Mike's musings

A SecondLife Utopia

For those who don't know it, SecondLife is a virtual world where you can interact in 3D with other people. Each person has an avatar, which you can dress up, change the looks - even appear as a different animal or fantasy creature. People and organisations can own land, build structures, exhibit art, sell and buy property, furniture and art, vehicles, objects and intellectual property. Universities, companies, charities and churches are provides services (pun intended) worldwide.

But why do people take part in SecondLife? The obvious joke is that you don't need SecondLife if you have a first life. And it's true that many people use SecondLife as a way out of the life that's outside. SecondLife gives people a chance to look how they want, to build what they want, to live in the sort of environment that they want, and to present the personality that they want.

And SecondLife is, almost by definition, a no-place (the Greek root of the word) - you can be whatever you need to be. But I'd argue that this isn't always a bad thing. A chance to explore what you can be - as long as you're honest to yourself and God - may be a good thing. There are some very exciting things going on in a church sense in SecondLife. An example which I'm involved in is the Anglican Church in SecondLife. We're building a community, are planning services, and have an amazing mediaeval cathedral on our own island. We have a leadership team committed not only to liturgy, but also to the pastoral as well.

And the pastoral comes up more than you might expect. For a variety of reasons which I think it would be very interesting to examine, many people seem very open to pastoral or faith-based experiences in SecondLife. Opportunities to talk about faith - with people from a huge range of traditions - come up fairly frequently. It's not always when you expect it, or want it, but when it comes, you need to embrace it.

There are dangers to SecondLife, certainly, but opportunities. There are circumstances in which it could be destructive - and there's gambling and sex and pornography there in ways that are difficult to reconcile with faith - but it can be positive, too. A no-place can be a what-place, a who-place, and a how-place.

Synchroblog

Today is a "synchroblog" on the subject of "Utopia". If you've liked what you read here, or, more particularly, if you didn't, and you'd like to read some other opinions, please visit one of the other participating blogs:

• Steve Hayes at Notes from the Underground
• John Morehead at John Morehead's Musings
• Nudity, Innocence, and Christian Distopia at Phil Wyman's Square No More
• Utopia Today: Living Above Consumerism at Be the Revolution
• Nowhere Will Be Here at Igneous Quill
• A This-Worldly Faith at Elizaphanian
• Bridging the Gap at Calacirian
• The Ostrich and the Utopian Myth at Decompressing Faith
• Being Content in the Present at One Hand Clapping
• Eternity in their Hearts by Tim Abbott
• Relationship - The catch-22 of the Internet Utopia at Jeremiah's Blog
• U-topia or My-topia? at On Earth as in Heaven
• A SecondLife Utopia at Mike's Musings
• Mrs. Brown and the Kingdom of God at Eternal Echoes

Labels: secondlife, synchroblog