Twelfth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

This paper discusses how the Internet in general, and more specifically the invention of blogging, reshaped religious talks in the Romanian evangelical communities. Those sensitive topics that could not be openly address in churches migrated towards the blogosphere, when, by the mid 2000s, the Romanian evangelical lay persons and pastors alike began to step in this newfound land. At the same time, it explores the opportunities and challenges that arose in the mediated public space, where other public actors were present and joined, mostly uninvited, the otherwise “behind the closed door” conversions. Under scrutiny are such developments as confronting and questioning the authority and the institutional power and monopoly of the church. This attitude reflected a shift towards assuming more fully the freedom of speech and thinking in this new environment and resulted in attempts to adapt the churchy quasi-hermetic language to a wider and more diverse audience. But it was also accompanied by some negative outcomes like vilification and public slander that revealed a rather unexpected existence of a category of evangelical believers seduced by scandal, strife, or suburban language. All these aspects were part of the process of democratizing the topics that were tackled, the participants status, and the perspectives adopted in different debates.