My name is Kirby and I am a student at Wesleyan University in the United States. At Wesleyan, I am finishing up a degree in Religion. For my senior thesis I am investigating the role of religion and spirituality in cyberspace. Religion has a long history on the Internet, but yet many people are still unaware of its presence. In particular, I am looking at religious communities in cyberspace, why people choose to join religious communities online, how the internet can create close religious communities over geographical distances, and really how religion is lived and expressed through the internet. I am intending to take an objective look at how cyberspace aids the practice of religion and religious ritual in the modern world.
I would like to give a little bit of background about myself. I grew up in a multi-faith home: my mother was raised in Greek Orthodox Christianity and my father was raised Jewish. My parents encouraged me to learn about both faiths but left the decision of what religion to follow in my hands. Honestly, if one was to ask me to tick a checkboxes about what faith I believe in, I do not know where exactly my life philosophy would fit. However, I do find both Judaism and Christianity (as well as Buddhism, Islam, and many other faiths) to be beautiful and I try to live by lessons I have learned from each. For example, I find the Beatitudes wonderful and I try to live by Jesus' teachings on love even though I may not be baptized or identify as a Christian.
I have spent a few weeks in the Chapel, the Cafe, and the Courtyard of i-church and have found that i-church appears (to an outsider) to have a very close, supportive community but I would really like to know more about what i-church means to its members and its congregation.
In order to learn more about i-church, I have created an external survey and I would truly appreciate it if you could take some time to take it. It is operated through Google so it should be reliable and safe. Absolutely none of the questions are required-- you can choose to only answer the ones you feel comfortable with. And of course, please feel free to PM me with any questions, comments, or concerns.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GBI0KL ... U/viewform
Thank you all so much for even taking the time to read this
Best wishes!
