"God is just what happens when humanity is connected"
June 8, 2011 11:05 AM   Subscribe

The Internet Is My ReligionJim Gilliam gives a moving ten-minute speech at the Personal Democracy Forum on surviving cancer, faith, activism, interconnectedness and the internet.

(Somewhat ironically, LiveStream asks for an eMail address a few minutes into the speech, causing issues for some viewers. The nag does not appear to verify any information provided.)

Semi-related: Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture. Jim Gilliam and the PD Forum previously on the blue.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul (11 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Lord, spare me from your followers.
posted by entropicamericana at 11:25 AM on June 8, 2011


(I didn't get bothered for a email)

I saw everyone tweeting about this yesterday so I just took the time to watch it, and it's great, and it is moving, but I hate to sound like a contrarian, but I wish the talk had more of a point to it. I mean, I totally get the wonder of the internet and he really can thank his life to connecting with people via his blog, but I don't really have anything to take away from it that I did from Randy Pausch's last lecture.
posted by mathowie at 11:28 AM on June 8, 2011


Does this have something to do with the Singularity?
posted by Ratio at 11:29 AM on June 8, 2011


That guy is the luckiest extremely unlucky person on earth.
posted by pwally at 11:31 AM on June 8, 2011


Oh jesus, I think I just realized that metafilter is my church.
posted by pwally at 11:41 AM on June 8, 2011 [1 favorite]


Oh jesus, I think I just realized that metafilter is my church.

The only church in the history of everything with a one-time tithe.
posted by joe lisboa at 11:55 AM on June 8, 2011 [3 favorites]


mathowie: "I don't really have anything to take away from it that I did from Randy Pausch's last lecture."

That's OK. He's testifying in his church. It's an "outward profession of faith and personal religious experience." It isn't for your benefit; it's for his.

Randy Pausch's speech wasn't a testimony; it was explicity a lecture, a lesson. And it wasn't for your benefit, or for his; it was for his kids. The only thing that beats kids is puppies.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:11 PM on June 8, 2011 [1 favorite]


Aaaand...halfway through the watching the video PDF turned off the channel? Does anyone have an alternate link?
posted by asnider at 1:06 PM on June 8, 2011


"I have faith in people, I believe in god, and the internet is my religion."
It wasn't clear to me whether the term god, as he uses it, always means "people," or if he allows for a transcendent being who is god. I hope he didn't have to lose his (traditionally defined) faith in God in order to gain faith in the community of people around him -- but I'm glad he found that community.

I enjoyed his story.
posted by BurntHombre at 2:14 PM on June 8, 2011


There ought to be a special place in hell for people who broaden, blur and denature the meanings of words to the point that they lose both their power and their precision. Especially religiously-based words.

I use the term "hell" figuratively, of course.
posted by Decani at 2:53 PM on June 8, 2011


There ought to be a special place in hell for people who broaden, blur and denature the meanings of words to the point that they lose both their power and their precision. Especially religiously-based words.

Yeah, maybe they could get cancer twice, with their mother dying of cancer during the first time, and then have to get a lung transplant because of the brutal damage caused by the second round of cancer treatment. Jesus Christ.
posted by nanojath at 3:56 PM on June 8, 2011 [2 favorites]


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