought problem called the Philosopher's Zombie as an example of how an entire world could be created of seemingly intelligent creatures with no conscious experience. I don't know whether panpsychism would be needed to explain consciousness....for one thing, neuroscientists and philosophers of mind are still arguing about what consciousness is, before getting to ideas of how it might work.

But, all that aside; even though I'm a skeptic, I'm not all that enthusiastic about pushing skepticism against beliefs that would probably range from innocuous to potentially beneficial. The theme of the OP is that religion is declining in the age of the internet and the increase and easier access to information that challenges religious beliefs. In some situations that's a good thing...we can think of the obvious ones, where religious leaders and their dogmas are promoting superstition, misogyny, intolerance of outsiders etc.. But, the promoters of a world without religion are all tied to the notion that science and technology will pave the way to a better and brighter world. And a lot of the same people who call themselves rationalists are completely irrational about humanity's odds of dealing with big problems that are getting worse by the day, and lead us to that glorious future promised in the first Star Trek series! So, if we're headed for hard times, being a skeptic might not be a whole lot of help for most people.

[betsy]

Because we start to realize more and more that the idea of a sky fairy is pretty ridiculous.

Sky fairy? Look who's talking.

If you believe in your darwinist scientists, then you believe the possibility of fairies, and leprechauns, of boogeymen, spaghetti monsters, supermen and magic pies in the sky - which btw resembles flying saucers!

That's the funny thing about parroting those who talk senselessly. You don't know when you're caricaturing your own faith.

Edited January 28, 2013 by betsy

[betsy]

[/size]

Or back to the ways of the Amish

That's good. Back to basics! Perhaps that's what we need.

The future children will learn how to do math without the aid of calculators.

Children can come home to motherly mothers. You won't need to have double income to live. Farewell to big-screen hdtv, the computer, fancy big houses, double car garages, back to horse and buggy .....and save the environment at the same time.

You can kiss fastfood, frozen tv dinners and other commercial food goodbye, along with all the sodium and preservatives.

No more baby hippos!

With healthy living, you'll need less health care. With a busy schedule of schooling and helping to farm, we won't need spending on recreational centers. Children will be so tired at the end of the day they won't have the energy to go out and create havoc.

With a motherly mother at home taking care of her brood, children won't be relying on social workers and therapists. She'll know where her children are!

There'll be less strife....less bullying.....less un-productiveness!

Kids will grow up to have a good backbone - they won't swoon at the sight of a boo-boo. They'll have more character.

The children will grow up to become adults. Not weak-kneed big children.

All you need to do is go and peek in allegdly adult forums and you'll see what I mean.

I wish it would go back that way.....believe me.

Edited January 28, 2013 by betsy

[Mighty AC]

If it talks like a duck, walks like a duck, and looks like duck.....what, you think it's a dinosaur?

Ummmm...everyone knows that dinosaurs aren't real. The fossils were placed in the earth by God to test our faith. You better wise up or it will be an eternity of torture and hell fire for you. Courtesy of the one and only all loving God.

[Michael Hardner]

Religion hasn't adapted very well to the latest technologies: internet, television, printing press, the written word, the spoken word.

[GostHacked]

Sky fairy? Look who's talking.

If you believe in your darwinist scientists,

We at least can verify that they had once existed.

...then you believe the possibility of fairies, and leprechauns, of boogeymen, spaghetti monsters, supermen and magic pies in the sky - which btw resembles flying saucers!

No, no, no, no, no, no and no.

That's the funny thing about parroting those who talk senselessly. You don't know when you're caricaturing your own faith.

Atheism is not a faith. But why let logic get in the way of your fanciful beliefs!?

[Guest Manny]

Religion hasn't adapted very well to the latest technologies: internet, television, printing press, the written word, the spoken word.

I disagree.. look at some of those modern churches popping up that use big staged events, with multimedia video/ audio and webcasting. The latest technologies you've listed are simply vehicles for conveying ideas.

[betsy]

Religion hasn't adapted very well to the latest technologies: internet, television, printing press, the written word, the spoken word.

???

Care to expand on that?

[Michael Hardner]

I disagree.. look at some of those modern churches popping up that use big staged events, with multimedia video/ audio and webcasting. The latest technologies you've listed are simply vehicles for conveying ideas.

Back in the day they were the only game in town. Now they're just one channel.

[Michael Hardner]

???

Care to expand on that?

