chloepage

//**THE FIRST CHURCH OF FACEBOOK**// //**created by Chloe Jun**// = = = **Intro****duct** **ion** = ==== These days, __**more than a third of Facebook users in the United States**__ list their religions on their profiles, and most of them are highly engaged with religious pages- commenting, "liking," and socializing. **While some religious people celebrate this new medium for outreah, others are worried that online communiy will replace face-to-face community.** ====

**Different Opinions About Online Religious Community**
====As online communities are created more and more, people begin to ask a question- //**Can** **Online Faith Communities Replace Churches**//? Let's see what kind of opinions people have! ====

**Question: Can Online Faith Communites Replace Churches?**
====**Answer #1 : online faith communities ****can't replace churches, but it can act as a supplement .** ==== ====** Main Argument : **religions flourish when they have both an inner circle of spiritual intensity and also an ability to reach those who are either physically or distant from the center. The Internet has become an indispensable tool for both types of contact. **Online religion has been a mixed blessing for congregations, denominations, and religious institutions.** ====

**Reasoning**
====A faith community's online presence tends to supplement face-to-face relationships that begin at a church. The virtual experience can entice online visitors to try the real thing in person. **Researchers say Web-based activities strengten congregations by enabling users to find like-minded believers, religion classes, opportunities for mission and service, inspirational readings and even virtual worship. Instead of reducing offline attendance, participation and final support, online communities allow congregants to augment their weekend encouters between Monday and Friday**. People can use online resources, but they still attend a real-world church. ====

**Answer #2: No, online faith communites can replace churches. **
====**Main Argument** : it is **__much less likely__** to **foster deep spiritual growth that comes only from authentic, face-to-face community** **and** **from grappling with religious teachings and disciplines that challenge our natural inclinations and religious believers whose rouge edges help us recognize and soften our own.** ==== **Reasoning** <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">**1.** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">online religious communities offer a quick hit of fellowship without the hassles that characterize bricks-and-mortar communities - the rambling sermons, the grating fellow pew-dwellers, the squabbles over everything from doctrine and liturgy to the planning of the church picnic. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**If you don't like the dogmas or moral rules on Facebook page, you can click to anther or start your own. The same thing goes for the fellow believers you encounter in virtual online faith communites. You can confide in them your deepest fears, hopes, and dreams, then unfriend them instantly if you think they are annoying**. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> On the other hand, i ** **n <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">a real-world faith community, unyoking from fellow churchgoers is rarely so neat or clean. ** <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**2.** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">"Consturcting an artifical public profile and enclosing oneslef in a sort of paraell existence." also goes for online faith communities : the same freedom commitement that makes online faith communities applealing also can make them isolating and misleading

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 200%;">**VIDEOS ABOUT RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES AND THE INTERNET**
=**Building Religious Communities Online**= [] =**Faith 2.0: Religion and the Internet**= @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytixq3-voh0 =**Religion Identity and Online Communities**= @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPETf37g9_w =**Religious Authority and Online Extremism**= @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_3a2hf3y0s =**Example of Online Religious Community**= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56TgCzMXzck = =