The Internet, Religion, Transparency, and Battling Tyranny

[trotsky]

http://verdict.justia.com/2014/11/13/internet-religion-transparency-battling-tyranny

Reporter Laurie Goodstein wrote a fascinating New York Times front-page story this week on the admissions by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“LDS Church”) regarding their founder, Joseph Smith, and the fact he had approximately 40 wives, one of whom was age 14, and some others of whom were already married to other men. This came as a surprise to numerous LDS believers, who had been taught that Smith was a paradigm of virtue devoted to his first wife, Emma. The truth is that he was a rapacious polygamist, and his first wife was not a fan of his polygamy or his revelations on the topic. Some believers are having difficulty squaring these now-documented facts with what they had previously been told about the founder of their faith.

...

In short, it is no longer as feasible to perpetuate historical misinformation by religious organizations as it was before the Internet. With blogs, a proliferation of media outlets, social media, and websites established to address specific problems in particular communities, the balance of power between the powerful and the vulnerable has been altered for the better and hopefully permanently.

Religious cultures control the beliefs and perceptions of their believers by limiting access to outside information and especially information that undermines their authority. The Internet is the first populist tool that creates nearly insurmountable challenges to such image-building and unless the group bans the use of computers and smartphones altogether (not just ownership of them), the information streaming on the Internet can send shockwaves into firm foundations carefully constructed by religious leaders.

...

Given the size and global scope of the Catholic Church, it is inconceivable that, without the Internet, connections could have been made between survivors across countries as they have, with strong coalitions between Irish, Australian, and American survivors, and the emergence of a pattern of behavior by the hierarchy that is echoed in one country after another. Such a global comparison of experiences and the ability to see such patterns were enhanced dramatically by the Internet. In turn, the global character of the scandal earned the attention of the United Nations, which held hearings and issued damning reports on the failures of the Catholic Church to protect children, despite being a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

[Bluenorthwest]

1. That's the same LDS that took it upon itself to attack LGBT rights on the basis of their own high

holiness. 40 wives, some taken from their actual husbands, some mere children that he fucked. Yeah, he fucked kids and broke up homes, indulged in a libertine life and he's venerated by the same hypocrites who organized Prop 8.
I find it to be amazing that they have the gall to judge anyone.

[trotsky]

2. But that's been the #1 priority of religious moralists from day one.

Judging others while ignoring their own hypocrisy!

[gcomeau]

3. Keep in mind...

"Religious cultures control the beliefs and perceptions of their believers by limiting access to outside information and especially information that undermines their authority"

...that that is only one of the methods used. If that first defense should fail and the flock exposed to information their religion does not want them exposed to there's always line of defense 2, 3, 4, 5....

Any information that contradicts what we tell you is a trick of Satan.

Any information that contradicts what we tell us is a product of fools / heretics etc trying to drag you down to their ungodly level...

Any information that contradicts what we tell you is a test of your faith...


And on, and on, and on.

[rug]

4. It's very good at rebutting, eventually, all sorts of bullshit.