Vatican Bans Confession Via iPhone App

huffingtonpost.com, Vatican Bans Confession Via iPhone App "Got sins? A new app for the iPhone and the iPad seeks to help Catholics prepare for confession, that sacred ritual of seeking penance for sins big and small."

Religion 2.0: Local clergy make net gains

The Capital - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX/business-video.tmcnet.com, Religion 2.0: Local clergy make net gains, 21 Nov 2010 "Today, clergy use many other innovations besides Facebook and Twitter. Everything from texting to Skyping is common, as is blogging and podcasting. Without all of them, pastors said, there's a danger of losing touch with the younger generation."

Married? Quit Facebook...

huffingtonpost.com, Rev. Cedric Miller Tells Married Couples To Quit Facebook, 17 Nov 2010

When Religion Meets New Media: New Publications in Religion and the Internet

When Religion Meets New Media: New Publications in Religion and the Internet useful links

God and Facebook: Is social networking changing religion? | ReligionLink

God and Facebook: Is social networking changing religion? | ReligionLink op-ed/links

Catholic bloggers

Rachel Zoll, AP/Washington Post, Catholic bloggers aim to purge dissenters, 24 Oct 2010

"Pressure is on to change the Roman Catholic Church in America, but it's not coming from the usual liberal suspects. A new breed of theological conservatives has taken to blogs and YouTube to say the church isn't Catholic enough."

BBC News - Google helps Dead Sea Scrolls enter internet age

BBC News, Google helps Dead Sea Scrolls enter internet age, 21 Oct 2010

"Sixty years after a shepherd happened upon the Dead Sea Scrolls, a plan aims to bring them into the internet age.

"Researchers at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), aided by scientists at Google, plan to image the 2,000-year old documents and publish them online."

The Pope's remarks on atheism and Nazis

BBC News, Daily View: The Pope's remarks on atheism and Nazis, 17 Sep 2010 bloggers' responses

Huffington Post - Religion

Let's hear it for the Huffington Post. It has some of the best coverage of contemporary religious issues, drawing from a variety of sources, with some particularly good columnists. I've pointed to several on my Facebook.

Rev. James Martin, Is Your Mother Holier Than Mother Teresa? particularly caught my attention recently.

I'm curious to know what the impact is of these online religious articles, and whether they are replacing conventional religious press? Sounds like an interesting subject for a thesis...

BBC - Rev

I've enjoyed watching episodes of 'Rev'. I'm still catching up, and haven't seen them sequentially. It's the best religiously oriented comedy I've seen since the excellent 'Little Mosque on the Prairie', and has picked up some positive reviews (including from Rowland Williams). The cast is outstanding, as is the writing (a revelation, dare I say?). International readers should point their local TV stations to Rev. UK viewers can see the full shows on iPlayer - no doubt episodes will emerge on YouTube as well... The link to this blog is that episode six has the central character responding to a poor online review of a sermon.

LA Times, Priest's "sermonettes" offer daily dose of spirituality through the iPhone

Mitchell Landsberg, LA Times, Priest's "sermonettes" offer daily dose of spirituality through the iPhone, 25 Apr 2010 "Manning, an author and television personality who has a show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, said that his early sermonettes were built around a daily reading from Scripture but that future ones will talk about the sometimes uneasy intersection of religion and science.

"He is aware, he said, that his iPhone sermons are reaching people at a time when the image of the Catholic Church is suffering from its handling of sexual abuse cases. "Very, very much so," he said. "The pain of what's going on is very, very, very deep in my own soul and heart. And I'm filled with sadness and I'm filled with deep apologies for what people have done, for what people I know have done.""

Also see GNT, Vatican Observatory Foundation iPhone App Launched Easter Sunday, 27 Apr 2010

Vatican Observatory Foundation

iTunes, Daily Sermonettes on Catholic Faith and Scripture with Fr. Mike Manning

Bishop offers salvation over Facebook

Telegraph, Bishop offers salvation over Facebook, 24 Feb 2010 "Bishop Robert Evens, of Crediton, Devon, also known as Bishop Bob, has invited anyone in need of prayer to send in their requests to him this Lent, by email or text or through the social networking website."

"Finding The Spirituality In New Media"

Steven Barrie-Anthony, Huffington Post, Finding The Spirituality In New Media, 24 Feb 2010

Get blogging, Pope tells priests

Telegraph, Get blogging, Pope tells priests, 25 Jan 2010, "Pope Benedict XVI will use his World Communications Day message in May to encourage the clergy to start blogging and using the internet and social media to connect better with their flocks. “Priests stand at the threshold of a new era,” he will say in a text entitled “The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World:New Media at the Service of the Word”. "

DDOS: from God with love

neteffect, DDOS: from God with love, 21 Oct 09 "On hearing the news that web-sites of several atheist foundations/NGOs have become victims of severe DDoS attacks, I could only think about one thing: it would be quite hard to blame these attacks on either China or Russia."

LDS Church and the net

mormontimes.com, LDS Church using the Internet to its advantage, 8 Oct 09 "There are "Mormon Messages" on YouTube, the Mormon Channel streaming online and several sites designed specifically for search engine optimization. Future offerings may include personalized online general conference journals, upgraded ward directories and content for mobile phones."

Scientology

Julian Dibbel, wired.com, The Assclown Offensive: How to Enrage the Church of Scientology, Wired 17:10 background on 4chan and campaigning techniques used against Scientology

Holy Apps

Guardian,The app economy, 29 Jul 09 discusses several religiously oriented apps for the iPhone, such as iBreviary (longer article in American Magazine on the latter app).

Internet et religion

Jean-François Mayer, Livre: Internet et religion - les enjeux d'une mutation technologique (Infolio/Religioscope)

Details on a new book (in French) on the study of religion and the internet. Some specific content in relation to Islam, and some interesting thoughts on how to approach this growing discipline. I would advise students to use this on my Studying Religions on the Internet MA module. Recommended.

Virtual Shtetl Portal

AFP, High-tech edge for Poland's Jewish history, 16 Jun 09 "The creators of Poland's future Museum of Polish Jews Tuesday in Warsaw launched the Virtual Shtetl website, a portal they hope will build the museum's collection even before its doors open in 2011.

""This portal has the potential to become the greatest source of information about Jewish life in Poland prior to the war," project creator and coordinator Albert Stankowski told reporters in Warsaw Tuesday."

See Virtual Shtetl Portal