Are any religious leaders calling on their followers to do anything on the Internet?

[Jim]

I’ve never heard of any of the leaders of the Baha’i Faith calling for their followers to do anything on the Internet. In fact sometimes I’ve seen them discouraging it. There used to be a Baha’i website with information and ideas for web pages, blogs, and podcasts; and advice about posting in Internet discussions; but no messages from Baha’i leaders calling for Baha’is to do any of that.

What about other religions? Are any religious leaders calling on their followers to do anything on the Internet?

 

[Spirit of Light]

I’ve never heard of any of the leaders of the Baha’i Faith calling for their followers to do anything on the Internet. In fact sometimes I’ve seen them discouraging it. There used to be a Baha’i website with information and ideas for web pages, blogs, and podcasts; and advice about posting in Internet discussions; but no messages from Baha’i leaders calling for Baha’is to do any of that.

What about other religions? Are any religious leaders calling on their followers to do anything on the Internet?

Internet is only one media we can use to spread truth. before internet it was flyers and ours on the streets talking to people, now it is often hours on internet talking to people from all over the world, so yes it is more easy to spread truth now
Buddhism is very well know in platforms like Youtube

 

[Jim]

Internet is only one media we can use to spread truth. before internet it was flyers and ours on the streets talking to people, now it is often hours on internet talking to people from all over the world, so yes it is more easy to spread truth now
Buddhism is very well know in platforms like Youtube

Thank you, but that doesn’t answer my question.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Thank you, but that doesn’t answer my question.

The monks do not say we should or should not use internet to spread dhamma, but we know it is a way of spreading dhamma, so if we want we can do.
Every buddhist is a student of Buddha so we kind of does not look at other monks or lay buddhists as leaders

 

[Vinayaka]

I’ve never heard of any of the leaders of the Baha’i Faith calling for their followers to do anything on the Internet. In fact sometimes I’ve seen them discouraging it. There used to be a Baha’i website with information and ideas for web pages, blogs, and podcasts; and advice about posting in Internet discussions; but no messages from Baha’i leaders calling for Baha’is to do any of that.

What about other religions? Are any religious leaders calling on their followers to do anything on the Internet?

You haven't read this? Documents by Bahá'í internet agency

 

[Jim]

You haven't read this? Documents by Bahá'í internet agency

Yes. I saw all that more than ten years ago. That's from the website that I mentioned in the OP, with ideas, information and guidelines for Baha'is who do things on the Internet. I never saw it mentioned by any Baha'i leaders. It was an initiative of some Baha'is, following some guidance from some leaders at the Baha'i World Center. There were no general messages to Baha'is from any Baha'i leaders, calling for us to do anything on the Internet. The only messages from any Baha'i leaders were private messages from the House of Justice to individuals and one to a national spiritual assembly, answering questions from them. I've never seen anything about doing things on the Internet, in any goals or plans for the Baha'i community of any national spiritual assembly or the House of Justice.

 

[Vinayaka]

Yes. I saw all that more than ten years ago. That's from the website that I mentioned in the OP, with ideas, information and guidelines for Baha'is who do things on the Internet. I never saw it mentioned by any Baha'i leaders. It was an initiative of some Baha'is, following some guidance from some leaders at the Baha'i World Center. There were no general messages to Baha'is from any Baha'i leaders, calling for us to do anything on the Internet. The only messages from any Baha'i leaders were private messages from the House of Justice to individuals and one to a national spiritual assembly, answering questions from them. I've never seen anything about doing things on the Internet, in any goals or plans for the Baha'i community of any national spiritual assembly or the House of Justice.

Then the extremely high rate of Baha'i presence on the internet must be due to individuals just deciding to use it. On this forum the Baha'i participation, compared to the actual population, is far and way the highest of any faith. Of Hinduism's billion adherents, we have about 10 participants here, maybe less. Of Baha'is 5 million (in my view an exaggeration) there are 10 here. Some days I think this forum will be overrun entirely. (exaggeration for effect) No other similar sized group has anywhere near the internet presence.

On the ex-Baha'i sites, the main complaint about it was constant re-editing of wiki articles to eliminate any negativity, to always keep the pro-Baha'i view front and center.

You have any thoughts to why this is?

 

[Jim]

Then the extremely high rate of Baha'i presence on the internet must be due to individuals just deciding to use it. On this forum the Baha'i participation, comp. ared to the actual population, is far and way the highest of any faith. Of Hinduism's billion adherents, we have about 10 participants here, maybe less. Of Baha'is 5 million (in my view an exaggeration) there are 10 here. Some days I think this forum will be overrun entirely. (exaggeration for effect) No other similar sized group has anywhere near the internet presence.

On the ex-Baha'i sites, the main complaint about it was constant re-editing of wiki articles to eliminate any negativity, to always keep the pro-Baha'i view front and center.

You have any thoughts to why this is?

