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<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<DIV>I don’t know, Scott. I can’t even imagine what kind of rebranding the
SBC could do to entice me back into the fold. Interesting article, though.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sue H. </DIV>
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style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=scooterd408@hotmail.com
href="mailto:scooterd408@hotmail.com">Scott Dredge</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, January 19, 2013 7:03 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=art.deco.studios@gmail.com
href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</A> ; <A
title=vision2020@moscow.com href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">viz</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Religion may not survive the
Internet</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">
<DIV dir=ltr>Religion will survive the internet. It'll just be more
personal / individualistic rather than gullible masses being part of 'The
Borg'.<BR><BR>
<DIV>
<DIV id=SkyDrivePlaceholder></DIV>
<HR id=stopSpelling>
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:13:42 -0500<BR>From: art.deco.studios@gmail.com<BR>To:
vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Subject: [Vision2020] Religion may not survive the
Internet<BR><BR>
<DIV dir=ltr><SPAN class=ecx><SPAN class=ecx>Wednesday, Jan 16, 2013 11:30 AM
EST</SPAN> </SPAN>
<H1><A class=ecx
href="http://www.salon.com/2013/01/16/religion_may_not_survive_the_internet/"
target=_blank>Religion may not survive the Internet </A></H1>
<H2>There's a reason churches are struggling to maintain membership, and it has
nothing to do with Neil deGrasse Tyson </H2><SPAN class=ecx>By <A class=ecx
href="http://www.salon.com/writer/valerie_tarico/" rel=author
target=_blank>Valerie Tarico</A>, <A class=ecx href="http://www.alternet.org/"
target=_blank>Alternet</A></SPAN>
<P class=ecx>Topics: <A class=ecx href="http://www.salon.com/topic/alternet"
target=_blank>AlterNet</A>, <A class=ecx
href="http://www.salon.com/topic/religion" target=_blank>Religion</A>, <A
class=ecx href="http://www.salon.com/topic/neil_degrasse_tyson"
target=_blank>Neil degrasse Tyson</A>, <A class=ecx
href="http://www.salon.com/topic/atheism" target=_blank>Atheism</A>, <A
class=ecx href="http://www.salon.com/topic/internet" target=_blank>Internet</A>,
<A href="http://www.salon.com/category/politics/" rel=tag target=_blank>Politics
News</A> </P>
<DIV class=ecx><A class=ecx title="Religion may not survive the Internet"
href="http://media.salon.com/2013/01/shutterstock_124709164.jpg"
target=_blank><IMG title="Religion may not survive the Internet"
alt="Religion may not survive the Internet"
src="http://media.salon.com/2013/01/shutterstock_124709164.jpg"><SPAN
class=ecx>Enlarge</SPAN></A><SPAN class=ecx> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=ecx>This article originally appeared on <A
href="http://www.alternet.org" target=_blank>AlterNet</A>. </DIV><A
href="http://www.alternet.org" target=_blank><IMG alt=AlterNet align=left
src="http://images.salon.com/img/partners/ID_alternetInline.jpg"></A> As we head
into a new year, the guardians of traditional religion are ramping up efforts to
keep their flocks—or, in crass economic terms, to retain market share.
Some Christians have turned to <A
href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/annanorth/are-young-evangelicals-sick-of-sexual-politics"
target=_blank>soul searching</A> while others have turned to marketing. Last
fall, the LDS church spent millions on billboards, bus banners, and Facebook ads
touting “I’m a Mormon.” In Canada, the Catholic Church has launched a “<A
href="http://www.catholicscomehome.org/" target=_blank>Come Home</A>” marketing
campaign. The Southern Baptists Convention voted to <A
href="http://awaypoint.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/oops-rebranding-of-southern-baptists-reveals-more-than-intended/"
target=_blank>rebrand themselves</A>. A <A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/magazine/11punk-t.html?_r=0"
target=_blank>hipster mega-church</A> in Seattle combines smart advertising with
sales force training for members and a strategy the Catholics have emphasized
for centuries: competitive breeding.<BR>
<DIV class=ecx>
<DIV>In October of 2012 the Pew Research Center <A
href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/09/us-usa-religion-unaffiliated-idUKBRE89813G20121009"
target=_blank>announced</A> that for the first time ever Protestant Christians
had fallen below 50 percent of the American population. Atheists cheered and
evangelicals beat their breasts and lamented the end of the world as we know it.
