January 12, 2013<\/span><\/em> \u00a0| \u00a0<\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\n As we head into a new year, the guardians of traditional religion are ramping up efforts to keep their flocks\u2013or in crass economic terms, to retain market share. Some Christians have turned to soul searching<\/a>\u00a0while others have turned to marketing. Last fall, the LDS church spent millions on billboards, bus banners and Facebook ads touting \u201cI\u2019m a Mormon.\u201d In Canada, the Catholic Church has launched a \u201c Come Home<\/a>\u201d marketing campaign. The Southern Baptists Convention voted to rebrand itself<\/a>. A hipster mega-church<\/a>\u00a0in Seattle combines smart advertising with sales force training for members and a strategy the Catholics have emphasized for centuries: competitive breeding. \u00a0<\/p>\n In October 2012 the Pew Research Center announced<\/a>\u00a0that for the first time ever Protestant Christians had fallen below 50 percent of the American population. Atheists cheered while evangelicals beat their breasts and lamented the end of the world as we know it. Historian of religion Molly Worthen has since offered<\/a>\u00a0big-picture insights that may dampen the most extreme hopes and allay the fears. Anthropologist Jennife r James<\/a>, on the other hand, has called fundamentalism the \u201cdeath rattle\u201d of the Abrahamic traditions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In all of the frenzy, few seem to give any recognition to the player that I see as the primary hero, or if you prefer, culprit\u2013and I\u2019m not talking about science populizer and atheist superstar Neil deGrasse Tyson<\/a>. Then again, maybe I am\u00a0talking about Tyson in a sense, because in his various viral guises\u2013as a talk show host<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0tweeter<\/a>\u00a0and as the face<\/a>\u00a0of scores of smartass Facebook memes\u2013Tyson is an incarnation of the biggest threat organized religion has ever faced: the Internet.<\/p>\n A traditional religion, one built on \u201cright belief,\u201d requires a closed information system. That is why the Catholic Church put an official seal of approval on some ancient texts and banned or burned others. It is why some Bible-believing Christians are forbidden<\/a>\u00a0to marry nonbelievers. It is why Quiverfull<\/a>\u00a0moms home-school their kids with carefully screened textbooks. It is why, when you get sucked into conversations with your fundamentalist Uncle George from Florida, you sometimes wonder if he has some superpower that allows him to magically close down all avenues into his mind. ( He does<\/a>!)<\/p>\n Religions have spent eons honing defenses<\/a>\u00a0that keep outside information away from insiders. The innermost ring wall is a set of certainties and associated emotions like anxiety and disgust and righteous indignation that block curiosity. The outer wall is a set of behaviors aimed at insulating believers from contradictory evidence and from heretics who are potential transmitters of dangerous ideas. These behaviors range from memorizing sacred texts to wearing distinctive undergarments<\/a>\u00a0to killing infidels. Such defenses worked beautifully during humanity\u2019s infancy. But they weren\u2019t really designed for the current information age.<\/p>\n Tech-savvy mega-churches may have Twitter missionaries, and Calvinist cuties may make viral videos about how Jesus worship isn\u2019t a religion, it\u2019s a relationship, but that doesn\u2019t change the facts: the free flow of information is really, really bad for the product they are selling.<\/p>\n Here are six kinds of web content that are like, well, like electrolysis on religion\u2019s hairy toes.<\/p>\n 1. Radically cool science videos and articles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Religion evokes some of our most deeply satisfying emotions: joy, for example, and transcendence, and wonder. This is what Einstein was talking about when he said that \u201cscience without religion is lame.\u201d If scientific inquiry doesn\u2019t fill us at times with delight and even speechless awe at new discoveries or the mysteries that remain, then we are missing out on the richest part of the experience. Fortunately, science can provide all of the above, and certain masters of the trade and sectors of the Internet are remarkably effective at evoking the wonder\u2013the spirituality if you will\u2013of the natural world unveiled. Some of my own favorites include Symphony of science<\/a>,\u00a0NOVA<\/a>,\u00a0TED<\/a>,\u00a0RSA Animate<\/a>, and Birdnote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Here’s one theory why religion is in decline in many places around the world.