Created & Owned By Its Residents
http://secondlife.com/
From Innocent Bystanders - July 27, 2007
ROME (Reuters) - Catholic missionaries have always trekked to dangerous parts of the Earth to spread the word of God — now they are being encouraged to go into the virtual realm of Second Life to save virtual souls.
In an article in Rome-based Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, academic Antonio Spadaro urged fellow Catholics not to be scared of entering the virtual world which may be fertile ground for new converts wishing to better themselves.
“It’s not possible to close our eyes to this phenomenon or rush to judge it,” Spadaro said. “Instead it needs to be understood … the best way to understand it is to enter it.”
Second Life is a simulation game where players can create a virtual version of themselves — an avatar — and interact with other people in the three-dimensional world.
According to its Web site, it has a population of more than 8 million residents and millions of dollars change hands there every month.
Spadaro warns the uninitiated that “the erotic dimension is very present” in Second Life, that people can buy genitalia for their avatars in a world that is “open to any form of erotic stimulation from prostitution to pedophilia”.
While the virtual world might be a refuge for some people seeking to flee the real one, it is also full of people seeking something more from life, including, possibly, religious enlightenment, he said.
“Deep down, the digital world can be considered, in its way, mission territory,” he said. “Second Life is somewhere where the opportunity to meet people and to grow should not be missed, therefore, any initiative that can inspire the residents in a positive way should be considered opportune.”
And there’s the problem with Spadaro’s idea. A “virtual version” of self is not a person, and avatars do not have souls. I think evangelism happens one-on-one, in real life. That’s why the “televangelism” that was such a fad in the 80’s turned out to be a failure, and tainted by scandals.
The target market of evangelism is a contrite heart, not gamers fleeing reality. The “body of Christ” that is the Church is comprised of people, not pixels.
But, those pixels might be horny.
Sorry, Spadaro, you are full of crap. I really don’t believe that people “meet and grow” in Second Life, especially as you have described it. Frankly, I’m wondering what you are really doing there.
http://michaelscomments.wordpress.com/
OMG!! My world is in disarray...ah souls you are wrong, wrong, wrong!!and avatars do not have souls