Blogs Becoming a Popular Way to Share Faith
Web logs have become very popular with more than 11 million logs online. Experts say that a significant percentage of them are religious, like Gordon Atkinsons RealLivePreacher.com.
A web log, or blog for short, is an online journal for people to share thoughts and views. Atkinson, a computer programmer and minister uses his blog to share his viewpoints on faith.
"I wanted to write very honestly and in a straightforward fashion, and it seemed like web logs would be a good way to do that," he said.
Professor Michael Zank says the growing popularity of religious blogs reflects a resurgence of spirituality in America, "Religion is back in the United States with a vengeance!"
Blogs allow users to discuss any topic without restriction, "Whether it's sports or journalism or culture or politics, everything can be connected with religion."
Jeff Sharlet, editor of The Revealer, a religious online magazine, believes that blogs are very influential and can shape religious and political debates such as the Terry Schiavo case and the clergy sex abuse scandal. I think the conservative Christian blogs did a great amount of work at convincing people that war in Iraq was a legitimate Christian option, he said.
Atkinson worries that politicians may use the power of blogs for their own agendas, but he himself will remember his identity as a Christian and continue to write about faith and life. In a recent entry, he writes about a conversation with his daughter. She's a minister's daughter, but she's struggling with her own belief in God. I wrote about that and from my heart what it was like talking to her," he said.