Steve Skojec

I’ve long believed it, despite facing a lot of dismissive doubters. And yet, I’ve encountered people through my blog who were provoked by something I said to consider the faith, or who were bolstered in their pursuit of it. I’ll probably never know how the things I write influence those that read them.

In a column I missed over the weekend at Inside Catholic, Jennifer Fulwiler discusses how her conversion from atheism to Catholicism came about through the comm box. It’s a bit of a kick in the head to those who are always mocking the earnest crusade of the comm-box warrior:

When I first started paying attention to discussions of religion online, I was satisfied to see no shortage of content that mirrored my own atheistic views. I encountered the same arguments for the godless worldview that I’d heard from friends and family members my entire life, and that I’d often made myself. And yet, there was something different about these arguments when made online: the combox. A hallmark of Internet publishing is that authors allow readers to immediately respond in a comments box (or “combox”), a form field attached to their articles — and this quick and easy feedback changes everything.

I watched with great interest as Christians and atheists debated one another on various Web sites and forums across the Internet. At first, I almost flinched when I’d see a Christian enter the debate. I’d always had the impression that it was only we atheists who could ask the tough questions and whose worldview could withstand intense scrutiny. I expected the Christians to get crushed.

But as the debates played out, it became obvious that any intellectually honest person had to admit that these Christians had some basis for their beliefs. Actually, it started to seem that they might be the ones with reason on their side. I thought I had some good questions for Christians, and I did. But it turned out that they had some good questions for me, too.

In an interactive medium, falsehoods are called out, bad or incomplete ideas collapse under the weight of cross-examination, and anyone honestly seeking the truth will recognize it when they see it. Whatever our belief systems, we can’t isolate ourselves online the way we can in real life. In my case that meant that instead of being affirmed in my beliefs by my atheist friends, I bumped into Christians and was forced to confront their ideas in a way I’d never had to before. Over and over again I noticed that it was only the Christians — and Catholics in particular — whose belief system didn’t crack under the pressure of a flood of tough questions.

It’s good to hear this from someone who has benefited from it. Catholic New Media is an interesting thing - I wrote my BA senior thesis on the “New E-Vangelization” - but the rubber really hits the road when someone finds actual value, and the catalyst for conversion, in the great digital commission.