In Chapter 8,  Sojourning With Heart,  Schultze observes: Many lonely, rootless individuals seek solace online,  particularly when they cannot find it in person. Although a digital “place” cannot possibly provide the levels of neighborliness and hospitality we need for community,  some of those surfing the cyber-diaspora do find temporary comfort there. (p.191) So my question is this:  At the very Continue Reading

A defense of Schultze’s arguments (from Habits of the High-Tech Heart) without having to agree in “Legitimate Theological and Sociological Exploration of  Online Community” (and then I proceed to say why I don’t agree)

In “Speech vs Online Interaction”,  I take issue with the suggestion in Chapter 7 of Habits of the High-Tech Heart that online is not as dialogical,  not as personal,  and not as “communal”.  This seems to be the theme of Schultze’s discussion of Virtual Community.  Schultze often takes up the phrase “Real Community” and usually in comparison to “Virtual Community”,  Continue Reading

I remember this phrase as being used in some of the “Church Growth” books,  encouraging Churches to use some “marketing” techniques and recognize that organizations grow when they avoid too much “diversity”.  In Chapter 7, Nurturing Virtue In Community,  Schultze identifies this as a tendency of cyberspace: We can talk about cyberspace as a global village, as if it unifies the Continue Reading