The religious authorities and pundits are wrong: Technology is good for religion
The religious authorities and pundits are wrong: Technology is good for religion
- June 4, 2012
- Michael McBride, economics professor and Experimental Social Sciences Lab director, is featured in the Washington Post June 1, 2012
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From the Washington Post:
Information technology means the end of organized religion - or, at least, that's
what the opinion-makers say.... I would argue that the opposite is true. Technology
can greatly enhance religious practice. Groups that restrict and fear it participate
in their own demise.... All the best religion apps do this: They support religious
practice rather than substituting for it. Michael McBride, an economist at the University
of California at Irvine, teaches a freshman course called the Economics of Religion.
Understanding that religion is always about people making choices, he asks students
to research the coolest religion apps. He also showcases some of his favorites, including
Insight Timer, which announces the start and end of Zen meditation sessions with the
chiming of bells: "Crystal clear, with extra long fade-outs. Most of these apps do
not replace community groups," he says. "But they do enhance them. Technology creates
new opportunities, new choices. It changes the way that people can interact. It can
change things."
For the full story, please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/the-religious-authoritie....
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