Jesuits say take word of God to Second Life
Catholic missionaries have always trekked to dangerous parts of the Earth to spread the word of God — now they are being encouraged to go into the virtual realm of Second Life to save virtual souls.
In an article in Rome-based Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, academic Antonio Spadaro urged fellow Catholics not to be scared of entering the virtual world which may be fertile ground for new converts wishing to better themselves.
“It’s not possible to close our eyes to this phenomenon or rush to judge it,” Spadaro said. “Instead it needs to be understood … the best way to understand it is to enter it.”
The internet just got a whole lot more dangerous! No longer will the insane Christians be warning against the predators on the internet, but now the reasonable; logical; people will have to shield people from the internet so they aren’t converted by the church.
Yeah, like that would ever happen. Let’s keep religion where it’s supposed to be… buried in the pages of history.
“Is there (cyber) space for God?” Spadaro aaka in his article which says there are already virtual churches and temples serving countless religions. He quotes a Swedish Muslim who says his avatar prays regularly as he prays in real life.
Spadaro warns the uninitiated that “the erotic dimension is very present” in Second Life, that people can buy genitalia for their avatars in a world that is “open to any form of erotic stimulation from prostitution to pedophilia”.
So the Church is going to try and clean up the internet? On google there are 2,130,000 results for “Jesus Porn”; I wish them good luck!
While the virtual world might be a refuge for some people seeking to flee the real one, it is also full of people seeking something more from life, including, possibly, religious enlightenment, he said.
“Deep down, the digital world can be considered, in its way, mission territory,” he said. “Second Life is somewhere where the opportunity to meet people and to grow should not be missed, therefore, any initiative that can inspire the residents in a positive way should be considered opportune.”
I see what the Church is thinking, instead of trying to save bums holding wine bottles on the street, they are going to try to convert loners who spend all their time on second life (most of them must be drunk, like the bums, since Second Life is in no way fun)
Source: Reuters
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