You mean why there are so many Baha'is in Internet discussions, compared to how many Baha'is there are all together? No, I never thought about it before. Apart from those private messages from the House of Justice in response to questions, all I've ever seen Baha'i leaders saying about the Internet has been to discourage us from using it. Of all the Baha'is I've seen on the Internet, I've never known of any that were responding to any call from any Baha'i leaders. It's all been personal initiatives. There's a lot of emphasis in the Bahai Faith on every believer's responsibility to teach the faith and delivering the message.

 

[Quintessence]

It's sort of redundant for the Pagan community.

Contemporary Paganism is a new religious movement that - depending on when you say it began - isn't quite a century old yet. While it's roots go back longer than that, it really took off during the countercultural period of the 70s. As it developed, it was a truly global new religious movement with those picking up these paths scattered across the globe. In its early days, there were a handful of newsletters that helped Pagans connect with each other by mail. When the internet became more of a thing, that quickly shifted making connections to that medium. It has been that way ever since.

To put things simply, using the internet as a means to communicate and network has been a thing for Contemporary Paganism since pretty much the beginning. This is not something reserved for "religious leaders," especially not in the sense the OP probably means. Everyone who wants to participates. It's not really a "calling" or anything, it's just part of the culture.

 

[Jim]

It's sort of redundant for the Pagan community.

Contemporary Paganism is a new religious movement that - depending on when you say it began - isn't quite a century old yet. While it's roots go back longer than that, it really took off during the countercultural period of the 70s. As it developed, it was a truly global new religious movement with those picking up these paths scattered across the globe. In its early days, there were a handful of newsletters that helped Pagans connect with each other by mail. When the internet became more of a thing, that quickly shifted making connections to that medium. It has been that way ever since.

To put things simply, using the internet as a means to communicate and network has been a thing for Contemporary Paganism since pretty much the beginning. This is not something reserved for "religious leaders," especially not in the sense the OP probably means. Everyone who wants to participates. It's not really a "calling" or anything, it's just part of the culture.

Thank you, but that still doesn't answer my question! I don't know if there are any people who are recognized as leaders by other pagans, but if there are, have you ever seen any of them calling explicitly for pagans to do anything on the Internet?

 

[Quintessence]

Thank you, but that still doesn't answer my question! I don't know if there are any people who are recognized as leaders by other pagans, but if there are, have you ever seen any of them calling explicitly for pagans to do anything on the Internet?

Well, like I said - utilizing the internet is intrinsic to how Contemporary Paganism developed. So much so that sort of thing is routine and not particularly noteworthy. There are groups that organize primarily through the internet, up to and including doing rituals or spellwork in an online/virtual setting. Other individuals create podcast channels, video channels, and blogging sites for the community. Our main source of community news is a community-supported blog. Through venues like this, various calls for action get out. It happens constantly as the internet is the only medium that can even remotely hope to distribute to the global Pagan community.

But I'll mention one example, since it is directly relevant to your response. A while back, there was a group of prominent (and not as prominent) Pagans who tried really, really hard to fix the AP Stylebook's section on religion (see coverage here at https://wildhunt.org/2014/06/was-paganism-left-out-of-the-new-ap-stylebook-religion-chapter.html). In spite of being a religious movement the same as Judaism, Christianity, or Hinduism, people frequently fail to capitalize Paganism. You yourself are guilty of this, and part of the problem is that style manuals like AP suggest standard rules for journalists and the media. In spite of Paganism being one of the largest religious movements in the United States we continue to be left out of their manual. It's mind-boggling really, considering there are more Pagans in this country than some of the minority sects (including yours) that they bother to list in there. We're left chiding people in the internet like yourself who fail to spell Paganism correctly as a proper noun until the AP Stylebook gets it's collective heads screwed on straight.

 

[Vinayaka]

You mean why there are so many Baha'is in Internet discussions, compared to how many Baha'is there are all together? No, I never thought about it before. Apart from those private messages from the House of Justice in response to questions, all I've ever seen Baha'i leaders saying about the Internet has been to discourage us from using it. Of all the Baha'is I've seen on the Internet, I've never known of any that were responding to any call from any Baha'i leaders. It's all been personal initiatives. There's a lot of emphasis in the Bahai Faith on every believer's responsibility to teach the faith and delivering the message.

Yes, I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on why Baha'i participation on internet forums is disproportionately high. I agree it is the emphasis on proselytizing. That's always been difficult for me to understand, coming from a non-proselytizing background.

 

[Vinayaka]

Well, like I said - utilizing the internet is intrinsic to how Contemporary Paganism developed. So much so that sort of thing is routine and not particularly noteworthy. There are groups that organize primarily through the internet, up to and including doing rituals or spellwork in an online/virtual setting. Other individuals create podcast channels, video channels, and blogging sites for the community. Our main source of community news is a community-supported blog. Through venues like this, various calls for action get out. It happens constantly as the internet is the only medium that can even remotely hope to distribute to the global Pagan community.

