Religious scholar asks, 鈥淗ow will we make the internet a blessing?鈥
From the printing press to the Twitter feed
The arc of Christian history bends toward greater and greater access. Think of the printing press and the Gutenberg Bible in the 1450s. Think of William Tyndale鈥檚 English translation of the Bible in the 1520s.
Think also of religion and the internet in this century.
鈥淭he internet is the most important thing to happen to religion since the printing press,鈥 said Rev. Paul Raushenbush.
Raushenbush is the Huffington Post鈥檚 senior religion editor and was Princeton鈥檚 associate dean of religious life and chapel. He came to 亚博体育app in May to deliver the Mattingly Visiting Distinguished Scholar Lecture on the internet鈥檚 impact on religion.
The printing press and the English Gospel brought tumult to the 15th and 16th centuries. (See Tyndale鈥檚 grisly fate.) And Raushenbush sees similar jostling today as the faithful and the powerful reorient to a changing digital reality.
Making the authorities nervous
As the internet cranks up access to people and information, it cranks up anxiety within established authority. 鈥淲hen authoritarian regimes feel threatened, what鈥檚 the first thing they do?鈥 Raushenbush asked. 鈥淭hey switch off the internet.鈥
The internet is the most important thing to happen to religion since the printing press.
Raushenbush looks at the internet鈥檚 power and feels both wonder and worry. 鈥淚n our smart phones, we hold the largest repository of religious information the world has ever known,鈥 he said. We can use that tool for tremendous good.
He described his experience with a family member in her last hours. With his phone, he could access Episcopal prayers for the dying. After her death, he pulled up and shared prayers for the dead. 鈥淚t allowed us to experience her death in such a different way,鈥 he said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the blessing. The curse is misinformation.鈥
A new online ethic
Google 鈥淛ew,鈥 he said, and you will find a jumble of hate speech and legitimate information. 鈥淕oogle doesn鈥檛 have an ethic,鈥 Raushenbush said. 鈥淚t has an algorithm.鈥
Those algorithms make foolishness and wisdom equally shareable. So when a pastor with a congregation of eight burned a Quran and uploaded a video, it traveled the world in seconds. And blood spilled in hours. In this way, the interplay of religion and the internet 鈥渋s a life and death issue.鈥
It鈥檚 also an issue of integrity. As full of hate and snark and misinformation as the internet is, Raushenbush also sees a budding code of virtuous conduct. 鈥淭he internet is now part of what it means to be a citizen,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think there could be an ethic of the internet, but it鈥檚 just developing.鈥 And Nebraska Wesleyan students will be among those to shape it.
鈥淲here this goes from here,鈥 he said, 鈥渋s on you.鈥