Holy Shamen dominated the understanding of the universe, but when the spoken word was established, the law needed to be spoken. When the written word was established, it allowed people to interpret the law for themselves and required consistency of rules, which worked against the shaman. Then the great religions rose, based on written rules but the printing press allowed dissent from "the word" - see Luther - and radio/television eventually came along challenging their dominance as the arbiter of morality. Lately, internet and mobile technologies have added an interactivity factor that they can't compete with.

They're not doing that well.

[betsy]

Holy Shamen dominated the understanding of the universe, but when the spoken word was established, the law needed to be spoken. When the written word was established, it allowed people to interpret the law for themselves and required consistency of rules, which worked against the shaman. Then the great religions rose, based on written rules but the printing press allowed dissent from "the word" - see Luther - and radio/television eventually came along challenging their dominance as the arbiter of morality. Lately, internet and mobile technologies have added an interactivity factor that they can't compete with.

They're not doing that well.

The significant messages in the Bible has been consistent from the very beginning to the present. As for those false teachings, deceptions, heresy and apostasy - the Bible had warned us about those. And if what's been prophecied in the Bible is happening now - would I say the Christian religion isn't doing that well because what's supposed to happen is happening?

Coincidentally, I was just reading 2 Timothy 3, yesterday morning.

2 Timothy 3

New International Version (NIV)

3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

⁶ They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷ always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. ⁹ But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

A Final Charge to Timothy

¹⁰ You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹² In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God^[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Edited January 28, 2013 by betsy

[betsy]

And talking about the printing press- boy, with the printing press alone the Bible had been spread far and wide - making it the biggest bestseller EVER in history.

The 15 Biggest Bestsellers EVER After The Bible

http://www.huffingto...s_from_Chairman

Edited January 28, 2013 by betsy

[betsy]

MHardner

Lately, internet and mobile technologies have added an interactivity factor that they can't compete with.

What do you mean, "that they can't compete with?" Like how?

Living Truth is on radio, tv, podcast, itunes, facebook, youtube! Here is the homepage.

http://www.livingtruth.ca/

Here's another one:

Technological advances are opening new doors for the gospel

But new media functionality means that even communities without mobile signal are using these devices to share MP4 video files, music and information, often via Bluetooth. In some restricted places it can be extremely hard to obtain or keep printed Scriptures, but downloading Scripture video, audio or text and sharing it on mobile phones is much easier. God's word can spread like wildfire; literacy and health materials can be shared to the benefit of whole communities!

One worker from a partner organisation in Asia shares:

"I saw mobile ministry revolutionize my team's ministry. It [...] gave us greater freedom and boldness in sharing the gospel as our fears about our own ability to share were replaced with joy in being able to share

beautiful fluent audio and video portrayals of Jesus and His gospel

. Mobile ministry pushed the gospel out beyond our limited circle of relations as these mobile videos were shared with others we would never meet." (

Full story here

).

What does it take to make this happen? Initiatives like Mobile Advance explore how this can be done appropriately and effectively, whilst other ministries like The JESUS Film and Global Recordings press on with the production of video and audio media in minority languages. Experts in Non-Roman Scripts are advising global IT companies about how to get words and letters to display correctly across multiple platforms. Personnel in Wycliffe Bible Translators and many other partner agencies are working hard to ensure God's word is available in the form and the language that communicates best.

http://wycliffe.org.uk/give/go/roles-mobiletech.html

I'm telling you, advancing technology will assure the the enduring presence of the Bible!

Edited January 29, 2013 by betsy

[Michael Hardner]

What do you mean, "that they can't compete with?" Like how?

It's not interesting, nor relevant to sit in a pew and listen to an old man pontificate.

At least it's not in Latin anymore - but still not interesting.

[betsy]

It's not interesting, nor relevant to sit in a pew and listen to an old man pontificate.

At least it's not in Latin anymore - but still not interesting.

But not everyone share your opinion. Just because you find it uninteresting and iirelevant doesn't make it so for others.

What pew? What old man?

You sound like Rip Van Winkle suddenly awake! It's not only pontificating anymore, sir.....

You name it, we got it!

JESUS CHRIST! Social Media Nativity Video Goes Viral (again)!

It's the Christmas gift that just keeps on giving: a 2010 YouTube video which frames the traditional Nativity story in the context of contemporary social media is going viral again just in time for Christmas this year.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/242428/scitech/socialmedia/jesus-christ-social-media-nativity-video-goes-viral-again

AND....They do some flashmobs with tweets!