I've been thinking a lot over the past few days about the intersections of religion, culture and technology. Part of this is because I'm re-reading a book called About Religion which I first read in university. It was written by a fellow named Mark C. Taylor, who's one of the minds on the cutting edge of modern religious theory (did I really just say "cutting edge of modern religious theory?"), and is a pretty dense book with a lot of word play. Basically, the book sets out to examine the pressence of religion in the inobvious places of the modern world and so talks about god in terms of economic theory, deconstructs the "death of God" theology (of Nietzsche, among others), examines the cultural nature of genetics and technological evolution and ends with Las Vegas as a sort of virtual Heaven-on-Earth. It explores, in other words, many of the same ideas I'm looking to cover in some of the fiction projects I've lined up for myself and is, in that regard, great research.
But in an interesting bit of serendipity, I've discovered two strange blends of more traditional religion with modern media in the past few days. The first is the Church of Fools which is "the UK's first web-based, 3D church." In other words, it's a java-based virtual church wherein you choose from a simple set of avatars and are free to wander around the sanctuary and crypt of a digitally created church and interact with other parishoners, ostensibly discussing religion. I tried it out for a bit and what they say on the introduction page, that "the language and behaviour in church is often colourful and occasionally offensive," is true. They have a sermon every week, too.
A bit simpler in design (which is fitting) is the virtual Zen Garden. It's exactly what you'd expect from a Zen garden: a box filled with sand, three rocks placed on top of the sand and a rake you can drag through the sand with your mouse in order to create patterns. In true zen fashion, the faster you drag the less defined the lines the rake leaves behind, so you have to be slow and mindful of the moment when experimenting.
I'd say more, but I've gone on long enough for now and I want to leave people with time to experiment. I'll save the subject of my fascination with religion for another post.
Comments (7)
so finally i have done it
http://www.livejournal.com/users/soullord/
in case you wish to drop by and say hi :)
Posted by gus | May 31, 2004 6:23 PM
Posted on May 31, 2004 18:23
gus, who are you to do that judging? i am russian, i know men and you're not man.
Posted by vasha | June 1, 2004 2:33 PM
Posted on June 1, 2004 14:33
???
Posted by Erik (the roommate) | June 1, 2004 3:52 PM
Posted on June 1, 2004 15:52
Uhm... Vasha? I'm not sure what you're driving at, but Gus didn't say anything, either here or on his newly-established LiveJournal, that was judgemental. I hope I've misunderstood what you said, as it looked like you were insulting my friend, and that's behavior I'd rather not see around here.
Gus - congrats on joining the blogosphere! I'll have a link up to your site by the morning!
Posted by Jason | June 1, 2004 5:33 PM
Posted on June 1, 2004 17:33
errrr did i write something even remotely ofensive? if so please do tell me so i can correct it
*a confused gus*
Posted by gus | June 1, 2004 6:57 PM
Posted on June 1, 2004 18:57
i am sorry boys. i am just so lonely. this country is make me crazy!!!!!!!
Posted by vasha | June 2, 2004 5:29 PM
Posted on June 2, 2004 17:29
It's cool, Vasha. No harm, no foul.
Posted by Jason | June 2, 2004 10:38 PM
Posted on June 2, 2004 22:38