One of my original hopes for blogging was that it would foster constructive and thoughtful dialogue on the challenges facing the Christian worldview. While that has happened, there has been surprisingly little attention paid to the means by which that dialogue occurs online. Many in the Christian blogging community--myself included--have embraced new media for its obvious merits. But have we given enough thought to the ideas that undergird the tools we have embraced?
That is one of the subject I've chosen to explore in the 2008 EO/Wheatstone Academy Symposium. You can read the details (including a list of over $1300 in prizes) here. Entries will be accepted until this Friday at 11:59 p.m. EST. The question, which is intentionally worded ambiguously, is:
If the medium affects the message, how will the Christian message be affected by the new media?
If we as Christian bloggers wish to effectively communicate the Gospel, we must necessarily pause to reflect upon what a proper appropriation of the Gospel to new media looks like. I hope you will join the discussion and submit an entry.
It is also worth noting that in addition to sponsoring the symposium, Wheatstone Academy has generously offered a $150 discount to anyone who wishes to register a high schooler for their summer conferences. The promotional code is EOUT, which should be entered upon registering for the conference. Feel free to pass the word along to high schoolers, parents, pastors, or teachers who may be interested.
What a great topic! Since I converted to Christianity (from lifelong atheism) because of online research and reading, I have a lot of opinions on this subject.
Hopefully I'll be able to get an entry in!
http://evangelicalperspective.blogspot.com/2008/04/thoughts-on-effective-communication.html
Short take #1: The more democratic Protestant denominations 'fit' best with the medium... but seem to use it less for persuasion; the centralized authority of Catholicism would seem to fit less well with blogging... which makes no sense in light of the large number of really good Catholic blogs out there. Christianity has always been able to handle paradoxes. I think it can handle this one as well.
Short take #2: Is blogging any different from the one-to-one (and one-to-many) evangelism we are all called to by Christ? I think not.
Short take #3: Does blogging create community and relationships? Yes. Is Christianity all about community and relationships? Yes. Does blogging substitute for eye-contact, handshakes, tears, hugs and the sharing of the cup and the bread? No. But it certainly augments it.