Dot coms have brought more than Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to their knees. Web sites such as Buddhanet.net and Zenguide.com, Gospel.com and Godweb.org are proffering prayer, meditation techniques, inspirational readings, biblical search engines, even spiritual music (MP3s, of course), and they’re drawing faithful and curious families online. According to a December 2001 “CyberFaith” study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 21 percent of all Internet users, or about 19 million to 20 million people, have used the Web to seek spiritual or religious information. On a typical day, more than 2 million people hop on the information superhighway seeking the stuff of spirituality. Whether you’re in search of candle-lighting times for the Sabbath, mation superhighway seeking the stuff of spirituality. Whether you’re in search of candle-lighting times for the Sabbath, a Baha’i community in Boston, the symbols of Kwanzaa, a recipe for kosher kugel, a book of kiddie Bible stories or need the 15 sisters of the Carmelites of Indianapolis to light a virtual candle for you (www.praythenews.com) as about 200 visitors a day do, the Web may well be the answer to your family’s prayers.
After Sept. 11, traffic to faith-based Web sites spiked. According to Elizabeth Sams, executive producer of Beliefnet (www.beliefnet.com), one of the most highly trafficked Web sites, visitors were coming to offer prayers, participate in message board discussion threads, learn about Islam and receive spiritual guidance for responding to hate and understanding God’s role in human evil.
Although the volume certainly increased, there was little change in how visitors were using the site, Sams said.
Beliefnet’s most popular family features are articles and discussions about spanking and circumcision, “issues that contain both religious and moral components. In most articles I’ve seen elsewhere,” said Sams, “the religious aspect has been given short shrift in favor of what child psychologists say. But parents are strongly influenced by their religious traditions in making these decisions.”
Dr. Fred Kogen, a Los Angeles-based mohel (one who performs ritual circumcision during a ceremony or bris) agrees. Kogen, a graduate of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, launched his Web site, www.ebris.com, in 1998 to provide families with information about the procedure and ceremony.
“This is a unique once- or twice-in-a-lifetime experience. To do the research takes a lot of work, and many families have not investigated a mohel before the baby’s birth [a bris takes place eight days after birth]. The Internet is an ideal way of having information at your fingertips in an immediate, clear, concise, visual way.”
Ten percent to 20 percent of Kogen’s clientele found him via the Web, and he said that posting articles about the history of the ritual, details about anesthesia and suggestions for how to make the ceremony a meaningful event has “definitely helped change attitudes” of clients who initially were hesitant about the experience.
Venerable Samu Sanim, teacher and Zen master at Zen Buddhist Temple in Chicago, said that 25 percent to 35 percent of participants in the temple’s meditation courses and retreats register for programs at its Web site, www.zenbuddhisttemple.org. The temple also uses the site to post information for its non-residential seminary students studying to be Dharma teachers and Buddhist priests.
When it comes to surf or church, it’s not an either-or decision.
“The Web can be a terrific tool for enhancing spiritual search and practice, which doesn’t replace involvement in actual faith communities and spiritual groups,” said Sams of Beliefnet.
About one-third of site visitors are “firmly affiliated” with a particular faith and go to the site to explore and bolster their knowledge. Another third comes with a background and often allegiance to a particular faith but an “active curiosity” about other traditions and spiritual practices.
Smorgasbord approach
“As the Baby Boom generation ages, there seems to be a growing proportion of Americans taking something of a smorgasbord approach to religion. People who might self-identify as Christian may still explore Buddhist meditation techniques or embrace yoga as more than just another form of exercise,” Sams said.
Still another third comes to the site having rejected organized religion “for one reason or another yet are still interested in cultivating a spiritual life and are actively searching for a faith tradition or traditions they can embrace,” Sams said.
Rev. Charles Henderson, founder of the First Church of Cyberspace (www.godweb.org) in 1994 and Christianity facilitator at About.com (http://christianity.about.com), said that although there may be instances where people opt for cyberspace over traditional religious institutions, “since [the Internet] is available 24 hours, seven days a week, it becomes a supplement for those already in church and a way for those not drawn to the traditional church to get involved in a way they wouldn’t have before.
“It’s a big net plus for non-traditional religious communities,” he said.
And it’s also a challenge to traditional faith communities “to keep up with the technology and use it creatively,” Henderson added.
The Internet as a forum
Pope John Paul II sees the value. In a statement from the pontiff prepared for the 36th World Communications Day to be held on May 12, he said, “The Internet is certainly a new `forum’ understood in the ancient Roman sense of a public space…. It was a crowded and bustling urban space, which both reflected the surrounding culture and created a culture of its own. This is no less true of cyberspace…. It is important, therefore, that the Christian community think of very practical ways of helping those who first make contact through the Internet to move from the virtual world of cyberspace to the real world of Christian community.”
