Net 102 Week 4 Topic 1.5 Faith and Spirituality Online.

Reading Review

van der Laan, J.M (2009). How the Internet Shapes Religious Life, or the Medium Is Itself the Message. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 29(4), 272 -277. doi:10.1177/0270467609336309.
Skim through most of this article--what we are most interested in is van der Laan's main concerns about the impact of the internet upon religion: what, according to van der Laan, is the problem with the increasing reliance of religious institutions on the internet? Do you agree with his views?

Review:

van der Laan begins with a suspicion that over a period of time internet resources have crept into the readings that he was listening to at church. van der Laan discusses in this article how religions, mainly American Protestant Christianity, are becoming more reliant on the internet for information for their sermons.    It is poignant to observe during the reading of the article a similarity to supermarket style marketing and checkout delivery of pre-written items for either a single cost or membership enrolments. Also noticing that with the expanding use of internet gathered information “enterprises redirect the interests of the churches to advertising and material success.” (van der Laan, p 274), thus the church becomes money orientated and as such gathering people but instead of delivering a message they use the congregation themselves to deliver financial support in reverse.

van der Laan continues further in the article examining telepresence and how the churches are becoming depersonalised with the installation of satellite technologies. Laans concern is “a more extensive examination of telepresence leads too far away from its focus” and that “suffice to say that presence has long been an essential of primary importance to Christians”, (van der Laan, p 274) but in that with the embodiment of satellite churches, congregations are becoming desensitised van der Laan is cynical in that “the audience needs to be no more engaged with the telepresent pastor than with a television show or movie.” (van der Laan, p 274)

He goes on to express fear that religious life has changed with the advent of the internet and that somehow Christianity has become diluted because the web has become the default source rather than a reference point for all things that are deemed important to religious worship. What may be a fundamental dishonesty is subliminally side stepped with preaching a pre fabricated message from the omnipotent computer.

van der Laan ponders if the internet is god like and that like god the World Wide Web performs miracles, an infinite amount of information at your beck and call, van der Laan suggests that “in a sense it is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.”  21^st century Christians have embraced technology and with such the church has had to embrace technology along with them.

My thoughts

Marketing, money, pre-packaged generic sermons as pre discussed, all seem to mesh together within this topic, van der Laan uses the word “insipid” to describe the involvement between all of them and from what he has written his cynicism is heavily peppered throughout the article. In this case is the internet the new “word”? Does the gospel according to the internet become the new message delivered to congregations; I will be interested to read more research on the subject.