Does the internet help or hinder developing spirituality?

Let's duke this out, once and for all.

On the plus, the Internet can help a person access information, watch videos and listen to music, even go to college, network with friends, ect.

On the minus, the internet exhbites "dumbing down" of the population (lolcatz anyone?) tends to encourage superficial myspace/facebook type of social lives, and can easily perpetuate hoaxes and false information.

Think 2012 spiritual awakening mania.

My topic is this.

Since there are so many people who are eager to become more spiritual, is the internet helping these people, or holding them back?

I beleive at the least the technology is beginning to supplement (think: webbots)or even replace the human soul. I see this as a negative thing, but others beleive it is the next step in our evolution.

Let's discuss, ATS.

The more information you have, the more ideas you are exposed to, the broader your mind will become.

The Internet is a good thing.

You and I would have never met, exchanged ideas, touched souls, were it not for the net.

We just have to all chip in and share with one another.

Oh yes, that is true, we would not have met on this message board.

But we have not truly "met." I do not know what you look like, what your voice sounds like, how you move. I wouldn't know you for Adam--or Eve.

Honestly, I think it helps. At least on the internet you get both sides of a story. We are living in a culture that demonizes any belief system which is unusual. The internet allows one to research and decide for him/her self.

My big beef with the internet is... any type of spirituality and beleif system that requiers technology to support it is not a good one.

Think how many people--even on this board--would be lost if they had to go without their internet.

Well, all I can say is that it certainly helped me.

after weighing the pros and cons i would have to say it has helped faith and damaged religion (thank God) here's a thread on the difference between the two as i see it: www.abovetopsecret.com...
see forums like this allow me to pose my questions or doubts to so many people. in the past if i had a problem believing something or saw a error in something spiritually, there was only my pastor and a few friends or family members for me to get other input from, thus limiting the scope of possibilities for me to have faith. now i can pose a question and have it answered by hundreds of people from many other view points, and it gets so thouroughly discussed that in the end, if it is believeable or makes sense, it is more unshakeable because i have already been through all possible scenarios. does that make sense?so i have definately seen more things that back up what i have faith in because of this, while a standardized religionhas suffered because i now see the issue from multiple viewpoints to reach my conclusion in what i believe. the fact that i see so many other people who are searching for something because they have faith that SOMETHING is waiting to be found is reassuring.

It helped me too.

I can see a potential drawback in the fact that more time spent on a computer is more time taken away from practicing things like yoga, but the amount of higher information online is astounding (even in just the .pdf versions of books). On top of that I've used the internet to order other reading material that isn't available anywhere else.

I think the internet helps spirituality. I have found out about different religions through the internet and the internet has boosted my faith in God.

I really love how I can access so many different ideas and talk to so many different people on ATS.

If I couldn't have the internet, I'd use my local library for all of this stuff, but, it wouldn't be as fun.

It does both ... depending on where the person is spiritually.

Sometimes the internet is a distraction when the person should be meditating or reading or praying ... so it hinders.

Other times the information on the internet can enlighten a person so they can move past whatever is blocking them ... like if someone is hung up on thinking they are going to hell for eating bacon but then they discover that they aren't going to go to hell for that .. so they can move off the Leviticus silliness and learn how to really grow spiritually.

It depends ...

originally posted by: asmeone2


I beleive at the least the technology is beginning to supplement (think: webbots)or even replace the human soul. I see this as a negative thing, but others beleive it is the next step in our evolution.

Let's discuss, ATS.

Totally agree with you on this. In fact it can become the opposite of evolution unless you are able to balance the lure of the internet with impacting the environment with your will.

I have to admit that I spend a lot of time on the web and it has some positive outcome. Everything that I want to learn I can do on the internet. However, knowledge is of no consequence if all you are doing is cramming you brain with informaton and then going through life like an headless chicken.

The internet is neutral in itself. It is the humans that are not yet capable of handliing it. It has taken over the life of people - facebook being a good example. I do not have a facebook account or linkedin account and I am content with that since most people that I see everyday behave like zombies. They have all been sucked into the whirlpool of sharing, connecting, talking and consequently have lost grip on their life and the abiity to steer their lives.

If everybody used the internet wisely we would be making spiritual leaps. Unfortunately too many people are so busy following some idiot on Twitter.