eChurch Blog

There has been a significant and interesting shift on Facebook.

The number one interacted Facebook page this past week – which has pushed the ever popular Justin Bieber into second place – is The Bible, with a staggering 6,707,820 fans and 905,125 interactions this week.

Additionally, the Facbook pages: Jesus Christ and Jesus Daily, are in positions 8 & 9 respectively.

The rise in engagement rates with certain religious pages on Facebook is thought to reflect the time of year, namely, the approach of Easter and Passover.

Let’s cut through the guff, the burqa is awful. It’s unsociable, intimidating, and segregating, and frankly alien to British sensibilities. Is this however, a sound enough reason to ban it?

I’m not so sure.

Hot on the heels of the French Burqa ban the British Religion in Numbers website has revealed that according to a recent survey, some two-thirds of Britons would like to see the burqa banned:

Here’s a breakdown of the survey:

Following an introductory explanation of what a burka is, respondents were asked whether they thought the garment should be banned in Britain. 40% agreed strongly that it should be and a further 26% agreed. The combined percentage of 66% compared with 67% on 14-15 July 2010, when YouGov first asked the question. 27% disagreed with a ban, while 7% expressed no opinion.

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None of this surprises me as I believe that – whether folk would openly admit this or not – most Britons view the Burqa as deeply anti-social, constituting a very visible rejection of the society in which the wearer resides.

However, I’m not entirely sure what unnerves me most, the full face veil, or the secular law which seeks to impose itself upon religiosity.

I am no fan of the face-veil, and think it is alien to our culture and history. But then I am not a fan of the path down which contemporary society is walking, either. And I think it unlikely that any state power that felt compelled to outlaw the face-veil would stop at just the face-veil; it would very soon find other dissenting voices, too.

Put simply, is this a dangerous precedent? Could illiberal laws sweeping across Europe potentially gain traction and move on to other perceived “threats”, to wit, Christian “threats” perhaps?

This following list draws from 85,000 tweets from March 7-10, 2011, and excludes retweets:

1.     Twitter
2.     Facebook
3.     Chocolate
4.     Swearing
5.     Alcohol
6.     Sex
7.     Soda
8.     Lent
9.     Meat
10.  Fast food
11.   Sweets
12.   Giving up things
13.   School
14.   Religion
15.   Coffee
16.   You
17.   Social networking
18.   Chips
19.   Junk food
20.   Bread
21.    Smoking
22.   Candy
23.   Charlie Sheen
24.   Work
25.   Stuff
26.   Catholicism
27.   Food
28.   Shopping
29.   Marijuana
30.   Beer

Click here to view the top 100.

Well, things are moving apace.

Since posting yesterday on the Reluctant Sinner’s proposal for a ‘Guild of Catholic Bloggers’, the Catholic Herald has picked up on this and published an article, as well as the first planning meeting arranged for the 7th May.

The following is from the Reluctant Sinner:

From all the responses and emails I’ve now received in connection with Monday’s post (A Guild of Catholic Bloggers – what do you think?), it seems that the launching of a Guild of Catholic Bloggers might actually be a realistic possibility! There appears to be a need for some sort of mutual aid society for those Catholics (and Anglo-Catholics) who use the new media to converse with the world. Catholic bloggers are now leading the way when it comes to on-line evangelisation, promotion of the faith and apologetics – so it is probably important for us to be able to meet other bloggers in person, discuss ideas over meals or at workshops, and worship together every now and again. It would also be good for us to be inspired by spiritual conferences, invite priests or bishops to address us, and encourage one another face-to-face (blogging, after all, can be a lonely affair!)

Seeing that many of you have offered to help set up a Guild of Catholic Bloggers, I have now booked a place in central London for the purpose of holding an informal meeting with the view of electing temporary officers and drawing up a constitution. So, if any of you are free on Saturday 7 May from 2:00pm – 4:00pm, you would be most welcome to join me at the Hinsley Room next to Westminster Cathedral. As some of you know, the Hinsley Room is a stand-alone building behind St Paul’s Bookshop and St Vincent’s School – on Morpeth Terrace. I will be there from 1:00pm, and you will be able to bring sandwiches / packed-lunches with you – the tea and coffee will be on me!

It would be great if as many Catholic bloggers, twitterers, and Facebookers were able to attend this meeting, so that plans for any potential Guild of Catholic Bloggers may be drawn up. From my previous post, you will have noticed that some very useful suggestions have already been proposed. On Saturday 7 May, it might be possible to gather these ideas into a comprehensive constitution – no more than a page! It is hoped that we might also be able to elect a temporary chairman, secretary and treasurer – to deal with the day-to-day practicalities of launching such a lay association. (I am hopeless at such things – so am looking for volunteers!).

Some of the things that will need discussing include: -

1. Membership (cost, conditions, etc)

2. Officers (terms, functions, etc)

3. Purpose and aims (to strengthen the faith and aid the spirituality of Catholic bloggers)

4. Events (Work-shops, retreats, pilgrimages, etc)

5. AGM and Annual Mass, etc

I am sure that there will be more items on the day’s agenda, once other bloggers have thought of things to add!

So, if you happen to be in central London, or are able to come to Westminster Cathedral, on Saturday 7 May, then please let me know – either in the Comments section or by email (areluctantsinner@gmail.com)! Also, please do pass this on to other bloggers and twitterers (twitterati?). The more, the merrier!

PS – Those able to get to the Cathedral early might wish to attend the 10:30am or 12:30pm Masses before the meeting?