At Beverly Evangelical Covenant Church, Webmaster Suzanne Smith rises to the challenge by keeping the site up to date with church and ministry activities, Bible-study tools, Christian-based movie reviews for parents and information about Mothers of Pre-Schoolers, a Christian parenting group that meets at the church.
Smith estimates that about one-third of the congregation has Web access and that in the coming years, “the computer and the Web will be used much more” for family- and spirituality-related communications.
“My dad is 76, and we communicate more by e-mail now than we do by phone,” she said.
One homebound congregant keeps up with church goings-on via the Web site, Smith said. Using e-mail, she tells Smith what she would like to see on the site. Donna Brandwein, a congregant at Congregation Beth Am in Buffalo Grove, is a sign-language interpreter for the deaf. She and hearing-impaired members have found e-mail a helpful way to communicate. Brandwein also turned to the Web to locate a videotape that would teach her to sign prayers for the synagogue’s family service.
Each week clergy at the congregation distribute copies of a Web page with the Torah portion of the week and rabbinic commentary. Brandwein uses the temple Web site to check event dates and times or on occasion to download replacement permission slips for her sons’ religious school outings.
David Brandwein, 13, relied heavily on the Internet when researching Benny Goodman for his bar mitzvah project last year. His assignment was to write about a famous Jew who had “done something Jewish with his life,” David said. (He chose Goodman after learning he’d hired African-American band members–unheard of at the time–as a result of his personal experience confronting prejudice.)
A leap of faith
Still, David found instances where facts varied depending on what site they came from, not uncommon in his experience with offline research too. He did what he always does: corroborated using additional sources.
“I think you have to participate with children,” said David’s mother. “You should take a lot of what’s on the Internet with a large grain of salt. I don’t believe if it’s on the Web, it’s necessarily accurate.”
And posting inaccurate information online is easier than getting it into print, said Henderson of Godweb.org. “Anyone can publish on the Internet. I have great concerns about print, TV and radio as well. But I also think people have the ability to discern when information comes from a trusted source or some off-the-wall site.”
Does use of the Web for spiritual resources isolate family members from each other, and from the larger community? Henderson said no.
“If you have a tendency to withdraw, it could exacerbate those tendencies. You can withdraw into books or television or hobbies just as much if that’s what you want, but the Web is a medium of communication and by nature brings people together.”
Rallying support
At Beliefnet, families use e-prayer circles to rally support for sick relatives and a “Celebrations” tool to share pictures from life-cycle events such as weddings or bar mitzvahs with relatives who couldn’t attend, Sams said.
“The Web is no substitute for being together, but with today’s geographically scattered families, it can play a productive role in helping them stay in touch.”
Where the Web falls short, according to Godweb’s Henderson, is in providing a “fully realized religious experience” that includes a sense of physical presence. Singing hymns, he said, is participatory.
“You can listen to music online now, but you can’t sing [with others] like you can in church; you can’t be part of the creative process.”
Nor can fellow congregants hug you, said Smith of Beverly Evangelical Covenant Church.
“I think people need touch. We like going to church on Sunday, seeing people and being with bodies. We could probably get just as much out of a sermon on the Web, but we need the community.”
Sites with spirit
The following sites offer additional religious information.
www.Audio-Bible.com–Audio Bible: Listen to the Bible online, or purchase software for your computer.
www.Beliefnet.com–Beliefnet: One of the largest multifaith communities on the Web.
www.CatholicChild.com–Catholic Child: Site of 7-year-old educational material catalog retailer.
www.ChristianityToday.com–Christianity Today International: A Carol Stream-based communications ministry affiliated with Rev. Billy Graham.
www.Godweb.org–First Church of Cyberspace: The first virtual church, founded by Rev. Charles Henderson.
www.InterfaithAlliance.org–The Interfaith Alliance: A non-partisan, clergy-led grass-roots organization dedicated to promoting a positive role for religion in civic life.
www.IslamiCity.com–IslamiCity: Comprehensive site about Islam, with numerous links and resources.
www.Jewish.com–Jewish Community Online: Comprehensive site about Judaism, also with numerous links and resources.
http://learn.jtsa.edu/–Learn@JTS: Distance education courses taught by the Jewish Theological Seminary.
www.ReligionOnline.org–Religion Online: More than 3,000 full-text articles by recognized religious scholars.
— Kimberlee Roth
