SimChurch

Roland Piquepaille writes "It's Sunday and some of you might go to a church. But starting on May 11, and for a duration of three months, you'll be able to go to a virtual church. Only the building, with its altar and pews, will be virtual. The preacher, congregation and prayers will be real, according to this BBC News article, 'Glimpse inside the virtual church.' This experiment is launched by a Christian website, Ship of Fools, and will be named Church of Fools. Even with such a foolish name, the virtual church project has been approved by the church hierarchy. This overview contains other details and references about the Church of Fools project."

The Ark

[Troy]

It looks like the basic Flash engine that they are using also powered the Ark [shipoffools.com], an internet based reality game show that the Ship ran last year, featuring Biblical luminaries on a 40 day voyage around a mockup of Noah's Ark. If you examine the screenshots of Church of Fools, you can see Simon Peter, Jezebel, Mary Magdeline, Joseph (with rainbow coat), etc. You can still tour around the Ark by clicking the link above.

-Troy
Proud Shipmate

Re:WWJD?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's supported by "tithe" provided by some sort of internet money transfere service (paypal, etc).

So no, it's not being "desecrated."

I find the idea rather interesting. It's a decent step above those televised churches. You can actually ask people questions online. So, if it works for some people, more power to them, IMHO.

I couldn't help it...

[tweakt]

And... free, with a visit to the "house of fools" site, the companion guide:
Religion For Dummies [amazon.com]

--
and yes, I *am* an atheist :P

Re:Will the priests be able to...

[Aardpig]

Will the priests be able to virtually molest the alter boys?

That should read '...be able virtually to molest the altar boys?'. You shouldn't split an inifinitive, it's just bad grammar.

Re:WWJD?

[Troy]

Ship of Fools is supported through donations and have a track record of being conscientious about doing things ethically. I seriously doubt that they would tolerate popup ads on what is intended to be a kind of sacred space.

-Troy

Re:Religion is for the week-minded

[Foolhardy]

There are more pro-religion books out there than anti-religion books.[...]Name one great composer or inventor who was an atheist. Couldn't do it? I didn't think so. So far the score's looking pretty good, eh? A billion Christian's can't all be wrong. Would you also tell Bush himself that he was wrong?

Irrelevant [nizkor.org]: the number of people that believe something has nothing to do with its truth.

Ever heard the phrase "time will tell?" Well time has indeed "told", still after 2000 years of people who believe in Jesus. And going strong.

Irrelevant [nizkor.org]: how long a tradition has existed has nothing to do with its validity.

I wouldn't put it past your kind...

Irrelevant [nizkor.org].

If they were wrong about God, they could concievably be wrong about their other theories/inventions/achievements. But they were right in their achievements. Name one great composer or inventor who was an atheist.

Irrelevant. [nizkor.org]

Doesn't leave you with much.

Re:WWJD?

[Lurker McLurker]

The Ship is my favourite site, and I've yet to see a pop-up ad on it. They do have a banner ad on their discussion boards, but my computer blocks it.

The Ship is mostly funded through donations.

Ship of Fools....

[Anonymous Coward]

is emphatically not a christian website. In fact, it's the precise opposite.

Re:Might be a good alternative for some.

[_LFTL_]

Matthew 18:20
"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

!sophistry

[benzeen]

maybe if you were greek and living 2000 years ago, then you'd be a sophist.

nowadays, the undecided, the middlemen, are called Agnostic.

pax

This site is joke... no really!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Did no one realize this site is a spoof? like landover baptist...

Checkout the top article...

Animals used to get sacrificed by priests, but in these liberal times, they get blessed up instead. Join this week's caption competition.

"Having been warned by the Bishop his church would be
closed if he didn't dramatically increase congregation
numbers, the vicar Christened anything that moved.
"

Em..It's a parody

[Anonymous Coward]

Hate to troll but ship of fools is a parody website..Not a "Christian website". Note the 11th commandment competition on the frontpage, or the Biblical curse generator. I know most slashdotters are American, but come on ! You've been onioned.