[comments and suggestions? Please send mail to: cmess@lib.drury.edu]
[While not directly addressed to issues of communication - a recent article by W. Wayt Gibbs in the July, 1997, issue of Scientific American throws a considerable cold shower on more enthusiastic claims regarding computing technologies. I've posted both a briefer summary and a longer collection of notes. This same issue profiles Michael Dertouzos, and his attacks on "Five Myths of the Information Age" - beginning with the first myth, "Information Technology will close the gap between the rich and poor" - are a useful counterpoint to more enthusiastic predictions about IT, especially from the standpoint of prophetic concerns with social justice.]
The following are Internet sites I've encountered which helpful and/or are sometimes simply interesting for various reasons. This represents a "working notebook" for research purposes - it is not intended as a reference site as such.
"ECUNET is a global community where computer novices and experts feel right athome. Designed for religion professionals and volunteers, Ecunet is an international electronic meeting place where lay and clergy alike join in online conversations on a variety of topics..." ECUNET is only partially available via the Internet and the Web, but it brings together many of the more mainstream-to-liberal denominations - ca. 8,000 members, with Presbyterians and Episcopalians/Anglicans as the largest denominational groups.
For theological and philosophical reflections on all of this, see my Prophetic Communities Online? (A brief version of this article has appeared in The Disciple, June, 1997, under the title, "We're online, but are we in touch?" pp. 2-5)
Charles Henderson, the Presbyterian minister who founded the First Church of Cyberspace, has written "The Emerging Faith Communities of Cyberspace" in the March, 1997, issue of CMC Magazine. The First Church of Cyberspace (http://www.execpc.com/~chender/index1.html) seems to deserve its title: it's extensive, sophisticated, and apparently helpful to lots of "spiritual surfers"... Its list of online resources is also first-rate.
Disciples (shorthand for members of the Christian Church [Disciples of Christ)]) will be interested in seeing the national church's home page (<http://www.disciples.org/>)
The Disciples also have an e-mail discussion list. If you want to subscribe, send e-mail to: <listserv@tcubvm.is.tcu.edu>. In the first line of the message type: subscribe docdisc yourname
Missouri Disciples might be interested in seeing the Webster Groves Christian Church home page (http://Walden.MVP.Net/~wgcc/).
[The Goshen(http://www.goshen.net/) server maintains a list of "Other Denominational & Ministry Pages"]
An impressive use of available multi-media technology in a web site - and, oh yes, they have some good introductory information concerning religion on the Web - is Time's "godcom" site, (http://www.time.com/godcom) affiliated with their article "Finding God on the Web," Dec. 16, 1996.
IF you're looking for a reference site - by far the most extensive, well-organized site I've found so far is "Comparative Religion :A Directory of Internet Resources for the Academic Study of Religion" <http://weber.u.washington.edu/d36/madin/CRELIG1.HTML>. It also serves as an extensive "center" from which to start one's exploration of the web.
The "Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance" maintain an interesting site <http://web.canlink.com/ocrt/ocrt_hp.htm> which provides links to "49 religions and ethical systems," religious news, spiritual topics, "not so spiritual" topics, religiously "hot" topics, utility sites, and "other stuff." Very much worth exploring!
"For more information on organizations using the Internet for social justice, contact the Institute for Global communication, home of PeaceNet, WomensNet, LaborNet, and other activist networks. Its web address is http://www.igc.org" - Gisele-Audrey Mills, "Cyber-Activism: How social-justice organizations use the Internet," The Other Side (May/June 1997), 26. (This issue of The Other Side contains an excellent collection of articles, articulating a wide range of perspectives, under the collective title "Wired for the Future? Keeping Faith in the Electronic Age."
[While not directly religious, Noam Chomsky's recent interview in Geek Girl makes a number of points parallel to my own concerning the complex (he calls it double edged) relationship between communications technologies and the prophetic interest in liberation, equality, and democracy. Folks interested in social justice issues and liberation theology will especially want to note his anecdote about keeping in touch with his daughter in Nicaragua in the early 1980's via the ARPANET (predecessor to BITNET and the Internet).]
[Is your computer the appliance from hell?
Sometimes. When looking at a recent "list of lists" on religion <http://www.more.net/resources/web_resources/philosop.htm> - I tried three of the sites listed under Judaism. One site was inaccessible because the server was too busy to accept connections; the second site could not be found; and clicking on the address for the third site resulted in a "couldn't open gopher directory" error message.
Especially as the Web gets more and more overloaded, beyond the phenomenon of the "World Wide Wait" as connections and downloads slow WAAAAAAY DOWWWWNNNNN - sites simply seem to disappear. One recent afternoon I tried connecting to Netscape - only to be told that it had no DNS entry and thus, as far as the Internet was concerned, Netscape Communications didn't exist! Equally amusing is to type in the address of one's own institution, while sitting comfortably in one's office - which resides on the same floor as our institution's web server - and be told that it doesn't exist either. Perhaps philosophers and theologians are attracted to computers and CMC because, despite its robustly materialistic manifestations - metal, plastic, electrical connections, print-outs, images, etc. - there is a spooky, metaphysical feel to the way things actually work - and don't work...]
