From Salon.com
Religion may not survive the Internet
A slightly rambling and unfocused article, but the core question is worth asking--how will all this access to information affect religious beliefs in the next few generations.
A traditional religion, one built on “right belief,” requires a closed
information system. That is why the Catholic Church put an official seal
of approval on some ancient texts and banned or burned others. It is
why some Bible-believing Christians are forbidden to marry nonbelievers. It is why Quiverfull moms home school their kids from carefully screened text books.
Religions have spent eons honing defenses that
keep outside information away from insiders. The innermost ring wall is
a set of certainties and associated emotions like anxiety and disgust
and righteous indignation that block curiosity. The outer wall is a set
of behaviors aimed at insulating believers from contradictory evidence
and from heretics who are potential transmitters of dangerous ideas. These behaviors range from memorizing sacred texts to wearing distinctive undergarments to
killing infidels. Such defenses worked beautifully during humanity’s
infancy. But they weren’t really designed for the current information
age.
I am not so sure about these comments. You were at Calvin when I was, and during that time we were encouraged often to discern the information with Jesus Christ's example as our guide. Also, my parents never banned me from marrying a non-believer, yet they encouraged me to marry a non-believer simply because they knew how difficult marriage was even with small differences. I think a more realistic issue of the internet and religion is that it will take away from close relationships and friendships, and it will take away from congregational worship time. God's not afraid of the internet.
ReplyDeleteMy parents, to their credit, did not make a big deal out of the marrying a non-believer issue thing. But I certainly heard it a lot at Sunday school and Christian schools, so I think of it as part of the religious tradition I was brought up in. I'm glad to hear your parents didn't ban you from it, but I know other parents who did.
ReplyDeleteBut the inter-faith marriage issue is really a side issue. The main point of the article was about the Internet.
Like I said, not the best written article in the world, but I think the main point is valid. What will happen in the future is impossible to predict, but I think the Internet has definitely changed the lay of the land. I was never even exposed to a non-Christian viewpoint growing up. Now it's right at the tip of everyone's fingertips. And it's accessible. It used to be if you wanted an atheist opinion, you had to struggle to read some obscure european philosopher. Now there's stuff written in everyday language in short digestible soundbites.
To be fair to Calvin, we were encouraged to engage with stuff outside of the CRC tradition and use discernment. (But that only applies to Calvin of course. You know as well as I do that there are plenty of Christian colleges out there that don't emphasize engagement and discernment.) My Calvin philosophy professor had us read parts of "Why I'm not a Christian" by Bertrand Russell. And for years that was my only point of reference to any non-christian arguments. Granted it was partly my own fault for not seeking stuff out, but now through the Internet I've become exposed to Richard Dawkins, Bart Ehrman, Christopher Hitchens, and all sorts of other thinkers who have altered my world view.
And with youtube and other media, the Internet has made all this available to those of us who don't really read a lot. So even though I can't be bothered to read a lot of books, I can watch videos of all these atheist or agnostic thinkers now.
In short, my main point is that the Internet has made non-Christian thought much more available than it was 20 years ago. Whether that will change anything in future, or not, is still an open question
That point makes much more sense to me now, in that the non-Christian worldview is now at the fingertips of anyone with an internet connection, which is truly a new phenomenon. It will be interesting to watch how it plays out, and having kids myself, to discuss the questions and issues they will bring up. I look forward to the challenges, research, and discussions to come.
ReplyDeleteBest to amend that title to, "Religion(s) unlikely to survive the internet intact." Religions are constantly morphing in goofy, wonderful, and heinous ways -- usually all at once. So long as the religious impulse remains, religion will remain, too. And you're a "God-shaped hole" philosopher, or an evo-bio theorist, you have to admit it doesn't show any signs of disappearing.
ReplyDeleteMeant that last sentence to read: "And whether you're a ..." Did not mean to presume on anyone else's part.
ReplyDeleteI didn't make this clear originally, but I personally think the title of the article is hyperbole. Religion in some form or another will never disappear entirely, as you say. And I it's a fair bet that Christianity is going to last a long long time to come.
ReplyDeleteBut it's possible the demographics might change. Just as the enlightenment and modern science took a huge bite out of the Christian population, I wonder if the Internet might also decrease their numbers. Not overnight of course, but say in 100-150 years.