I think it’s fair to say that inter­net search engines have changed how many of us explore social and reli­gious move­ments. There is now easy access to infor­ma­tion on won­der­fully quirky sub­jects. Let the Super­bowl view­ers have their over­pro­duced com­mer­cials and cal­cu­lated con­tro­versy: the net gen­er­a­tion doesn’t need them. TV view­er­ship among young adults is drop­ping rapidly. Peo­ple with web­sites and blogs are shar­ing their sto­ries and the search engines are find­ing them. Here is a taste of the search phrases peo­ple are using to find Mar­tin Kel­ley Quaker Ranter.

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Mel Gibson’s movie _The Pas­sion of Christ_ is a chal­lenge for many mod­ern Quak­ers. Most of the rich metaphors of co-mingled joy and suf­fer­ing of the early Friends have been dumbed-down to feel-good cliches. Can the debate on this movie help us return to that uncom­fort­able place where we can acknowl­edge the com­plex­i­ties of being fer­vently reli­gious in a world haunted by past sins and still in need of con­vic­tion and comfort?

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