At this same site, this Morenet (Missouri Internet) site provies only four listings for Christianity:
Theology 100 Online Glossary <http://www.nd.edu/~jvanderw/theo100/glossary.htm> is a glossary of over 400 terms for beginning study of the Christian and Hebrew Scriptures and other ancient texts.
Catholic Resources on the Net <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/Web/People/spok/catholic.html> Liturgy, Scriptures, Church Documents, Classic Catholic-related books, info on Saints and History and Culture
Guide to Early Church Documents -<http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/christian-history.html> Contains pointers to files relating to the early church, including canonical documents, creeds, the writings of the Apostolic Fathers and other texts relavant to church history.
The Hypertext Bible (KJV) <http://saturn.colorado.edu:8080/Christian/KJV/kjv.html > A complete online bible that is also subject searchable.
The Highplaces web site <http://scholar.cc.emory.edu/scripts/highplaces.html> is a bit more extensive and helpful - though still, by no means complete. (For a recent review of the printed book, see Computers & Texts 14 (1997), 21 - also available online)
As might be expected, the Web is fairly densely populated by Christians of a more evangelical bent (the Web is an ideal place in which to evangelize!). Some examples which turned up while looking for Presbyterian and other resources...
GOSHEN (Global Online Service Helping Evangelize Nations) : http://www.goshen.net/
GOSHEN is produced by Media Management. The central purpose of GOSHEN is to provide information and access to Christian resources at an extensive, organized and searchable location on the World Wide Web (WWW). This is accomplished through the Internet Christian Resource Directory, GoSearch, and hosting domains for churches, ministries, and individuals around the world.
Their statement of faith:
We subscribe to the National Association of Evangelicals Statement of Faith as follows:
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
- We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
- We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
- We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
(for more on the National Association of Evangelicals, see: http://nae.goshen.net/values/values1.html)
*** The Gospel Communications Network --> http://www.gospelcom.net -- a consortium of some 60-70 parachurch ministries, all of the evangelical persuasion
*** The Society for International Missions --> http://www.sim.org -- a great site that includes a list of various mission organizations on the web (traditional, denominational and relief missions).
*** CrossSearch --> http://www.crosssearch.com -- a Christian search engine, like Goshen.
Andrew Careaga, "Pastors in Cyberspace," Ministries Today , January-February 1997 : http://www.ministriestoday.com/stories/mf197105.htm
"Christian Cyberspace Companion" - is both an on-line database and search service (affiliated with Baker Book House) [http://www.best.com/~nodakid/church.html] and the name of a "how-to" book by Jason D. Baker, described as follows:
What is Christian Cyberspace Companion?
Subtitled A Guide to the Internet and Christian Online Resources, CCC is a handbook for Christians using the Internet.
It sounds awfully technical, can a beginner like me understand CCC?
My desire was to write a book for the non-technie to help him/her to discover the Internet. For most of us, getting on the Internet is a cross-cultural experience. In the book I try to be your tour guide and help you make sense of this new culture. From buying your first computer to choosing an online provider, from sending electronic mail overseas to reading Christian magazines on the World Wide Web, CCC is written to help you make the leap into the online world.
The Center for the Advancement of Paleo Orthodoxy [http://capo.org/], "wholly supported by the Session of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, TN." Taking as its motto, "nihil sub sole novum" [there is nothing new under the sun], the Center is self-described as follows:
In early 1994 an insightful Board conceived, funded, prepared, and launched the first evangelical think tank on the World Wide Web, a service that is . . .
In terms of human thought, we agree with Solomon: Nihil novum sub sole ("There is nothing new under the sun.")
With a consortium of 7 distinct think tanks, a monthly award-winning journal, numerous electronic publishings, and a publishing arm,and an online bookstore, this center combines the best of modern technology with proven truth.
The Center for the Advancement of Paleo Orthodoxy is a distinctively biblical and historic consortium of networked think tanks, publications, and scholars. The purpose of the Center, located in Oak Ridge TN, is to shed ancient biblical light on modern issues. Admidst the demise of modernity and postmodernism, CAPO is unconvinced that all earlier thinkers should automatically be excluded from modern discussions, as if moderns are inherently and categorically superior.
Journal of Biblical Ethics in Medicine [http://capo.org/jbem/intro_pa.htm - part of the CAPO site]:
Welcome to the Journal of Biblical Ethics in Medicine for Physicians, Pastors, Health Care Professionals, and other Concerned Christians. The Mission of the Journal of Biblical Ethics in Medicine is to develop a medical ethic grounded solely on the Scriptures.
An index of back issues runs from 1987 to 1992 Not surprisingly, the articles hold to an evangelical viewpoint - which, in this instance, means "socially conservative" (in contrast with the more socially liberal versions of evangelical Christianity exemplified by Sojourners, The Other Side, etc.)