Historian of religion, Molly Worthen, has since <A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/opinion/sunday/american-christianity-and-secularism-at-a-crossroads.html?_r=0"
target=_blank>offered</A> big picture insights that may dampen the most extreme
hopes and fears. Anthropologist <A
href="http://www.jenniferjames.com/introduction/index.htm"
target=_blank>Jennifer James</A>, on the other hand, has called fundamentalism
the “death rattle” of the Abrahamic traditions.<BR>In all of the frenzy, few
seem to give any recognition to the player that I see as the primary hero, or,
if you prefer, culprit—and I’m not talking about science populizer and atheist
superstar <A
href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/12855.Neil_deGrasse_Tyson"
target=_blank>Neil deGrasse Tyson</A>. Then again, maybe Iam talking about Tyson
in a sense, because in his various viral guises—as a <A
href="http://www.uproxx.com/music/2012/12/watch-neil-degrasse-tyson-and-wu-tang-clans-gza-talk-science-music-philosophy/"
target=_blank>talk show host</A> and <A
href="https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/253680452240547840"
target=_blank>tweeter</A> and as <A
href="http://www.webpronews.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-talks-about-being-a-meme-2012-03"
target=_blank>the face</A> on scores of smartass Facebook memes—Tyson is an
incarnation of the biggest threat that organized religion has ever faced: the
internet.<BR>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 <A href="http://bible.cc/2_corinthians/6-14.htm"
target=_blank>are forbidden</A> to marry nonbelievers. It is why <A
href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nolongerquivering/about/"
target=_blank>Quiverfull</A> moms home school their kids from carefully screened
text books. It is why, when you get sucked into conversations with your
fundamentalist uncle George from Florida, you sometimes wonder if he has some
superpower that allows him to magically close down all avenues into his mind.
(<A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deqPVE5KmtM&list=UUuff10A6JeheV__mso67QdA&index=1"
target=_blank>He does</A>!)<BR>Religions have spent eons honing <A
href="http://awaypoint.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/christian-belief-through-the-lens-of-cognitive-science-part-6-of-8/"
target=_blank>defenses</A> 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 <A
href="http://awaypoint.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/are-mormon-underwear-magic-between-the-sheets/"
target=_blank>distinctive undergarments</A> to killing infidels. Such defenses
worked beautifully during humanity’s infancy. But they weren’t really designed
for the current information age.<BR>Tech-savvy mega-churches may have twitter
missionaries, and Calvinist cuties may make viral videos about how Jesus worship
isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship, but that doesn’t change the facts: the
free flow of information is really, really bad for the product they are selling.
Here are five kinds of web content that are like, well, like electrolysis on
religion’s hairy toes.<BR><STRONG>Radically cool science videos and
articles.</STRONG> Religion evokes some of our most deeply satisfying
emotions: joy, for example, and transcendence, and wonder. This is what
Einstein was talking about when he said that “science without religion is lame.”
