| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Bob Dog" |
| Date: |
19 May 2004 11:05:37 AM |
| Object: |
In the news: "Virtual Devils Curse Internet Church" |
Ship of fools? What an appropriate name for a church.
Virtual churches: Simp City.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20040519/od_nm/religion_dc
They'll probably blame atheists for this one.
Bob Dog
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Virtual Devils Curse Internet Church
By Jason Hopps
LONDON (Reuters) - The world's first Internet church has fallen
victim to a plague of virtual demons, some of whom have been
logging on as Satan and unleashing strings of expletives during
sermons.
The "Church of Fools" was launched last week as a unique chance
for Christians to worship interactively by choosing a "3D"
animated character who could kneel, sing hymns, talk to others,
hear a sermon, or shout "Hallelujah."
The site attracts between 5,000 and 10,000 worshippers daily and
those who log on can also give money to a collection plate via
mobile phone.
But the temptation to misbehave has proved too much for some.
"We have had problems from a small number of worshippers, which
happens in any Internet chat room, and we are bothered about
individual harassment, which we are taking seriously," said the
site's deputy editor, Stephen Goddard.
"We're increasing security day by day to eliminate the disruptive
behavior, such as the profanity, but we're determined to carry
on...At least we're not preaching to the converted," he added.
The Church, sponsored by the Methodist Church but organized by
the multi-denominational "Ship of Fools" project, said it had
removed a "shout" function where people could speak to the whole
congregation. Some were using it to hurl abuse or yell: "Satan
loves you."
The pulpit, altar and lectern areas will be closed to the public
after some worshippers walked their animated character into those
areas during sermons.
But the strongest measure against the unruly will be the online
equivalent of damnation: wardens will be able to smite the wicked
by instantly logging them out of the church if they misbehave.
"In a way, we are facing the same problems faced by the first
preachers who met resistance when they moved into new
communities," said Goddard.
"But the church has always expanded into new communities and some
of those are to be found in cyberspace now, so we are determined
to carry on."
The Church of Fools is found at www.shipoffools.com.
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| User: "Spooked " |
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| Title: Re: In the news: "Virtual Devils Curse Internet Church" |
19 May 2004 03:59:47 PM |
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(Bob Dog) wrote:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20040519/od_nm/religion_dc
They'll probably blame atheists for this one.
Just pass the buck to Satanism and the wannabees.
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