The Internet in Mission and Ecumenism ... - Reformiert online
The Internet in Mission and Ecumenism ... - Reformiert online
The Internet in Mission and Ecumenism ... - Reformiert online
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4. Input 2: “<strong>The</strong> <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>in</strong> the Ecumenical <strong>and</strong> <strong>Mission</strong> Work<br />
of Churches <strong>in</strong> India“ by Rev. Dr. Joshva Raja<br />
Rev. Dr. Joshva Raja, United <strong>The</strong>ological College Bangalore/ India<br />
1. Introduction<br />
Be<strong>in</strong>g a student of Electronics <strong>and</strong> of the <strong>The</strong>ology I have often tried to explore the common<br />
ground between the two. In 2001 I organised a conference on the ‘Perceptions of Islam <strong>in</strong> the<br />
Media’ for the mass media practitioners at the United <strong>The</strong>ological College, Bangalore. Many<br />
journalists, reporters, editors <strong>and</strong> other communication scholars were present <strong>and</strong> made this<br />
programme a successful one. <strong>The</strong> participants proposed form<strong>in</strong>g a network to br<strong>in</strong>g more<br />
awareness of the false perceptions <strong>in</strong> the media about our friends from different religions. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
asked me whether I could create an e-group that would br<strong>in</strong>g them together. This led to ‘<strong>in</strong>terfaith<br />
<strong>in</strong>teraction’ a yahoo e-group with twenty members (ma<strong>in</strong>ly media personnel) <strong>in</strong> 2002 January. As<br />
we began to engage <strong>in</strong> this <strong>in</strong>teraction more people expressed their will<strong>in</strong>gness to jo<strong>in</strong> the group.<br />
Now, we have 200 members from all over the world.<br />
a. Net <strong>and</strong> Action<br />
We cont<strong>in</strong>ued to discuss issues relat<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>in</strong>terfaith issues. As we began discuss<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
issues our vision widened to <strong>in</strong>clude all the issues of religious dialogue <strong>and</strong> human concern.<br />
Religious leaders <strong>and</strong> scholars from all over the world received the email. I wish to give an<br />
example of the impact of our e-group on one person’s life. Mr Ian Stillman is a disabled British<br />
charity worker who was work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> India among the disabled people s<strong>in</strong>ce 1974. Dur<strong>in</strong>g his stay <strong>in</strong><br />
India, he was arrested <strong>and</strong> was given a ten-year sentence <strong>in</strong> India on charges of possess<strong>in</strong>g 20 kg<br />
cannabis, a charge he refuted. When he was arrested on 24 th June 2002 one of our members<br />
placed this <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>in</strong> our group ask<strong>in</strong>g people to help his release. As the different religious<br />
leaders received this mail from around the world some of our members tried their best to get Mr Ian<br />
Stillman released. Ma<strong>in</strong>ly the H<strong>in</strong>du groups such as Rashtria Sweyamsevak Sangh <strong>and</strong> Visva<br />
H<strong>in</strong>du Parisad (fundamentalists groups) requested the government to release him. Even church<br />
leaders <strong>in</strong> UK brought the matter to the British Government <strong>and</strong> kept the public <strong>in</strong>formed about<br />
him. Thus with a lot of pressure from all sides Mr Ian Stillman was released on December 7 th 2002.<br />
By network<strong>in</strong>g people, <strong>in</strong>stitutions <strong>and</strong> churches with the help of the technology of convergence,<br />
we can carry out the tasks of Christian mission <strong>and</strong> ecumenism <strong>in</strong> the new ways that was not<br />
possible before. I have a few more success stories <strong>in</strong> us<strong>in</strong>g technology that brought changes <strong>in</strong> the<br />
life of <strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>and</strong> communities.<br />
b. Net <strong>and</strong> Dialogue<br />
Through this group we have conducted a number of major programmes of dialogue<br />
between different religious leaders (for example RSS-Christian dialogue at the UTC on 22nd March<br />
2002). We carried out peace marches <strong>in</strong> many parts of India <strong>and</strong> held a few major ecumenical <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>terreligious discussions between church leaders <strong>and</strong> other religious groups <strong>in</strong> August 2003 (after<br />
the recent violence <strong>in</strong> Gujarat – a state <strong>in</strong> India). I have established a website separately for this<br />
group which will slowly be developed (www.<strong>in</strong>terfaith<strong>in</strong>teraction.org). As an <strong>in</strong>dividual who still<br />
explores the possibility of br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g about changes through <strong>in</strong>formation communication technology, I<br />
am plann<strong>in</strong>g other explorative websites to see how far the <strong>Internet</strong> can br<strong>in</strong>g about changes <strong>in</strong><br />
people’s perceptions <strong>and</strong> attitudes. My exploration of us<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>Internet</strong> for Interfaith has given me<br />
an experiential knowledge <strong>in</strong> this field. I have also worked as a missionary among Tribal<br />
communities <strong>in</strong> Kerala. I will be reflect<strong>in</strong>g on the use of <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>in</strong> the area of mission <strong>and</strong><br />
ecumenism from these two different experiences. While highlight<strong>in</strong>g a few examples I am also<br />
conscious of the limitations of the Net. Now I would like po<strong>in</strong>t out the areas of mission <strong>and</strong><br />
ecumenism <strong>in</strong> which the <strong>Internet</strong> can play a major role. Before I identify the role of the <strong>Internet</strong> <strong>in</strong><br />
this area, I like to expla<strong>in</strong> the concept of mission <strong>and</strong> ecumenism from different perspectives.<br />
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