Up until the last 90 years or so, religion and how it is expressed has remained fairly the same. Preachers and news of religious events were spread by word of mouth. Now, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are becoming more prevalent in the spread of religious ideas.
This boom in religious social media has had a profound effect on the public’s tranquility. People on blogs shot down gay marriage, the Christian anti-Islam video supposedly sparked riots in the Middle East and even the Pope recently created a Twitter.
All the information flowing about religion has certainly increased interest, as shown in the Pope’s Twitter. As of Jan. 4, he has accumulated 1,383,157 followers, and you can literally watch the numbers rise.
But is all this frenzy a positive thing? In September, more than 50 people died worldwide because of protests against a low budget movie mocking Islam. Citizens in the United States discriminate against homosexual men and women because the Bible says it is an “abomination”. Has all this religion spreading turned the nations and people of the world against each other?
Religion and its criticisms, as well as its positive points, are spreading faster than ever before. New, cheaper technology spreads religions to places that have not previously seen it. This is a bad thing because, in addition to the pros, such as cheaper education, negative ideas are being spread and riots starting all based on prejudice and religious pride.
The Pope, and most of the Cardinals, treat gay men and women the way Amanda Bynes treats pedestrians. Twitter will just help in spreading these ideas if and when the Pope posts a prejudice tweet.
Most people have no real sense of the consequences of the religious criticisms they post on the internet, and they don’t realize that once it is posted, they have no control over it or what it causes, as with the anti-Islam video.
Social media is definitely helping the spread of religious ideas and feelings, but it’s also spreading something else, something much more dangerous and potent: hate.
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