iPod religion

I listen to sermons and other stuff on my iPod as I drive to work every day (I also listen at other times). So I was intrigued to come across this news story today:

Religious teaching straight to your iPod

I found this paragraph particularly interesting.

"A survey last year by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that more people used the Internet to look for religious and spiritual information than to download music, participate in online auctions or visit adult websites."

I'm always a bit suspicious of surveys of this kind - and the name of the organisation doing it might infer some bias - but nevertheless, it's interesting even if it isn't entirely accurate.

However, I have some nagging doubts about the danger of privatising religion - and hear I'm really talking about Christianity - with people choosing to listen to podcasts rather than be part of a Christian community/church.

But then, there are downsides to lots of things, and for my money the increased availability of podcasts is a good thing. It allows you a degree of selectivity - to find styles of teaching that meet your needs and preferences - and allows you to follow trends and thinking in the wider church - anything that can be used to promote thinking and education gets my seal of approval.