Here some selected comments from other blogs regarding my get-it-dot-com commentary.
"Doesn't this tech stuff mostly appeal just to the urban/suburban
upwardly-mobile types? What initiatives are there for rural folks,
technological illiterates, and people too poor to use the latest tech?"
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"Well, don't people who like technology need God's salvation too?
I don't imagine the Church will suddenly stop evangelising luddites and country-folk."
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"I've been a web developer for over a decade, but I simply cannot get
excited over the Church getting supposedly "tech-saavy". The preaching
of the Gospel still involves human relationships to be most effective,
and there is still nothing better for that than actually, you know,
talking to people and getting to know them. Blogs, texting, IM'ing or
emailing will simply never meet the effectiveness in evangelization as direct human contact. I guess I'm becoming a Luddite."
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"Blogs, texting, IM'ing or emailing will simply never meet the effectiveness in evangelization as direct human contact." - "In some sense, you're quite right, --and may I just say that
while I tend to think combox-attack-style evangelization has a lot in
common with people who ring random doorbells to proselytize, it's a lot
easier to shut a virtual door than a real one.
That said, though, the very anonymity and self-directed pace of
Internet sites can be an aid to someone who would really like to know
what the Church teaches about A or B, but doesn't particularly want to
saunter into the local Catholic church and start asking
questions--perhaps because he hasn't yet reached the point where he'd
be comfortable with that. Reaching people where they are is something
the Church is usually rather good at doing, so why not have a presence
on the Internet too?"
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"Yes, it does have appeal. But we should be careful not to restrict
ourselves to a Catholic enclave and ignore the world - it needs
evangelizing, and having videos on YouTube can't hurt."
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"Catholicism is always behind. That is what is cool about Catholicism.
When we get tired of the latest thing, Catholicism is always there.
That's not to say that Catholics shouldn't embrace new media, but they
shouldn't get panicky about it. Just keep celebrating Mass and
proclaiming the historic truths of the Faith. People will be drawn to
that."
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