Religious leaders go to church and argue metaphorically.

When the first radio and television broadcasts began to reach homes around the world, religious programming was among the first mainstream of both new media. Now, as the world moves away from flat, 2D screens and frequency-bound audio broadcasts, religious practitioners around the world are turning to the metaverse, Web3, spatial computing and artificial intelligence technologies for the transport of faith.

However, there are still faith leaders who believe there are dangers associated with these technologies, faith leaders who question the necessity of modern technological trappings, and billions of traditional religious followers who are still waiting for guidance.

On the supporter side, Sreevas Sahasranamam, a professor at the University of Glasgow, recently described the positive potential of Hindu conversion in Swaraj magazine:

“Imagine that you have got Getopadesha directly from Lord Krishna. No, I'm not talking about being in a sci-fi time machine to take you back in time to the Battle of Kurukshetra. Rather, I'm talking about being in the living room, donning the role of Arjuna, seeking answers to my internal battles through Jyotopadesha from Lord Krishna's avatar in my Ray-Ban Meta mirror.

Many see the immersive qualities of metavas, especially when experienced in virtual reality, as a way to get closer to the scriptures and stories surrounding their religion.

Sahasranamam also wrote about using the metaverse as a meditation aid, suggesting that immersion leads to deeper and more meaningful experiences.

Not everyone is pumped about the metaverse's potential as a religious tool. Gavin Ortlund and Jay Kim, theologians and Christian pastors from the United States, see it as something that could add to the current model of communion, but both men seemed to agree that it is not a substitute for physical churches.

The two discussed the matter in a recently released video. During the talk, Kim wondered aloud if the idea of ​​a “church in the metaverse” was an oxymoron.

The main objection to binary seems to be the digital/virtual nature of the metaverse. By Ortlund:

“So, baptism and the Lord's Supper, and those are physical acts, the church is incorrigibly carnal, you know, you need a physical body for the church because you have to have people in there to enter the water or eat the bread and the wine. And this is an example of something missing if you're avoiding physical contact.

The Roman Catholic Church takes a different view. He has embraced some of the metaverse technology, working on Web3, non-vulnerable tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse over the past couple of years, but the current leader, Pope Francis, is not a fan of all futuristic technologies.

As Cointelegraph recently reported, the Pope had some choice words about the dawn of the age of artificial intelligence.

“There is a great danger of the disproportionate benefit of the few at the expense of the poverty of the many.”

His final prescription is to support the development of a strong moral and legislative bulwark against the inherent and harmful effects of AI, even as he acknowledges the technology's benefits when used responsibly.

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