E-Vangelism
[This student blog entry is part of a PWR 2 assignment that is discussed at greater length here]
This project is for the PWR2 class, “The Rhetorics of Cultures, Subcultures, and Group Identity” at Stanford University. The greater scope of my research project is about the history of evangelism in general, but I feel my research and interest pulling me in the general direction of focusing in on the relationship between evangelists’ persona, strategies, and style on the internet compared to face-to-face evangelism. I started out knowing little about the subject, but my freshman year roommate was incredibly involved in the online evangelism community, so, being around him and then studying his work on the subject stirred genuine interest in me to do further research. My vision for the research is to investigate the relationship between the personality and strategies used in evangelizing online versus in person. My premonitions have lead my to conclude that people are more likely to be more aggressive and take more risk online and I look forward to researching this to see how true, if at all, it is.
Probably the most interesting source that I have found in my research so far is Internetevangelistday.com. My preliminary research and my initial preconceptions of evangelism in general had lead my to believe that the movement as a whole was very emotionally charged, whimsical, and sort of intangible force that would be extremely hard to transfer into internet form. This site has completely changed that view. It seems to be extremely well done the way it is put together really shows effort to utilize as many ways possible to make evangelism on-line an up-to-date, interactive experience. Looking at the print screen, some things that stand out to me is that the site is available in 6 languages other than English and has a direct link to translators. Also, there are direct links to have this page be a part of personal blogs or facebooks. Again, another rather modernized aspect of the page is the video feature of the three evangelists and the easy access sign-up box for the newsletter. Basically, this source has revealed just hoe ‘with it’ evangelism is as far as technological innovation is concerned.
***unfortunately, I have not yet figured out how to upload a print screen because it is too large so i have included a link to the website.
Comments
Great job at finding cool resources Nick. I went to the website and saw a pretty striking post "Kristi became a Christian through the internet..." It just seems so random and so intriguing how people can learn about an entire faith through the internet and without any contact with another individual at all. I think it shows that religion is becoming more individualistic and more of a personal journey rather that a sort of community involved decision that forces religion upon its members. I think it will be super interesting to see if there are differences in rhetorical strategies used more on the internet than in person when conveying such a religious message. Perhaps as you said it is easier to be more aggressive online maybe because there isn't that human element in the same sense as it would be in person. Really cool, and super excited to hear more :0)
Posted by: Yasmeen | October 23, 2007 04:06 PM
Really interesting topic! I think looking at that website is a great idea, and gives you really good insight into how this form of religion might be more appealing to a certain group of people. One cool research method I might try would be to actually talk to users on the sight--through blogs, chat, or whatever. I know for my topic, I've had some great conversation with users...and they can really tell you a lot about why they are drawn to a site. Another resource might be in the Lane reading room (the Digital collection). I was looking through there the other day and actually saw a few books on religion and the internet.
Posted by: Lillian | October 23, 2007 06:41 PM
oh and thats site, not sights... these blog things should have built in grammar check
Posted by: Lillian | October 23, 2007 06:45 PM
Really interesting research. I checked out the link that you put up, it looks like they even have videos and stuff. I agree with you that it's hard to imagine the evangelic movement could easily go online, since so much of it relies on energy and emotion (like those things on TV where you see them touching people and then passing out). What types of things are you going to compare between the two types of evangelism, i.e. the real world and the virtual evangelism? I'd like to know if they have anywhere near the success online as they do in the churches. It looks like they have a lot of multimedia here too - free music and free training videos. The training videos might be cool to check out. You should see if this site compares to the other Christian/religious sites and how they differ.
Posted by: Dan | October 24, 2007 12:09 AM
Internet Evangelism is becoming more and more popular.I think in the near future, people won't have to fellowship in churches. I checked the link and found that some stories like Chritina's are quite inticing. Is the whole idea is to convert more people to Christianity? I must say, it is quite effective. one thing you might want to address in your research is the type of audience (there still parts of the world where there are no computers). You might also consider interviewing some christian groups on campus and hear their views on this and compare it to what you have researched. One thing I noticed on the link is the use of Pathos (emotions), how genuine is it? I'm just concerned because there has been alot of controversy about the evangelists "selling anointment" and making huge profits in the name of the Lord. Anyway, this is a very interesting topic and especially that religion is raising alot of dust nowadays. The link you provided is shading more light on the topic. good resource.
Posted by: Mbali | October 24, 2007 01:07 AM
I checked out the website you mentioned, it is a very well organized and designed site. I think how people advertise their religion in today’s world is very interesting. This seems like a very peaceful official site, I think personal blogs and forums would be a good way to get a sense of the personality people adopt when they get to be anonymous online. Your topic is a very interesting one, good luck with researching it.
Posted by: Eethar | October 24, 2007 05:45 AM
Nick,
Even if you didn't include a screenshot, your source was incredibly well chosen and certainly seemed to catalyzed a lot of commentary among your readers. (As a side note, you might have run into copyright issues with posting a screen shot of a website, so it might be just as well that you didn't.)
Some of the comments you received make good points -- like Yasmeen's about how the internet is personalizing religion and moving it away from institutionalized settings (i.e. physical church structures). It might indeed be interesting to see how many online converts start to attend an actual church, and how many continue to use the internet to fuel their faith instead. Lillian's advice about talking to users also is quite on target -- and by doing so you might be able to better tap into the user end of this new faith.
Good work on the project so far!
- Christine
Posted by: Christine | November 2, 2007 10:11 AM
Hi Nick,
I found your topic really interesting. In Sweden we don't have such a strong belief as you seem to have in America. Of course we have Christians, Muslims and Jews, but it's not as "out there" as it seems to be in America and generally people seem to look down on people who believe in God. I myself is not a Christian but I'm fascinated in other peoples beliefs, and I'm really looking forward to read more about your conclusions.
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