We're Not THAT Important

The Sheep's Crib links to this startling claim:

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What would Jesus blog? This was among the questions considered by a conference of God bloggers in California at the weekend, which heralded their growing numbers as potentially the most important development in the spread of Christianity since the Gutenberg printing press began churning out bibles in the 15th century.

The three-day gathering at Biola University brought together around 135 Christian bloggers to discuss topics ranging from their relationship with the traditional church to their growing influence on mainstream politics....

Joe Carter, author of evangelicaloutpost.com and one of the delegates at the conference, compared Christian blogging to the 95 Theses said to have been posted by Martin Luther on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg nearly 500 years ago that launched the Protestant Reformation in Europe. "It's like putting 95 blogs out there," said Mr Carter, who added that God bloggers offer an "uncensored and unadulterated" view of contemporary Christian thought on politics and organised religion.

Some commentators believe the growth of religious blogs will have political ramifications in the US. Christian conservatives make up the Republican "base" that was primarily responsible for putting George Bush in the White House, and the God blogging phenomenon could make them an even more effective political force. It is "certainly going to be [of] more benefit to Republicans than Democrats", Carol Darr, director of George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, told Fox News....

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Sorry, but I have to disagree with this on two counts.

First, Christian blogging is not the "most important development in the spread of Christianity since the Gutenberg printing press began churning out bibles in the 15th century." Blogging has nowhere near the level of influence as, say, television, both for religious and secular purposes. Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Dr. Gene Scott, and the rest have reached far more people via television than blogging has, and in a secular perspective, how did Carol Darr's statement get out to the world? That's right, via a television news channel.

Second, Darr's statement isn't necessarily correct. First, you need to differentiate between Christian bloggers and non-Christian bloggers who appeal to a similar crowd. Second, you have to realize that there are Christian bloggers who DON'T appeal to the same crowd. Such as Heart, Soul & Humor:

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My family has experienced overcrowding in schools, hospital emergency rooms and local court rooms. We have our English language regarded as foreign (or incomprehensible) in many parts of our area. We hear rumors of a Mexican Mafia and drug deals, violence and shootings. We're innundated with messages of the inconvenience, the economic loss and the broad-brush ethnic stereotypes of immigration.

But I've never understood the other side. And truthfully, I'm unclear on what the Bible says about illegal immigration. So I'm presently reading...listening.....dialoging...

I tell you all this because I want to share with you something I read today that spoke...actually, screamed...to me. It's a fragment of an article by Dr. Daniel Groody, Associate Professor of Theology at Notre Dame University and a director at Notre Dame's Center for Latino Studies.

"According to Judeo-Christian scriptures, immigration is not simply a sociologial fact, but also a theological event. God revealed His covenent to His people as they were in the process of immigrating.

"This covenant was a gift and responsibility; it reflected God's goodness to them, but also called them to respond to newcomers in the same way Yahweh responded to them in their slavery: 'So you too must befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.' (Deuteronomy 10:19)...."

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While the religious left is not as visible as the religious right, neither is the religious right as visible as the secular right. For example, a recent ranking of the most popular political websites included that great defender of the Christian faith, The Drudge Report, in the number one position. The first two sites with overtly religious names are the Christian Science Monitor (11) and the Jewish World Review (16). (I assume that Mother Jones, number 38, is some Catholic nun or sumfin.) (Yes, I'm joking.)

From the Ontario Empoblog