If scientific inquiry doesn’t fill us at times with delight and even speechless
awe at new discoveries or the mysteries that remain, then we are missing out on
the richest part of the experience. Fortunately, science can provide all of the
above, and certain masters of the trade and sectors of the internet are
remarkably effective at evoking the wonder—the spirituality if you will—of the
natural world unveiled. Some of my own favorites include <A
href="http://www.symphonyofscience.com/videos.html" target=_blank>Symphony of
science</A>, <A href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/" target=_blank>NOVA</A>, <A
href="http://www.ted.com/" target=_blank>TED</A>, <A
href="http://www.thersa.org/events/video/animate/rsa-animate-the-power-of-networks"
target=_blank>RSA Animate</A>, and <A
href="http://birdnote.org/show/shorebirds-not-shore"
target=_blank>Birdnote</A>.<BR>It should be no surprise that so many
fundamentalists are determined to take down the whole scientific endeavor. They
see in science not only a critic of their outdated theories but a competitor for
their very best product, a sense of transcendent exuberance. For
millennia, each religion has made an exclusive claim, that it alone had the
power to draw people into a grand vision worth a lifetime of devotion. Each
offered the assurance that our brief lives matter and that, in some small way,
we might live on. Now we are getting glimpses of a reality so beautiful and so
intricate that it offers some of the same promise. Where will the old tribal
religions be if, in words of Tracy Chapman, we all decide that <A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYcJ9J5DggU" target=_blank>Heaven’s here on
earth</A>?<BR><STRONG>Curated Collections of Ridiculous Beliefs.</STRONG>
Religious beliefs that aren’t yours often sound silly, and the later in life you
encounter them the more laughable they are likely to sound. Web writers are
after eyeballs, which means that if there’s something ridiculous to showcase
then one is guaranteed to write about it. It may be a nuanced exposé or a
snarky list or a flaming meme, but the point, invariably, is to call attention
to the <A
href="http://awaypoint.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/test-your-knowledge-of-wild-weird-and-outright-wacky-american-religious-beliefs/"
target=_blank>stuff that makes you roll your eyes</A>, shake your head in
disbelief, laugh, and then hit Share.<BR><STRONG>The Kinky, Exploitative,
Oppressive, Opportunistic and Violent Sides of Religion. </STRONG>Of course, the
case against religion doesn’t stop at weird and wacky. It gets nasty, sometimes
in ways that are titillating and sometimes in ways that are simply dark. The
Bible is full of <A
href="http://awaypoint.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/captive-virgins-polygamy-sex-slaves-what-marriage-would-look-like-if-we-actually-followed-the-bible/"
target=_blank>sex slavery, polygamy and incest</A>, and these are catalogued at
places like <A href="http://www.evilbible.com/"
target=_blank>Evilbible.com</A>. Alternately, a student writing about
holidays can find a <A
href="http://www.thanksgivingnovember.com/the-first-thanksgiving-proclamation.html"
target=_blank>proclamation</A> in which Puritans give thanks to God for the
burning of Indian villages or an interview on the mythic origins of the
Christmas story. And if the Catholic come home plea sounds a little
desperate, it may well be because the <A
href="http://awaypoint.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/%ef%bb%bfeight-ugly-sins-the-catholic-bishops-hope-lay-members-and-others-wont-notice/"
target=_blank>sins of the bishops</A> are getting hard to cover up. On the
net, whatever the story may be, someone will be more than willing to expose
it.<BR><STRONG>Supportive communities for people coming out of religion.
</STRONG>With or without the net (but especially with it) believers sometimes
find their worldview in pieces. Before the internet existed most people who lost
their faith kept their doubts to themselves. There was no way to figure out who
else might be thinking forbidden thoughts. In some sects, a doubting member may
be shunned, excommunicated, or “disfellowshipped” to ensure that doubts don’t
spread. So, doubters used keep silent and then disappear into the surrounding
culture. Now they can create websites, and today there are as many communities
of former believers as there are kinds of belief. These communities range from
therapeutic to <A href="http://ffrf.org/" target=_blank>political</A>, and they
cover the range of sects: <A href="http://new.exchristian.net/"
target=_blank>Evangelical</A>, <A href="http://www.exmormonfoundation.org/"
target=_blank>Mormon</A>, <A
href="http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/jehovahs-witness-experiences.php"
target=_blank>Jehovah’s Witness</A>, and <A href="http://ex-muslim.org.uk/"
target=_blank>Muslim</A>. There’s even a web home for <A
href="http://www.clergyproject.org/" target=_blank>recovering clergy</A>.
