Tuesday, January 21, 2003

We Should Be There In Chapter 8,  Sojourning With Heart,  Schultze observes: Many lonely, rootless individuals seek solace online,  particularly when they cannot find it in person. Although a digital "place" cannot possibly provide the levels of neighborliness and hospitality we need for community,  some of those surfing the cyber-diaspora do find temporary comfort there. (p.191) So my question is this:  At the very least,  is there not a "call" implied here?  Is there not a ministry in "being there",  at least for the desperate ones?  I am not so condescending toward the cyber-community seeker (as in those "lonely , rootless individuals" who go online because they are some kind of social misfits).  My expererience tells me that these "save havens" that supposedly exist in traditional communities and religious traditions that Schultze holds up as the "solutions"  have failed in so many cases,  and many of the people leaving these failed insititutions have ventured online,  and some find personal contact,  and so me do not.  Online,  failure happens, too.  It's not as simple as "most people who seek online community are lonely , rootless individuals". There's much more to it: Read on in  Too Quick to Judge 10:37:06 PM    comment []

Agree to Disagree A defense of Schultze's arguments (from Habits of the High-Tech Heart) without having to agree in "Legitimate Theological and Sociological Exploration of  Online Community" (and then I proceed to say why I don't agree) 9:00:12 AM    comment []

Online Speech Deserves More Respect In Speech vs Online Interaction,  I take issue with the suggestion in Chapter 7 of Habits of the High-Tech Heart that online is not as dialogical,  not as personal,  and not as "communal".  This seems to be the theme of Schultze's discussion of Virtual Community.  Schultze often takes up the phrase "Real Community" and usually in comparison to "Virtual Community",  which is one of my biggest peeves.  8:30:42 AM    comment []

Birds of a Feather Flock Together I remember this phrase as being used in some of the "Church Growth" books,  encouraging Churches to use some "marketing" techniques and recognize that organizations grow when they avoid too much "diversity".  In Chapter 7, Nurturing Virtue In Community,  Schultze identifies this as a tendency of cyberspace: We can talk about cyberspace as a global village, as if it unifies the world into a community,  but our actual use of cyber-technology suggest that we select our online affiliations to maximize our own narrow interests,  not to reach out beyond those interests. (p.173) Schultze suggests that Cyberspace encourages this,  which it certainly can, but this is NOT a condition of cyberspace.  It is a condition of natural "flocking",  as unhealthy and "provincial" as that may be.  As questionable as the Church Growth statement strikes me as an intentional strategy,  I also recognize that it is the practice of most Churches,  since people tend to gather with "like-minded" folks.  The responsibility to nurture diversity is as much a challenge online as it is in "traditional" gatherings.  7:51:55 AM    comment []

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