April 27, 2007
Searching for Hate
Robert X Cringely has one of the oddest columns on the Virginia Tech massacre I have seen. He comments on his own experiences with disturbed students, and then states that
People fail just like machines do. We break for any number of reasons -- mechanical failure, fatigue, bad programming. But unlike machines, people are not subject to statistical quality control, though maybe they should be. There are probably signs of impending failure we could see if we were looking. Only we don't look, because it never seemed necessary.
Now, he argues, some form of looking may be necessary since the consequences of failure have become drastic. A solution:
There are Internet start-ups scouring the web by the hundreds right now looking for every imaginable form of content or commercial intention, but I'm guessing there isn't a single spider program specifically dragging back signs of hate. Why not? Search the web for hate and vitriol and despair, do some clever parsing and analysis to figure out the where and when, then throw a mapping mashup interface on it all with the simple goal of giving school principals and baseball coaches and worried moms and dads a place to look for trouble brewing in their schools, towns or neighborhoods.
To a degree, I think he has a point. Inasmuch as there are already people searching for sex offenders, it seems like a valid next step to start looking for potential homicidal maniacs.
Three problems stand out, though. First, telling a search engine to "Show Me Everyone Who is Really, Really Angry or Upsent" would generate a massive amount of false positives. After all, this is the age of blogging. Sure, 1 out of a million may be an actual lead, but how do you narrow that down?
Second, the potential for abuse is great. Who defines what is hate?
Third, even if you identify a potential homicidal maniac, then what? Usually, he hasn't committed a crime until he (or she, but usually he) starts shooting. The Minority Report comes to mind.
Posted by maphet at 10:08 AM | Comments (1)
April 25, 2007
Links for the day 04-25-2007
Turn it up to 11... Spinal Tap are back!"
How to prepare for an alien invasion. Just in case.
Exploratory and standard theology.
Let the Python Eat Its Tail. Amen.
Posted by maphet at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
Selling Church
A side benefit of (a) moving and (b) moving into a rapidly growing area is that you now get to be Targeted. Apparently, many marketing campaigns are based upon combing through utility company records for recently moved people and sending said people large quantities of information about What Is Available in Your Area.
This, combined with what appears to be a church planting boom in my area, means my house has received a great deal of advertisements for local churches. And almost every advertisement proclaims the same things: "you should go to our church because we have free coffee, great childcare, practical, relevant teaching, and a fun, relaxed atmosphere."
Of course, there is nothing wrong with any of that. My guess is that the underlying desire behind these efforts is laudable - to serve God and to reach people where they are. This is good.
What becomes disconcerting is what is left out. One flyer we received for Easter proclaimed that we could show up wearing anything we wanted, just as long as we weren't naked. But what were going to? The only thing on the flyer that indicated this was different from, say, a YMCA event, was a blurb noting that there would be some teaching on how the Bible can help you have a stress-free life. Otherwise, there was nothing explicitly "religious" on the card.
There are, of course, the theological problems. It is hard to see Jesus walking around Galilee shouting, "hey! look! free coffee!" Or to see the apostles arguing, "you really need less stress in your life." Something about the mystery and grandeur of the New Testament message seems lost when distilled to free coffee and wearing shorts to church.
But there also seems to be something wrong with this picture from a marketing perspective. Something about your product, it seems, needs to be unique. There is nothing unique about coffee, a relaxed atmosphere, and teaching on stress-free living. If I'm willing to spend a few dollars, I can get all of that by going to the book section in Wal-Mart and then heading to the local coffee shop.
At the same time, these strategies apparently work. Which makes me wonder who they work on. If I had no interest in church in the first place, nothing about the advertisements makes a compelling reason why I should get up on a Sunday morning and not sleep in. If I was already deeply committed to church, then I probably would make my decision based on other criteria. And if I was in the process of seeking genuine answers to questions of God, Jesus, life, salvation, etc., nothing in the advertisements promises answers to those questions.
My guess is that these types of marketing strategies work most effectively on people who know they should go to church, but want the easiest route possible. Someone who feels guilty when he or she does not go (maybe parental units are providing pressure) and wants to remove the guilt at as little cost as possible.
Given the cultural makeup of Atlanta and the Bible Belt, this is probably a sizable group. And that group should not be neglected. Still, what is the long-term effectiveness of this? If you aren't getting the seasoned or committed leaders, your potential for a strong foundation disappears. If you aren't getting the energetic new converts or the earnest seekers (which is what I assume churches are primarily attempting to attract), how will you grow?
In a way, I wish my first substantial post was not critical. At the same time, the gospel is an amazing thing, which upends ourselves and our understanding of God and the world. I wish churches in the area felt a little more free to proclaim that.
Posted by maphet at 03:40 PM | Comments (1)
April 24, 2007
The First Entry of the Second Weblog
So, here it is. Nothing special, or profound, or life-changing. Just another entry to another blog.
My last blog was here, but it kind of died off over the last year or two. Now that I have moved to Atlanta, have a little more free time, and am itching to write something other than project proposals or documentation, I might as well give it another shot.
I tend to be interested in a number of different things. This blog, as I have time and motivation, could deal with anything from politics to theology to technology to philosophy to photography to movies to books to kids (have 2 and one on the way) to switching to a mac to living back in the South to who knows what. Some of these subjects I know something about, many of them I don't. It is up to whoever may read this to discern which is which.
Or, I may post random links and YouTube videos. Who knows.
Posted by maphet at 09:29 PM | Comments (1)