A simple example of the internet’s power

January 9, 2009 in Christian Living, for Churches, Outreach, Pastors

You wouldn’t have seen this even five years ago.

My friend Robert just sent me a link to a fascinating article. Written by a “confirmed atheist” in December last year, Matthew Parris shares his views that Africa needs God. Matthew is a columnist with the Times Online and on a visit to Africa he made an observation that “confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.”

Perris continues:

“I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.”

Read the full article here.

The content of the article is in itself fascinating, but that’s not what I wanted to share with you. The Times Online makes it possible for people to ‘comment’ on articles by their columnists, and even on general news items.

How many comments do you think this article received?

286.

All kinds of people, from all over the world were able to read the article, and share their comments on it. Missionaries, atheists, sceptics, misinformed, passionate – all gather together and throw in their 2 cents.

Reading through the comments is an interesting experience (scroll to the bottom of the article to read the comments, or make one yourself). Sure, not all the comments are worth reading. Many you might not agree with. But in the past, only a fraction of the Letters to the Editor would have been published, now everyone can have a voice.

Perhaps you don’t agree that this is a good step forward. Share what you think – is the ability for people to comment on news and opinion beneficial or not?

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Feature image credit: Solorya

  • http://www.catchmedia.com.au Ben Crothers

    Thanks for sharing, Steve. The sentence about ‘letters to the editor’ got me thinking. One of my government clients and I were discussing how the government views each and every email to a minister as legitimate as the old fashioned letter, and responds to each and every one. This decision certainly didn’t happen overnight.

    Now with the inclusion of comments on news articles (and elsewhere), the government is weighing up if and how to include commenting on government websites, and how to moderate and respond to them.