<\/p>\n January 12, 2013<\/span><\/em> | <\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\n As we head into a new year, the guardians of traditional religion are ramping up efforts to keep their flocks—or in crass economic terms, to retain market share. Some Christians have turned to soul searching<\/a> while others have turned to marketing. Last fall, the LDS church spent millions on billboards, bus banners and Facebook ads touting “I’m a Mormon.” In Canada, the Catholic Church has launched a “ Come Home<\/a>” marketing campaign. The Southern Baptists Convention voted to rebrand itself<\/a>. A hipster mega-church<\/a> in Seattle combines smart advertising with sales force training for members and a strategy the Catholics have emphasized for centuries: competitive breeding. <\/p>\n In October 2012 the Pew Research Center announced<\/a> that for the first time ever Protestant Christians had fallen below 50 percent of the American population. Atheists cheered while evangelicals beat their breasts and lamented the end of the world as we know it. Historian of religion Molly Worthen has since offered<\/a> big-picture insights that may dampen the most extreme hopes and allay the fears. Anthropologist Jennife r James<\/a>, on the other hand, has called fundamentalism the “death rattle” of the Abrahamic traditions. <\/p>\n In all of the frenzy, few seem to give any recognition to the player that I see as the primary hero, or if you prefer, culprit—and I’m not talking about science populizer and atheist superstar Neil deGrasse Tyson<\/a>. Then again, maybe I am talking about Tyson in a sense, because in his various viral guises—as a talk show host<\/a> and tweeter<\/a> and as the face<\/a> of scores of smartass Facebook memes—Tyson is an incarnation of the biggest threat organized religion has ever faced: the Internet.<\/p>\n A traditional religion, one built on “right belief,” requires a closed information system. That is why the Catholic Church put an official seal of approval on some ancient texts and banned or burned others. It is why some Bible-believing Christians are forbidden<\/a> to marry nonbelievers. It is why Quiverfull<\/a> moms home-school their kids with carefully screened textbooks. It is why, when you get sucked into conversations with your fundamentalist Uncle George from Florida, you sometimes wonder if he has some superpower that allows him to magically close down all avenues into his mind. ( He does<\/a>!)<\/p>\n Religions have spent eons honing defenses<\/a> that keep outside information away from insiders. The innermost ring wall is a set of certainties and associated emotions like anxiety and disgust and righteous indignation that block curiosity. The outer wall is a set of behaviors aimed at insulating believers from contradictory evidence and from heretics who are potential transmitters of dangerous ideas. These behaviors range from memorizing sacred texts to wearing distinctive undergarments<\/a> to killing infidels. Such defenses worked beautifully during humanity’s infancy. But they weren’t really designed for the current information age.<\/p>\n Tech-savvy mega-churches may have Twitter missionaries, and Calvinist cuties may make viral videos about how Jesus worship isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship, but that doesn’t change the facts: the free flow of information is really, really bad for the product they are selling.<\/p>\n Here are six kinds of web content that are like, well, like electrolysis on religion’s hairy toes.<\/p>\n 1. Radically cool science videos and articles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Religion evokes some of our most deeply satisfying emotions: joy, for example, and transcendence, and wonder. This is what Einstein was talking about when he said that “science without religion is lame.” If scientific inquiry doesn’t fill us at times with delight and even speechless awe at new discoveries or the mysteries that remain, then we are missing out on the richest part of the experience. Fortunately, science can provide all of the above, and certain masters of the trade and sectors of the Internet are remarkably effective at evoking the wonder—the spirituality if you will—of the natural world unveiled. Some of my own favorites include Symphony of science<\/a>, NOVA<\/a>, TED<\/a>, RSA Animate<\/a>, and Birdnote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.alternet.org\/files\/styles\/story_image\/public\/story_images\/screen_shot_2013-01-12_at_7.30.55_pm.png\"\/)
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