For-profit religious Web sites appeared headed for the dot-com graveyard before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks sparked a nationwide spiritual revival, boosting attendance in churches and delivering millions of new visitors to God-focused Web sites. Now the question looms: Can the revival bring salvation to online religion?
While there is no evidence that religious sites are getting a commercial boost from terrorism, there are signs the Sept. 11 fallout may test some of their concepts about how the Internet could enhance religious tolerance and help meet people's spiritual needs.
Those, after all, were key ideas behind Beliefnet, a New York-based commercial Web site launched two years ago with the goal of creating a multi-faith community online. Co-founder Steven Waldman, a former national editor at U.S. News & World Report, turned to the Internet after his idea for a multi-faith print magazine was rejected by publishers who argued that religious content could not make money unless it was rooted in a single faith.
Waldman was intrigued at how Web sites, unlike print publications, can be many things at once. So he created separate electronic channels for each religion and allowed users of each to share content, discussions and spiritual tools, including guided meditations and "prayer circles" that let people of different faiths post prayers online. His site also explores spiritual and inspirational topics that stray outside organized religion.
Waldman's own interfaith marriage (he's Jewish, she's Presbyterian) and demographic research convinced him that the spiritual interests of millions of people increasingly cross religious boundaries due to interfaith marriages, immigration and globalization of media.
But like most dot-coms, Beliefnet had a rough ride this year, slashing its staff of nearly 70 to 28 people as Internet advertising imploded. It stopped offering direct commerce after visitors showed little interest in buying religious books, music or other goods.
Tony Uphoff, Beliefnet's chief executive, said advertising on the site appeals strongly to dieting and dating companies. He plans to supplement ad revenue with off-line media ventures and digital commerce products, such as subscriptions for spiritual tutorials and other tools. The site sends nearly 100 million e-mails containing inspirational messages to 3.8 million subscribers every month. At least for now, they're all free.
Following Beliefnet in its retreat this year from traditional online retailing was Crosswalk.com, a Chantilly-based portal focused on Christianity. While Beliefnet is privately held and does not disclose revenue, Crosswalk trades on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol AMEN and posted dismal financial results last week: It lost $3.6 million on revenue of $3.4 million in the first nine months of this year. Another venture-backed portal, Christianity.com, which is supported by Pat Robertson, doesn't appear to be generating much interest, either. Yet another, iBelieve.com, has unplugged from the Internet entirely.
Many observers are wondering if the terrorist attacks could help religion find its way on the Internet. Traffic has never been as heavy as people thought it would be at religious sites, but the number of people visiting 22 of the larger ones rose an average of 20 percent in September compared with August, according to Jupiter Media Metrix.
Beliefnet was quick to respond to the Sept. 11 events. The staff created special prayer circles and set up new areas for non-Muslims to explore Islam, including interactive tutorials and dialogues allowing Muslims to chat directly with people of other faiths. Beliefnet also supplied background on Islam to ABC News and conducted joint polling with the television network.
Taking its content offline, Beliefnet signed a deal with publisher Rodale Inc. to compile a quick book, which is planned to be the first of several offline religious ventures. Titled "From the Ashes: A Spiritual Response to the Attack on America," the book reached stores last week. It features essays from spiritual leaders and, on the bottom of every page, displays a running ticker of anguished messages that people posted online after the attacks, including cries to all forms of God. "Goddess, where were you?" one posted. "Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't you stop it?"
America's Muslim community soon warmed to the Beliefnet Web site, viewing it as a platform to reach out to Christians and Jews in an attempt to differentiate mainstream Islam from the terrorists waging jihad, or holy war, against the United States. Ingrid Mattison, vice president of the Islamic Society of North America, published an essay on Beliefnet noting that American Muslims traditionally have been more critical of the American government than of oppressive Muslim movements and calling on them to show leadership by speaking out more aggressively against injustices committed in the name of Islam.
"These Web sites are playing a very important role, providing a common forum for different religions," said Sayyid Syeed, who heads the Islamic Society, an umbrella group based outside Indianapolis that represents hundreds of local and professional Muslim groups.
Before Sept. 11, Syeed said, there was little direct dialogue in America between Muslims and people of other faiths, even though there was more give and take here than in Muslim countries. But the terrorist attacks intensified the need for direct communication, he said, and Beliefnet facilitates it in unique ways.
Tariq al-Haydar, a young graduate student in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, is one of many foreigners who joined in a Beliefnet discussion about how American Muslims differ from Muslims elsewhere. He lamented the "corrupt tyranny" that he said rules his own country and told the Beliefnet audience: "I believe the way America treats its citizens is much closer to Islam than the ways of Arab 'puppet' governments. That is probably one of the advantages of being a Muslim in America: You will be heard. This doesn't mean that the American government's foreign policies, especially towards Palestine, aren't deeply flawed, but I wish my government treated me more like yours does you."
In an e-mail interview later, al-Haydar said he had a "positive" experience communicating with folks of other faiths on Beliefnet (except, he said, for one "white, gay Neo-Pagan who didn't think much of me because I'm an Arab"). Al-Haydar also said he sees the novel site as a path to fighting religious ignorance and exploring the concepts many religions share. Was it valuable enough to pay Beliefnet? He said he is "often reluctant to pay for anything on the Internet" but added: "You never know!"
While some think public interest in religion will wane -- churches are already reporting that attendance has dropped back, closer to pre-Sept. 11 levels -- Syeed remains hopeful that the terrorist attacks will ultimately deepen respect for religious diversity in America, rather than drive a wedge between faiths. The Internet plays a key role, he added, by allowing people to communicate within a matter of minutes thoughts that used to take days to convey at conventions and other face-to-face events.
"Just as during the civil rights movement we grappled with the reality of racial diversity, we are grappling in this crisis with religious diversity," Syeed added. "We will come to grips with it and learn to respect it."