I've been giving some thought lately to the sacraments and SL. It was all kicked off by a comment I read somewhere else, by someone else, to the effect of, "If anyone ends up trying to administer sacraments in SL, it'll probably be the Episcopalians who do it first." Which I took as both a badge of honor and a hex sign all at the same time!
Specifically:
1. What would be the efficacy of a sacrament administered through SL? Beyond that, what would be the benefit? (I'm using "efficacy" in the sense of how theologians use it, and "benefit" in the sense of how everyone else uses that term.)
2. What are the pastoral implications?
3. Do virtual environments change our way of thinking about the doctrine of "real presence"?
4. What if anything does this mean for Anglicans in particular - a way of being Christian that encompasses such a wide diversity of opinion about sacramentality?
5. Are there some sacraments that should never attempt to be realized in a virtual environment?
6. What's the difference between, say, genuflecting through a SL gesture and doing it in real life? What role does embodiment play?
7. What's the difference between, say, being told of your absolution through an electronic exchange versus being in the presence of another actual person who pronounces it using means that are immediately perceptible and filled with a million nonverbal cues?
Anyone else interested in this topic?
Friday, November 23, 2007
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