Ryan McGovern Outside Reading 3

The Sacred, the Regional, and the Digital. 5-1-09

The author uses this quote from a Koan to get his idea across; "What is the place where everyone is but nobody lives?" (Starrs, 193). He believes that this place is the internet, for it has its own rules, culture, and weapons. He then goes on to say that this means that the internet can be considered sacred place. This article is relevant to today because the internet is taking over more and more of our everyday lives. Look at what I'm doing right now for example, blogging on the internet. This phenomenon has gotten so big that you can follow many people's lives through their internet blog posts. This glimpse into their everyday life may even include their thoughts on sacred place and what they believe to be holy. This inside glimpse into people's lives that you don't know has never been available before in the world. At least not to this extent. The internet as sacred place can be a very real thing. For example, many religious groups have websites, chatrooms, and forums where they discuss their religion. I would say that this helps define it as sacred place. Especially if you create a ritual out of checking posts on a forum or something like that. Also, the internet is an intangible place. While you may not actually be in the internet, you post much of your life on facebook, through facebook and sites like that. So because of the exchanging of ideas that occurs on the internet, and the amount of our lives that are put on the internet, I believe that it can be considered sacred place.