I’m aiming to make it for the 12:30 Mass and will stay for the duration – until 4pm. I really hope some of you can attend, and if so, please do hop across to the Reluctant Sinner and let him know in his comment section.

Let me know as well.

I might see you there!

Well, this gave a me a tingle of excitement, however, you’ll probably only share this with me if you’re a Catholic blogger.

The recent news that Catholic bloggers have been invited to meet with Church representatives in Rome, has prompted the Reluctant Sinner to float the idea of a guild of Catholic bloggers.

Here’ some of what he said:

For a few months now a thought has been popping into my head, namely that it would be good to create a special Guild of Catholic Bloggers. Seeing how much today’s Church is enriched by the creativity, witness and even the prophetic role of those who blog, maybe Catholic bloggers would like to meet up now and again to discuss their work, pray and attend Mass. One way of uniting those of us who share our faith on the blogosphere could be through the creation of a new Catholic guild, with the purpose of strengthening our faith, mission and desire to serve the Church?

[.....]

The proposed Guild for Catholic Bloggers would need active members and a few officers – chair, secretary and treasurer – so would have to be limited to those bloggers from this country (UK), or those able to travel to Britain. The officers shouldn’t need to volunteer too much time, especially seeing that many bloggers are already kept busy what with day jobs and their blogs! The Guild might also wish to find a president, and a chaplain to celebrate its annual Mass – Fr Tim Finigan has already kindly agreed to do this. Maybe, as a motto, the Guild could use these words from 1 John 1:4, “et haec scribimus vobis ut gaudium nostrum sit plenum” (We are writing to you so that our joy may be complete)?

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I think this is an absolutely fantastic idea and it has really heartened me. If you feel the same, then do hop over to the Reluctant Sinner and leave your comments of support, interest and ideas.

UPDATE: There’s now an article in the Catholic Herald dedicated to this proposal.

OK, as some of you know I’ve been experiencing ‘bloggers blog‘.

So, I’m deleting all my feeds, unplugging from the Interweb and going out.

Hopefully I’ll return next week with a renewed interest in – and vigour for – life, faith and blogging.

In the meantime, if you want something interesting to read, then I suggest you hop over and check out Joe Carter’s Thirty Three Things.

I’d love to go to this:

A meeting for bloggers will take place in Rome on the afternoon of Monday 2 May 2011. The aim of the meeting, which is being organised by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications, is to allow for a dialogue between bloggers and Church representatives, to listen to the experiences of those who are actively involved in this arena, and to achieve a greater understanding of the needs of that community. The meeting will also allow for a presentation of some of the initiatives to engage with new media practitioners being taken by the Church, both in Rome and at the local level.

In two panels, speakers will open up some of the key issues in order to set up a more general discussion open to all participants. The first panel will involve 5 bloggers – they will be chosen to represent different language groups and each will address a specific theme of general relevance. The second panel will draw on people involved in the Church’s communications outreach – they will speak of their experiences in working with new media and initiatives aimed at ensuring an effective engagement by the Church with bloggers.

Among those participating at the meeting will be Cardinal Ravasi of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Archbishop Celli of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and Father Lombardi of the Vatican’s Press Office and Vatican Radio. An important dimension of the meeting is to allow an opportunity for informal exchange and contact between those attending with a view to opening further avenues of interaction.

The meeting is taking place on the day after the Beatification of Pope John Paul II in order to take advantage of the likely presence in Rome of many bloggers. The invitation is open to all, but bloggers who wish to attend need to apply by emailing and sending a link to their blog. As space is limited to 150 seats and there is a desire to have a representation of the entire blogosphere, entrance passes and further details will be distributed with a view to the diversity of language and geography, typology of blogs (institutional or private, multivoice or personal), subjects of blogs, and timeliness of request.

Simultaneous translation will be provided for Italian, English, French, Polish and Spanish.

SOURCE

Other Christian denominations should take note.

It’s wonderful to see the Catholic church acknowledge the importance of – and seek to connect with – bloggers. There should be open channels of communication between bloggers and church media departments, with each serving the other. Bloggers are in a position to swiftly counter the all too oft poor and biased mainstream media reporting.

I don’t advocate integration to the point whereby the blogger loses all autonomy, however, it’s folly for the church to ignore the social media world, and they should embrace and utilise bloggers in this fashion.

I’d go further and advocate the church breaking news and inside information through bloggers, rather than traditional media. Let the mainstream media feed off the Christian bloggers, rather than the other way around.

The Pew Research Centre have identified the fifth top blogged story for the period March 28 – April 1. It was the ‘discovery’ of Biblical scrolls and lead codices, purported to be of first century origin.

In my original post, I noted there was quite a buzz of excitement on the Interweb relating to this, but I didn’t quite realise just how much.

The Pew Research Centre is saying that a whopping 5% of all blog links related to this story, which places it in fifth position overall.

I have no doubt that the vast majority of the blogs covering this were Christian blogs, which must give us some indication of just how influential we are as a Christian community of bloggers.

I can’t prove the above with stats – and this is anecdotal – but I don’t think we should dismiss this rather surprising revelation.

Chase Livingston has conducted an interview with Gene Anderson on his experiences of living with Bipolar Disorder.

The interview can be found here and is well worth a read if you want catch some insights into this disorder, especially from the Christian vantage.

Gene’s also posted today on some of the more positive aspects of the disorder, which can be found here.