But I'll mention one example, since it is directly relevant to your response. A while back, there was a group of prominent (and not as prominent) Pagans who tried really, really hard to fix the AP Stylebook's section on religion (see coverage here at https://wildhunt.org/2014/06/was-paganism-left-out-of-the-new-ap-stylebook-religion-chapter.html). In spite of being a religious movement the same as Judaism, Christianity, or Hinduism, people frequently fail to capitalize Paganism. You yourself are guilty of this, and part of the problem is that style manuals like AP suggest standard rules for journalists and the media. In spite of Paganism being one of the largest religious movements in the United States we continue to be left out of their manual. It's mind-boggling really, considering there are more Pagans in this country than some of the minority sects (including yours) that they bother to list in there. We're left chiding people in the internet like yourself who fail to spell Paganism correctly as a proper noun until the AP Stylebook gets it's collective heads screwed on straight.

I've most likely done that too, but certainly won't from now on. Thanks for this information.

 

[Quintessence]

I've most likely done that too, but certainly won't from now on. Thanks for this information.

It's something most folks don't really think about it, so I don't grate on people too hard for it. The Polytheist community (which sometimes distinguishes itself from the Pagan community) often capitalizes as well. The lower case terms are also still a thing, but they don't mean the same thing as using them in proper case designating religion (or a religious movement).

 

[Dawnofhope]

Yes, I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on why Baha'i participation on internet forums is disproportionately high. I agree it is the emphasis on proselytizing. That's always been difficult for me to understand, coming from a non-proselytizing background.

The motivation for Baha’is participating on Internet forums is entirely personal initiative. There is little or no emphasis or encouragement from the Universal House of Justice. There is tacit approval though as very infrequently there are reminders to avoid politics and present the faith accurately for those on social media. Implicitly such statements acknowledge some Baha’is will inevitably be part of online groups as is their right.

The opportunity to learn from others such as yourself is both irresistible and invaluable. About nine months ago we had an Interfaith Council Meeting at the Baha’i Centre. One of our youth came along and as I was talking to a Saivite Hindu, she introduced the topic of avatars. I immediately knew where she wanted to take the conversation and highlighted Saivites don’t believe in avatars. The Hindu agreed and so an inappropriate effort to present Bahá’u’lláh as an avatar of Vishnu mercifully avoided. I later privately explained to her what the interfaith movement is and isn’t about.

 

[Vinayaka]

The motivation for Baha’is participating on Internet forums is entirely personal initiative. There is little or no emphasis or encouragement from the Universal House of Justice. There is tacit approval though as very infrequently there are reminders to avoid politics and present the faith accurately for those on social media. Implicitly such statements acknowledge some Baha’is will inevitably be part of online groups as is their right.

The opportunity to learn from others such as yourself is both irresistible and invaluable. About nine months ago we had an Interfaith Council Meeting at the Baha’i Centre. One of our youth came along and as I was talking to a Saivite Hindu, she introduced the topic of avatars. I immediately knew where she wanted to take the conversation and highlighted Saivites don’t believe in avatars. The Hindu agreed and so an inappropriate effort to present Bahá’u’lláh as an avatar of Vishnu mercifully avoided. I later privately explained to her what the interfaith movement is and isn’t about.

Yes I understand now it's an individual matter. Still it does come from encouragement to 'share'. The other part is good to know that you're applying your new found knowledge. I am an occasional lurker on Baha'i forums, and if I knew there were more people like you I'd intervene when tey discuss Hinduism, and get it totally wrong. But I resist that as I know I'd be unwelcome.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

Yes I understand now it's an individual matter. Still it does come from encouragement to 'share'. The other part is good to know that you're applying your new found knowledge. I am an occasional lurker on Baha'i forums, and if I knew there were more people like you I'd intervene when tey discuss Hinduism, and get it totally wrong. But I resist that as I know I'd be unwelcome.

You would be most welcome.

Regards Tony

 

[Vinayaka]

You would be most welcome.

Regards Tony

I'd get banned in 2 days or less. I've seen people banned for saying far less that I say here.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

You haven't read this? Documents by Bahá'í internet agency

I have never been able to find a link to that agency, for many years, even when I first heard about it on the net. Apart from some initial documents, I am not sure if it ever continued?

All links terminated and i now mostly find it mentioned on sites against the Baha'i view. The same few documents are listed on most sites.

I saw mention of Julian Cole?

Regards Tony

 

[TransmutingSoul]

I'd get banned in 2 days or less. I've seen people banned for saying far less that I say here.

You would not, I would welcome you to correct any view that was not right if it was quoting a specific Hindu beleif that was wrong.

The site has a owner moderator and he will not moderate lightly. It is a very open forum.

Regards Tony