Heaven help the unsuspecting believer who wanders into one of these sites and
tries to tell members in recovery that they’re all bound for
hell.<BR><STRONG>Lifestyles of the fine and faithless.</STRONG> When they emerge
from the recovery process former Christians and Muslims and whatnot find that
there’s a whole secular world waiting for them on the web. This can be a
lifesaver, literally, for folks who are trapped in closed religious communities
on the outside. On the web, they can explore lifestyles in which people
stay surprisingly decent and kind without a sacred text or authority figures
telling them what to do. In actuality, since so much of religion is about social
support (and social control) lots of people skip the intellectual arguments and
exposes, and go straight to building a new identity based in a new social
network. Some web resources are specifically aimed creating alternatives to
theism, for example, <A href="http://harvardhumanist.org/good-without-god/"
target=_blank>Good without God</A>, <A href="http://parentingbeyondbelief.com/"
target=_blank>Parenting Beyond Belief</A>, or <A
href="http://foundationbeyondbelief.org/mission" target=_blank>The Foundation
Beyond Belief</A>.<BR></DIV><STRONG>Interspiritual Okayness. </STRONG>This might
sound odd, but one of the threats to traditional religion is <A
href="http://www.worldprayers.org/" target=_blank>interfaith communities</A>
that focus on shared spiritual values. Many religions make exclusive truth
claims and see other religions as competitors. Without such claims, there is no
need for evangelism, missionaries or a set of doctrines that I call donkey
motivators (ie. carrots and sticks) like heaven and hell. The web showcases the
fact that humanity’s bad and good qualities are <A
href="http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm"
target=_blank>universal</A>, spread across cultures and regions, across both <A
href="http://religioustolerance.org/" target=_blank>secular and religious wisdom
traditions</A>. It offers reassurance that we won’t lose the moral or
spiritual dimension of life if we outgrow religion, while at the same time
providing the <A href="http://www.wisdomcommons.org/" target=_blank>means to
glean</A> what is truly timeless and wise from old traditions. In doing so, it
inevitably reveals that the limitations of any single tradition alone.
The Dalai Lama, who has lead interspiritual dialogue for many years made
waves recently by saying as much: “All the world’s major religions, with their
emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness can and do
promote inner values. But the reality of the world today is that grounding
ethics in religion is no longer adequate. This is why I am increasingly
convinced that the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality
and ethics beyond religion altogether.”<BR>The power of interspiritual dialogue
is analogous to the broader power of the web in that, at the very heart it is
about people finding common ground, exchanging information, and breaking through
walls to find a bigger community waiting outside. Last year, Jim Gilliam,
founder of Nationbuilder, gave a talk titled, “<A
href="http://www.internetismyreligion.com/" target=_blank>The Internet is My
Religion</A>.” Gilliam is a former fundamentalist who has survived two bouts of
cancer thanks to the power of science and the internet. His existence today has
required a bone marrow transplant and a double lung transplant organized in part
through social media. Looking back on the experience, he speaks with the same
passion that drove him when he was on fire for Jesus:<BR>
<DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>I owed every moment of my life to countless people I would never
meet. Tomorrow, that interconnectedness would be represented in my own
physical body. Three different DNAs. Individually they were useless, but
together they would equal one functioning human. What an incredible debt to
repay. I didn’t even know where to start. And that’s when I truly found God.
God is just what happens when humanity is connected. Humanity connected is
God.<BR></BLOCKQUOTE>The Vatican, and the Mormon Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
and the Southern Baptist Convention should be very worried.<BR></DIV></DIV><BR
clear=all><BR>-- <BR>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</A><BR><BR><IMG
src="http://users.moscow.com/waf/WP%20Fox%2001.jpg"><BR></DIV><BR>=======================================================
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