{"id":1460,"date":"2008-11-21T17:13:14","date_gmt":"2008-11-21T21:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=1460"},"modified":"2013-05-10T15:06:02","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T19:06:02","slug":"episode-no-1212-cover-online-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2008\/11\/21\/episode-no-1212-cover-online-religion\/1460\/","title":{"rendered":"Online Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUCKY SEVERSON<\/strong>: The Park Street Church on the Boston Common has witnessed two centuries of American history. John Adams and Paul Revere are buried in the old Granary graveyard next door. In their time, church services were usually limited to the reach of the pastor\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

Pastor <\/em>DANIEL HARRELL <\/strong>(Park Street Church, reading from the Book of Revelation): She held the golden cup in her hands filled with abominable things.)<\/em><\/p>\n

SEVERSON:<\/strong> That would have made it more difficult for Pastor Daniel Harrell, one of the ministers here, to carry out his experiment. He wanted his congregation to explore the Old Testament Book of Leviticus by actually living according to its archaic laws for one month and then to log their experiences on the Internet.<\/p>\n

Pastor HARRELL<\/strong>: I think there was probably some fear. Sort of given the reputation of the burdensomeness of the law, how in the world would we follow this? But I managed to do a little coercion and put on some, a little bit of pastoral guilt and, you know, had some folks sign up, and it ended up being a great group, very diverse.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pastor Daniel Harrell<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: It ended up being another illustration of the power of online religion. Browse the Internet, and there are examples everywhere: a Web site called GodTube<\/a>, for instance, which was founded in 2007 and now attracts more than a million-and-a-half visitors a month. One of the site\u2019s most popular videos is a little girl reciting the 23rd Psalm.<\/p>\n

UNIDENTIFIED YOUNG GIRL (from GodTube video): Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . .<\/em><\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Hundreds of religious organizations are reaching and connecting believers of most every kind around the globe. For Jews, there\u2019s a Web site called JewTube; for Muslims, one called Muxlim.com. There are Hindu and Buddhist sites, and for those not quite as mainstream, Web sites as diverse as The Virtual Church of the Blind Chihuahua, which is actually a site that reflects about man\u2019s relation to God. Nowadays, with the latest technology, virtual churches provide a 3-D space where the user can walk in, sit down, and listen to a sermon. The very first virtual church, the First Church of Cyberspace, was founded at this real church in Montclair, New Jersey back in the Internet Dark Ages \u2014 1994 \u2014 by then pastor Charles Henderson.<\/p>\n

Pastor CHARLES HENDERSON <\/strong>(Founder, First Church of Cyberspace and Editor, CrossCurrents Quarterly<\/em>): It was really overwhelming. I mean, here I was, the minister of a local congregation in New Jersey, and somehow I came up with this idea of the First Church of Cyberspace and within about three months I was in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, on television and radio. I mean, it was just explosive, and here I was doing something that now would be regarded as incredibly simple and primitive.<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: What helped make Pastor Harrell\u2019s Leviticus project a success was actually the secular Web site Facebook, which allows people to interact with friends and strangers almost instantly.<\/p>\n

Pastor HARRELL<\/strong>: I thought, why don\u2019t we do it in a way that allows people in our congregation to engage a conversation with folks who are actually trying to abide by it, much like the ancient Israelites would have, as well as followers of the Old Testament throughout history? But to do that in public fashion, you know, could have been difficult if not for a vehicle like Facebook.<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Heidi Campbell is a professor at Texas A&M University and author of the book \u201cExploring Religious Community Online.\u201d She says there are very tangible reasons why the religious experience through chat rooms and social networking sites has increased in popularity \u2014 online prayers, for example.<\/p>\n

Dr. HEIDI CAMPBELL <\/strong>(Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Texas A&M University and Author, \u201cExploring Religious Community Online\u201d): In fact, some of the people in my early research said that they felt more cared for and that people, when they said they were praying for them online, that they really meant it because there was some tangible artifact that they could see to really show that they were praying for them.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Heidi Campbell<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: She says the Internet extends the \u201cglobal body of Christ\u201d because someone or some prayer is always there, and she says for those too shy or introverted to speak up in church, the Internet offers anonymity.<\/p>\n

Dr. CAMPBELL<\/strong>: That anonymous nature allows them to ask the questions, to get the feedback, to say things that they would never be able to say in a face-to-face environment.<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: This is Cathleen Falsani\u2019s Webs site. She is a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times <\/em>and author of two books, \u201cThe God Factor\u201d and, most recently, \u201cSin Boldly.\u201d She signed up for Facebook fishing for contacts. But before long she was connecting regularly with old friends and new friends.<\/p>\n

CATHLEEN FALSANI<\/strong> (Columnist, Chicago Sun-Times <\/em>and Author, \u201cThe God Factor\u201d): I happened to have the laptop open in bed, and I saw one friend of mine\u2019s status update pop up and change, and it said, \u201cI\u2019m really sad that Mark died today.\u201d I said, \u201cPlease tell me you\u2019re kidding.\u201d I didn\u2019t hear anything back. So I emailed another friend, and shortly after that he said, \u201cNo, Mark was killed this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Their friend Mark was killed while in the lead Humvee of a convoy outside Sadr City, Iraq.<\/p>\n

