Jim Gilliam – The Internet Is My Religion

Earlier this year, this video popped up onto my radar with the title “The Internet is my Religion.” As someone who has a very Internet 1.0 view of the nearly boundless possibilities the Internet holds within its scope, there was no way I wasn’t clicking through that one. Now I’ve done my best to keep religion and/or politics out of this venue, feeling that to be more appropriate for my personal blog as opposed to this group venture; in this case though, Jim Gilliam‘s personal journey is so powerful it eclipses any concerns I would otherwise have had about the subject matter.

What I found on the other side of that perfectly-constructed title was a singular story of one man’s personal journey that encompassed everything I hoped the internet could be. It’s at once honest, universal, heartbreaking, and uplifting – and it truly demonstrates that when given the opportunity to learn, teach, and communicate, the best of humanity truly comes forward. I was left so awestruck by the end of his talk, that the only thing I could think is that if the Internet is his religion, he just found a convert.

[Update] It’s come to my attention that a whole community has developed around the speech at InternetIsMyReligion.com/ If you’re interested, I’d highly suggest checking it out to add a comment, share your thoughts, engage with like-minded people, or just to say “thanks.”