Cyberweave - Mary Montgomery-Clifford

Regular readers know that I'm involved in conducting in-depth research about Spirituality and the Internet. Part of that research consists of reading every book I can get my hands on that contains any information about this subject. Up until now, the books I've encountered have been simply and solely that traditional, direct descendent of the Gutenberg Press -- the printed codex-style text.

Then, I received a review copy of Shopping for Faith, American Religion in the New Millennium by Richard Cimino and Don Lattin. This book identifies dozens of trends that the authors believe will shape American religion in the new century. Cyberspace, the Internet, and the World Wide Web, they state, will have a major impact. But, for me, that prediction is not why this book is especially unique. The unique aspect is the silver CD-ROM tucked into a plastic sleeve at the back of the book.

This feature may not seem that unusual at first. After all, a number of other books on the market include CD-ROMs. While that is true, most of these books are devoted to the more technical topics of the world of computers. I have several of them on my bookshelves, including Adobe Photoshop 5.5 Classroom in a Book and Dreamweaver 3 Bible. Teaming a CD-ROM and text is common in the technical world. However, it is downright uncommon in the rest of the print publishing world --and that includes scholarly books about the Internet.

Shopping for Faith is an excellent book in its own right and is certainly a worthwhile and not overly ponderous read. For example, Cimino and Lattin point out that the most significant effect of computers and other communication technologies is their ability to "forge direct links between individual believers and religious groups, thus creating bonds based on common concerns, bypassing denominational control, and transcending geography."

The authors' biggest contribution to the theme of the Internet and Spirituality is, perhaps, the way the CD-ROM allows readers to hyperlink to the World Wide Web in order to expand upon the information contained in the book. Just slip in the CD-ROM and click on index.html. After the index page launches in your browser, click on "Start" and go to a menu page with selections like "Preface," "Introduction," "Part One," and "Bibliography." Click on a section and you'll find text by the authors that contains keywords that are linked to lists of related Web sites. If you're connected to the Internet, a click on a Web site listing takes you directly to that location on the World Wide Web.

Hmm ... it sounds complicated, but it's not. It's really a very enjoyable experience. It is one that I highly recommend. For example, the Preface contains the following statement: "How consumerism will shape all religious practice -- from conservative evangelical worship to the wildest New Age workshop." The term "New Age" is underlined and therefore a hyperlink. Since I'm personally interested in New Age issues I clicked on the link and pulled up a list of sites including the Salem New Age Center (www.salemctr.com/newage), Self-Realization Fellowship (www.yogananda-srf.org), and the Official Site of Eckankar (www.eckankar.org). With only nine sites, the list wasn't an extensive one. However, it did allow me to take an interesting pilgrimage, one that provided fresh insights about my own spiritual journey and one that also gave me a better idea of what the authors mean when they use the term "New Age."

Part of the pilgrimage was just plain fun. The Salem New Age Center site, for example, featured a New Age IQ Test with 37 multiple-choice questions like "The sixth chakra, also known as the third eye or eyebrow chakra, usually corresponds to what color? (a. indigo, b. white, c. orange/yellow)" and "In which year does the Mayan calendar stop recording time? (a. 2001, b. 2012, c. 2048)." I couldn't resist, so I took the quiz and aced it by getting between 28 and 37 correct answers. Intellectual knowledge does not equal spiritual enlightenment, of course, but the student in me was pleased to find that my score was "Excellent" and that I was an "Accomplished student of the new age."

More serious were my pilgrimages to the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) and Eckankar (Eck) sites. I was impressed by SRF's "Worldwide Prayer Circle" section which allows private participation or participation through services at an SRF temple. The section stresses serving others through the dynamic force of prayer. Prayer requests for oneself and others are welcome here and there are some interesting testimonial letters including the following one from a doctor from Argentina:

"The father of one of our local SRF devotees recently became severely ill, and I was one of the medical doctors who treated him. It was only after we performed the healing technique that his health improved miraculously..."

My visit to the Eck site promises to give me a better understanding of Eckankar, the Religion of Light and Sound of God. I had heard of Eck and even know a couple of adherents. However, I only have a vague idea of what the religion is all about. The Eck site is extensive, so I ended up printing a wide range of material that I plan to study off-line. One interesting section is called "Spiritual Exercise of the Week." The exercise on the date that I visited was called the "Law of Reversed Effort," which should be used when you feel you are trying too hard to accomplish something. The instructions suggest that you take your goal into contemplation and focus on relaxing, letting go the negative feelings associated with not achieving this goal. Then you set up a positive image about the goal and put feeling with it.

Another way the CD-ROM/Internet can be used is to find out more about a specific reference. For example, the authors mention the Templeton Foundation, which is funding many college-level courses on Science and Spirituality. Templeton Foundation is hyperlinked to a list of Science and Spirituality sites including www.templeton.org. The Templeton site gives an in-depth view of the foundation's work through sections with titles like "Research News & Opportunities in Science and Theology" and "Templeton Research Lectures." The homepage of the site featured an interesting link to something called the Science and Spiritual Quest (SSQ) Conference (www.ssq.net). This conference, which will take place on October 21-23 in Boston, will focus on "The Quest for Truth, Knowledge, and Values in Science & Religion." The conference is a program of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, California and is being sponsored in partnership with the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion Program and The Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. Wow! I didn't know that. Maybe if I wish upon a star, I'll get to go.

In truth, you could spend more time exploring on-line via the CD-ROM, than you did reading Shopping for Faith. I'sve only scratched the surface in this column. The CD-ROM contains a plethora of links ranging from Buddhism to Megachurches to Presbyterian Church to Spiritual Retreats. My advice is to read the book and take the tour.

Do you have a favorite spiritual or personal growth Web site that you'd like me to review? Please drop me an e-mail at Monty764@aol.com. And remember, I also want to hear your story about how the Internet and the World Wide Web have impacted your journey toward self-realization. A short e-mail questionnaire is available by contacting Monty764@aol.com. Just fill it out and e-mail it back. Your contribution will help me complete my Spirituality & the Internet Research Project and, in turn, will help others who are undertaking a similar pilgrimage.

Mary Montgomery-Clifford is a certified web author and developer. Her company, Montgomery Media Enterprises ("Freelancing with Finesse!"), specializes in public relations, events, promotions, writing project and web authoring, development and publicity. Ms. Montgomery-Clifford is currently studying for a Master's Degree with an emphasis on inter-religious studies at the Chicago Theological Seminary and is in the process of completing the Morris Pratt Institute Course on Modern Spiritualism. Contact her via e-mail at Monty764@aol.com, by phone at 773-235-8821 or at her web site at www.montymedia.com

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