zakur
2nd July 2003, 03:45 PM
Faithful try TiVo, ATMs for religious shortcuts (http://www.news-leader.com/today/0628-Faithfultr-92168.html)
When the sun goes down at Hudi Schiffer's house tonight, his lights will all blink on without even a flip of a switch — a neat trick because as an Orthodox Jew, Schiffer's not allowed to turn on electricity during the Sabbath. But thanks to a new $2,000 system the 29-year-old installed, he can follow the letter of the law and not leave his bulbs burning all weekend.
Here's some news for people who find worshipping a tad taxing: It's getting easier. A small but growing number of the nation's faithful are trying church-lobby ATMs, e-mail sermons and some other pretty neat high-tech solutions to obey religious protocol (TiVo, anyone?). One online outfit, PalTalk, says group prayers on its videoconferences have tripled since 2000, while the Hartford Institute for Religion Research says the percentage of churches with Web sites has risen to 55 percent from 18 percent in five years. A recent addition: streaming-video services, just right for pajama-clad parishioners to watch their own pastor preach live.Most of this sounds pretty cool, and natural extensions of technology into religious practices. But ATMs in church lobbies? Something about that just doesn't seem right to me.
When the sun goes down at Hudi Schiffer's house tonight, his lights will all blink on without even a flip of a switch — a neat trick because as an Orthodox Jew, Schiffer's not allowed to turn on electricity during the Sabbath. But thanks to a new $2,000 system the 29-year-old installed, he can follow the letter of the law and not leave his bulbs burning all weekend.
Here's some news for people who find worshipping a tad taxing: It's getting easier. A small but growing number of the nation's faithful are trying church-lobby ATMs, e-mail sermons and some other pretty neat high-tech solutions to obey religious protocol (TiVo, anyone?). One online outfit, PalTalk, says group prayers on its videoconferences have tripled since 2000, while the Hartford Institute for Religion Research says the percentage of churches with Web sites has risen to 55 percent from 18 percent in five years. A recent addition: streaming-video services, just right for pajama-clad parishioners to watch their own pastor preach live.Most of this sounds pretty cool, and natural extensions of technology into religious practices. But ATMs in church lobbies? Something about that just doesn't seem right to me.