GOOGLING GOD

RE: IN SEARCH OF GOD ON THE INTERNET


There’s no chemical imbalance to blogging. To blog is a mask for seeking God. That talking out into the unknown somewhere…and then see if something answers back. Sure, blogging can be cosmically gratifying, or it could be a good way to meet a sexual predator. God knows where you live; keep your address to yourself.

I tried to post an entry on a WASHINGTON POST webpage that was relentlessly complaining about Christians in the United States. All I was trying to say was that Christians are fine as long as you aren’t threatened by them, except somehow my computer locked up and whirled forward at the same time, and my one simple statement appeared like six times on the page, as if I were some crazed, spastic zealot. I think next time I’ll just stick to door to door proselytizing.

Then I figured why mess around, why play games when the answer could be very simple. When the car stops, check the gas first before you overhaul the motor. I typed “GOD” into my Google search. Here are the results of the first ten listed websites.

#1 – Wikipedia entry of God. You’ve kind of got to wonder which is more ubiquitous, God or Wikipedia.

#2 – God.com. Now that’s as straightforward as it gets, folks. I wonder how many people type “God.com” into their computers. I wish I’d thought of that address. Anyway, it opens into a list of more questions than answers, thereby embracing the mystery of God, but quickly dispels the mystery on its links, neatly wrapped in conservative answers trenched in scripture.

#3 – God is Imaginary – 50 simple proofs. I thought this showed particular non-religious bias on Google’s part. Indeed this site has fifty mini-diatribes and a score of videos as well, and touts, “Why won’t God heal amputees?” as the most important question that we can ask about God. I’d rather know who’s going to win the next World Series.

#4 – Simple English Wikipedia – Wikipedia smotes ignorance again!

#5 – “The Interview with God – official website” – This site had the most legitimacy. It would not load more than a blank screen onto my computer. I loved it! The mystery of God fully intact! (Yet with the acknowledgement that the answers do exist.)

#6 – answers.com – With Catholic and Jewish sponsored links.

#7 – Catholic Encyclopedia – I felt guilty not to read it.

#8 – All About God – The mission is “to share the Good News with the Globe via the World Wide Web.” They publish content on the first few pages of popular search engines. Doesn’t that seem lazy?

#9 – Who is God? – A website from All About God. You can’t get away from them. They’re like Wikipedia.

#10 – doesgodexist.org – Science and faith are friends, not foes. How else could God exist on the Internet, which is driven by the findings of science? And then there’s a lot of stuff to buy, from books and videos and DVD’s and even a correspondence course.

Thus the Internet is no different from any other forum where you might ask about God. It offers a buffet of answers as long or as wrong or as right as you would like them. So where does this bring you and God? Probably right back to where you are, direct link, no secondary sources.