SBNR.org: Can Internet, Facebook and iPhone Improve our Relationship to God?
SBNR.org investigates how the Internet, Facebook and the iPhone can improve our relationship to God, or the Divine by any other name. Will Facebook replace church over time? Independent spiritual teacher Ian Lawton says maybe so.
(Vocus/PRWEB ) June 5, 2009 -- Today SBNR.org, the organizing body of the Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNR) movement, launched its Facebook presence. “As humanity evolves so does the way we relate to the Divine,” says Ian Lawton, Founder of SBNR.org. “Social media is changing the way we relate to each other and that includes our shared spiritual experience.” Like many companies, SBNR.org leverages social media to serve its community. “We have launched our main Facebook page and a separate page that offers daily SBNR affirmations," says Lawton, "but that is just the beginning. The real opportunity is to work with the SBNR community and invent new ways of experiencing the Divine through the use of social media.”
Lawton finds that Facebook allows him to connect with people that resonate with his unique form of spiritual wisdom. “A woman contacted me on my personal Facebook page and told me she was contemplating suicide,” he explains. Lawton went on to email the woman privately and was able to guide her away from suicide and toward seeking help. Their only communication was on the Facebook platform. They never met. They never spoke on the phone. “I have used Facebook like some ministers use their pastoral office,” says Lawton. “New times require new ways of providing spiritual service.” The company is developing new tools that service people's spiritual lives outside of traditional religious rituals. "The old model requires people to be in the same physical space on Sunday using a rigidly controlled approach to a group spiritual experience," says Ian Lawton who is an ordained Anglican minister. "The new model is to have deeply spiritual experiences at any time, in any place, and to share them with friends and family."
SBNR.org is asking how the advancement of communication technology, and specifically the Internet, can be applied to our spiritual lives. SBNR.org CEO and Co-Founder, Steve Frazee defines spiritual technology as: “knowledge we apply to experiencing the interconnectedness of all things.” Questions that are not allowed in traditional religion are being asked by SBNR.org. “How can my iPhone get me closer to God?” asks Frazee. “In 1455, Gutenberg printed 180 Bibles and now, five hundred years later, I’ve got twenty electronic and searchable versions of the Bible in my pocket. Yet the massive advance in communication technology hasn’t done much for humanity’s ability to easily connect with Spirit." Frazee has a contagious optimism about humanity's future. "The next big thing for humanity is an upgrade to our spiritual technology,” predicts Frazee. "These new tools will enable people to achieve the same rapid advancement in the realm of spirituality that has become commonplace in the area of consumer electronics."
SBNR.org was launched this year by Lawton and Frazee. They invite other spiritual teachers to join them at SBNR.org and affirm every individual’s personal spiritual journey. The company has the intention to organize and support the fifty million Americans, and the broader global population, that call themselves Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNR). “The word ‘religion’ is rooted in the concept of linking back to the past. We are asking questions about going forward into the future,” says Lawton.
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