Ms. FALSANI<\/strong>: We ended up mourning online because we\u2019re all over the place, and it was just a way to sort of talk about Mark, and there was a little memorial that sort of started there, and then it moved to its own Web site, but we kept talking.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cathleen Falsani<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Falsani says online conversations often turned to issues of theology and spirituality.<\/p>\n

(to Ms. Falsani): You speak of it almost in a spiritual way.<\/p>\n

Ms. FALSANI<\/strong>: Yeah. We started \u2014 a number of us started calling it kind of flippantly a while ago \u201cchurch.\u201d It feels like church. But it really has, for some of us, become church.<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Falsani was surprised that a secular Web site like Facebook could become, for her, an online church.\u00a0 Pastor Harrell was equally surprised at the response on Facebook to his Leviticus challenge. He says people with no connection to his congregation posted their comments about the experiences members recorded while attempting to live and dress and eat according to the word of God in Leviticus.<\/p>\n

THOMAS KEOWN (speaking in Facebook video): The man should put his hand on the head of the animal.<\/em><\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Those members who attempted the experiment called themselves Levites, and some, like Thomas Keown, made their own videos to share on Facebook. His was a humorous look at a visit to his family farm in Ireland where he tried to touch the head of a cow as Leviticus instructs. The cow apparently didn\u2019t see the humor.<\/p>\n

Mr. KEOWN<\/strong>: I think it\u2019s completely free of defects, but free of any interest in allowing me to put my hand on their head.<\/em><\/p>\n

So Facebook was the primary means by which this experiment was public. It was the way that people outside the church and inside the church were able to play their part in it, were able to be part of what we, as a small group, were doing.<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Kristi Vrooman made her Facebook video about the search for meat that complies with Leviticus standards.<\/p>\n

KRISTI VROOMAN (speaking in video): And these animals were not, were not injected with hormones?<\/em><\/p>\n

UNIDENTIFIED GROCERY STORE CLERK: They were all free-range.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ms. VROOMAN<\/strong>: It surprised all of us, really, that people outside of our own church, outside of our religious tradition were commenting \u2014 people from Sweden, people from Israel.<\/p>\n

Pastor HARREL<\/strong>: It certainly has added a layer of connection that would have been difficult to otherwise create. I guess the question, or the jury, is still out as to whether that will supplant, you know, the kind of connection that we actually like to have in real time.<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Skeptics of online religion say it\u2019ll never match the church experience \u2014 the social experience where the faithful know one other, share coffee and conversation, look each other in the eye. They say Internet religion is religion-lite. Its defenders disagree.<\/p>\n

Ms. FALSANI<\/strong>: It was completely counterintuitive to me, and I could not have imagined this kind of blessing, this kind of communion and community \u2014 and we use the word \u201ccommunity\u201d tongue-in-cheek but also seriously, coming about from a piece of technology. I just \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t have believed it if it hadn\u2019t happened to us. But it did.<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Critics of online religion say it might work for an individual, but it doesn\u2019t foster family togetherness. Pastor Harrell says he is aware of the criticism, but now he is also more aware of the Internet\u2019s possibilities.<\/p>\n

Pastor HARRELL<\/strong>: You know, it is in the end a tool, you know, that can be employed for good or evil, I guess, and we\u2019d like to think we\u2019re using it for good.<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Charles Henderson, who is now the editor of CrossCurrents Quarterly<\/em>, says the Internet should not replace the real thing.<\/p>\n

Mr. HENDERSON<\/strong>: I think that the experience online has to be considered as a supplement to real friendships and real community life in local congregations. It\u2019s not a replacement for that kind of real community, although some people do use it as a substitute for religious community. I don\u2019t think that is the ideal.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pastor Charles Henderson<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: But for Cathleen Falsani and others like her, the old-time church is being replaced, for now, by religion on the Internet.<\/p>\n

Ms. FALSANI<\/strong>: You know, I was finding that I was getting more hurt by congregational life than I was being fed and that I could find that elsewhere and still be safe spiritually. And so this is a beautiful thing for someone like me to have, and I\u2019m not the only one who\u2019s experienced that in the group.<\/p>\n

SEVERSON<\/strong>: Although most churchgoers still prefer religion the old-fashioned way, an increasing number, especially those under 30, are exploring religion online. A study in 2001 by the Pew Research Center found that one-in-four adults use the Internet for religious and spiritual purposes. That was seven years ago. Today, the number is probably considerably higher.<\/p>\n

For RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY<\/strong>, I\u2019m Lucky Severson reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LUCKY SEVERSON: The Park Street Church on the Boston Common has witnessed two centuries of American history. John Adams and Paul Revere are buried in the old Granary graveyard next door. In their time, church services were usually limited to … More →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":16395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topics-science-and-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nOnline Religion | November 21, 2008 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A number of us started calling it "church" kind of flippantly. It feels like church. 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