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Can Easter be celebrated online instead of going to church?
I remember several years ago, when the virtual world Second Life was the thing on the web, wandering in the embodiment of my avatar through the most extraordinary representation of a cathedral. The frescoes, stained glass and flying buttresses were replicated to a degree that would make even the most cynical architect weep.
Also enjoying the experience were 30 other virtual people from around the world, dressed in all manner of outerwear, from 1950s party dresses, to slinky black outfits with impossible heels, to squirrel costumes. They, as it turned out, were gathered in this cyber-place to celebrate a religious service.
I watched from a back-of-the-nave pew, listening to the officiant lead his digital flock through a very traditional Catholic ceremony. I left after transubstantiation, just as they were processing in a typically sombre way to receive the Eucharist.
The concept of religious ritual is so deeply embedded in our social fabric that it is natural for it to have made the leap to virtuality. And it hasn’t just reared its head in worlds such as Second Life. Social networks, including Facebook, have active and close-knit communities of religious followers of all creeds, gathering in what science writer Margaret Wertheim described in her 1999 book, The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace, as “a new kind of realm for the mind”.
Read rest of Alek Krotoski’s article
Aleksandra (Aleks) K Krotoski is an American broadcaster and journalist, currently based in the UK, who writes about technology and interactivity. She presents The Guardian podcast Tech Weekly and contributes to guardian.co.uk.
Read Sister interview with Sister Catherine Wybourne.
Sister Catherine Wybourne (aka @Digitalnun) is a Benedictine nun and blogger. Trained as a banker but called mid-career to the Catholic faith, she is the Prioress of the Benedictine Nuns of Holy Trinity Monastery, a community in Oxfordshire with an online presence that includes online retreats, blogs and virtual prayers (via the medium of email).
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