Religion: Blunt commandments for faith bloggers

By TERRY MATTINGLY

Popes rarely produce viral sound bites, but legions of Catholic bloggers continue to pass around a quote from Pope Benedict XVI in which he openly blessed the passion that drives them to their keyboards.

“Without fear we must set sail on the digital sea facing into the deep with the same passion that has governed the ship of the church for 2,000 years,” he said in a 2010 Vatican address easily found on YouTube. The goal is to live in the “digital world with a believer’s heart, helping to give a soul to the Internet’s incessant flow of communication.”

If that quotation is too long, bloggers can embrace this shoutout from Pope John Paul II, who could become the patron saint of digital scribes. Just before his death in 2005, he proclaimed: “Do not be afraid of new technologies!”

That quote should fit atop a computer monitor.

“The greatest obstacle is always fear, when the church tries to get involved in something new,” said Brandon Vogt, author of “The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists and Bishops Who Tweet.”

“There’s the fear of the unknown, the fear of making mistakes, the fear of creating controversy and, most of all, the fear of causing divisions in the church. … Are there going to be bad apples? Of course. Will there be people who think they’ve been appointed as the pope? Of course. But Catholic leaders — including our bishops — can’t ignore what is happening online.”

As in the secular media, the social-media tsunami has rocked the old-guard religious publications.

For Catholics, diocesan newspapers long served as the official establishment voices, often clashing with independent publications on the left and right, as well as those produced by religious orders such as the Jesuits. Now, Catholic bloggers have emerged as a quick-striking source of alternative commentary and information — often from a sharply pro-Vatican point of view.

“The Catholic blogosphere is probably one of the most orthodox parts of the American church, in large part because there were so many people who feel like the church (is) being attacked and they want to defend it,” said T.J. Burdick, a Catholic educator who edited the new “One Body, Many Blogs” e-book.

In this collection, Catholic writers provided their “10 commandments” lists for blogging about religion. In addition to the need for prayer before clicking “post,” these blunt recommendations included:

– First, said Marc Barnes of the Bad Catholic blog: “Don’t suck.

“There is a tendency within the Christian world to think the work we do will be good work, if only we do it for God.” Anything less than excellence “is no service to God, no matter how well we think we are witnessing, giving testimony or whatever Christian euphemism we want to use to disguise the fact that we can’t be bothered to make something awesome.”

– Never assume “everyone who reads your work has the same viewpoint on issues of faith,” wrote Lisa Hendey of CatholicMom.com. “Find a Jewish, Protestant or even atheist friend or acquaintance and invite them to join you for a cup of coffee and a peek at your blog. While they view it, watch carefully how they interact with your content and what lasting impressions they have in reading your work.”

– Along that line, but in pews, Deacon Greg Kandra advised: “Keep an open mind to the many ways there are of Being Catholic. Not everyone loves the Latin Mass. Not everyone adores strumming guitars and liturgical dance.”

– Kevin Knight of NewAdvent.org warned: “Truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a pixel, will pass from the Wayback Machine cache until all is accomplished.” With a strong “amen,” Katrina Fernandez of The Crescat said her first commandment is to “remember that we will be ultimately judged by every word we utter and write. The Internet is forever, folks.”

– Former atheist Jeff Miller, blogging at The Curt Jester, advised: “Do onto other bloggers as you would want them to do onto you. If you want to be linked by others, then be generous in linking to others and to give proper attributions to where you first noticed a story. If you want others not to jump to conclusions about what you write, make sure you are not doing the same.”

(Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Contact him at tmattingly(at)cccu.org or www.tmatt.net)