God Bloggers?
Let the navelgazing begin....
I feel like I’m too new at this game to get pigeonholed as any particular flavor of writer. So while I may be a Christian who, from time to time, will write about his faith on the interweb, I don’t know that I aspire to the category of “Christian God Blogger.” (Although I’ll happily declare myself Benevolent Grand Poobah of the Wallis and Gromit fanclub.)
The New York Times loves the CGB idea, it seems, devoting a story in yesterday’s paper to bloggers of varying faiths. In the article, the director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project estimates that 10 to 20 percent of blogs are “related to religion.” Seems like a pretty vague categorization to me, but nobody’s gonna put me in charge of anything at Pew anytime soon, so it is what it is, I guess.
I will admit that I particularly enjoy reading sites where people personally, publicly and regularly wrestle with God. All you have to do is to start clicking on the links to the right, and you’ll see that several of the sites I’ve posted so far could be described thusly. I think what I’ve valued most about some of these sites has been the community that they offer, even for people like me who lurked for months before joining in. I don’t think it’s any subsitute for a physical community centered on a local church. But it’s an awfully nice complement.
These sites (and dozens of others that I keep tabs on) have also allowed me to cross paths with ideas, arguments and doctrines that I would ordinarily have missed by camping out in my own little corner of Christendom. They’ve given me a lot to think about and they’ve inflated my reading list something fierce. And while I’m not sure how comfortable I am with the term “God Blogger,” I can only hope to be the kind of writer who might do the same for people who stumble upon this site. We’ll see if I have it in me. If not, then maybe I’ll aim to inflate your CD collection instead.
One more note about The New York Times article.... I’m sure that it might be a wonderful event where people can make connections, swap visions, and build community. But I’ve gotta say — and I’ll try to put this delicately — the name GodBlogCon makes me want to chew my own arm off. OK, that wasn’t so delicate, but it really is an awful name. Couldn’t they have chosen something catchier, like the Mormons with their Bloggernacle?
Hell, even Blogvention is a better name than that.