Intro to essay # 2 - Religion and Spirituality in Second Life

You say you are looking for comfort, a place of refuge, or maybe a sincere search for truth? While some individuals may try to satisfy emotions through money, work, relationships, or other aspects of life, others believe that we were meant to live for so much more. Many individuals are searching, and some of those searches are being explored on the grounds of the virtual environment of Second Life. I believe, however, this resource may not provide the best results for this soul quenching quest. For example, the reality of the religious regulations and rules associated with Hinduism may not be fully seen or displayed through a virtual environment. The true punishment system practiced by some religions may be hidden or not seen through a non-physical and non-threatening environment. Another concern is that the word “Christian” is used so often, that it may be hard for an individual to find the right virtual church without physically sitting down with the pastor and looking beyond the eyes and words of an avatar. In the virutal world of Second Life, an individual can be exposed to a variety of religions, such as Hinduism, Islam, or Christianity--however, being only exposed to this virutal environment may also coud the indvidual's perspective of the religion's true morals and authenticy.