i cant stand that “older than you” comment…. as if “older” people have figured anything out either lol….

Good luck with your new digs.

corny man.

and then when folks sugar coat their low blows with “I really respect what you do and blah blah blah” its sooooooooooo annoying..

and I’m still a fan of what you do.

and fans are usually the ones who expect you to conform to what their vision of you is… its a weird phenomena.

well, thats just my opinion….

one
human?

I think in time, this all will change as you might not feel you have to prove anything to anyone.

“Human” please re-read my post. I’m certainly not calling names, trying to be “eloquently dissing” or “railing” against anyone.

Good luck, Tim, and I’m still a fan of what you do. I’m sure our paths will cross in the future… Respectfully, —Robert

Their approach doesn’t particularly appeal to me, mainly because I like a healthy dose of fire in the belly when it comes to the discussion and exploration of religion. I don’t want people to set aside their differences, I want people to confront them head on!

People can threaten me all they want about not reading my site anymore, but guess what! You’re not giving me money or supporting me. Instead I’m giving YOU something for free. And I’ve been doing it whether people like it or not for years now.

Sorry, Tim, your “FUCKING LOSERS!” comment is causing me to distance myself from you once again. I thought with the new spiffy web site your discourse had changed, but what originally turned me off about your site, how you “rail against the dumbasses,” and flame anyone/anything that disagrees with you or you find disagreeable, is still present. I came back to your site because of the Ran interview and felt hopeful to see that things had changed. I have always liked your content, which I still think is excellent (I even contributed my two cents on the Santisima Muerte thread). You will probably dismiss me as yet another “dumbass” but take it from someone who is much older than you, “railing” against these people/things gets you nowhere. What is accomplished? I am not a Christian but I find it helpful to take the advice of Jesus in Matthew when he says “shake the dust off your feet” and move on to others who want to hear what you have to say when you are confronted with the disagreeable. Too much energy is wasted by flaming. Keep up your content. Shouldn’t that be enough? Laying people to waste doesn’t help anyone. Good luck with your new digs.

i love it when people complain about something somebody does and are at the same time doing exactly what they are complaining about.

i probably do it myself even… it definitly weird though…

what i dont get is why people get so easily offended by i guess “harsh” language while eloquently dissing the shit out of somebody is acceptable… i dunno, arguments & insults that i know are bullshit but are worded “nicely” piss me off more… i mean, if you got a point, and it can be summed up nicely in “FUCKING LOSERS!” why not? i mean… what if Jesus said it? lol….

anyways, i suppose my point would be, wow your being easy on him Tim, thats nice of you……

i think you were right on the money, if you are to embaressed to ask questions about your OWN RELIGION!!! you are a fucking loser… and i think you described well why right after….

one
human?

A few people thought I was being needlessly harsh in my recent brand analysis of the popular spiritual website, Beliefnet. So for those skep [...]

“Who cares about institutions?”

lol, Steve Waldman i bet….

corporate institutions that is…. whats the difference really?

i dunno, seems like spiritual warfare to me….. “Lets destroy Relgion and increase Ad Revenue!!!”

is beliefnet actually good for anything besides banner space?

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/003/2.36.html

http://www.beliefnet.com/mediakit/media.htm

• More people use the Internet for religious or spiritual activities than have:
• gambled online
• used Web auction sites
• traded stocks online
• used Internet-based dating services

• 64% of wired American’s (nearly 82 million people) have used the Internet for spiritual or religious purposes

• More than 4.5 MM people a day get religious or spiritual material online

• Most Americans think spirituality is important to their lives
• 61% general public said, religion is “very important” in their life; another 25% say it is “fairly important”
• 59% of Americans attend religious services once a month or more;
• 54% of all Americans say they pray once a day

lol, still though, more people online for porn i bet…

“Institutions are soulless,” said William Bell, religion reporter for the New York Daily News. “If the denominational press can’t cover fully, fairly, and accurately a particular topic, they can’t expect us to do their job.”

The founder of Beliefnet again reinforced this disdain for the institutional church. “Previously, there was too much reporting on institutions and not enough on individuals,” said Steve Waldman, Beliefnet’s founder. “If my religion producer asked to go to the Methodist Conference I would say no–we need to use our resources for something relevant to people’s lives.”

Relevant to Beliefnet means interaction. The online experience allows for reading a story, posting to a discussion board, listening to a prayer, and pondering a meditation. “Our visitors are questioning basic Christianity,” said Deborah Caldwell, former Dallas Morning News religion reporter and now senior producer at Beliefnet. “Who cares about institutions?”

Found here: http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/9770.htm

Here’s another more recent article about Beliefnet landing $7million in funding this year with a little more about their business model

http://www.bcvc.com/news/index_detail.lasso?id=204

Still, research suggests interest in religion online is booming. Jupiter Media Metrix says traffic to religion sites is growing faster than any other Web category. The Pew Internet & American Life Project says 25% of surfers have searched for religious information online — more than those who bank, shop or gamble online.

I think that figure’s from a few years back, but I wonder where it’s at now.

definitly fascinating…… i wonder what his beliefs are..

A quiz on the Web site beliefnet.com offered David and Chanah an interesting conclusion - it said their political and religious beliefs placed them square in the category of Orthodox Jews.

“It was kind of an ‘ah ha’ for us,” David said, although denying their belief in Christ was a painful and difficult process.

The family now keeps a Kosher kitchen at home, separating milk and meat dishes and avoiding pork and shellfish. Chanah home-schools the children, taking time to emphasize theology in the daily freeform lessons she designs.

http://tinyurl.com/9svzw

sorry for the multiple post, beliefnet has temporarily caught my attention…

one
human?

http://www.beliefnet.com/mediakit/audience.htm

interesting.

how the hell do they add 15,000 email subscribers daily????

ahhhh, i see….

“AOL Religious Content provider”

now thats a company with a logo, lol…

did you check out the management? :
http://www.beliefnet.com/about/management.asp

this guy is weird:

ALAIN JACQUOT -ñ Chief Technology Officer & EVP Operations. Prior to Beliefnet, he was CTO at Global Education Network, a broadband distance learning company where he led the development of the company’s content management system and e-learning infrastructure. Prior to joining Global Education Network, Jacquot was CTO at Index Stock Imagery, a leading provider of digital images. During his tenure at Index Stock Imagery, Jacquot oversaw all technical aspects of the company’s rapid growth and led the development of a high-end DRM-based image search engine and multiple e-commerce storefronts. Jacquot holds a Masters from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunication in Paris, with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Management Information Systems.

i agree that design & marketing is important. really, the internet is basically the only place where design & marketing arent AS important, but its essential nontheless IMO to have good design & marketing.

on the internet, content can BE your design & marketing, unlike pretty much everything else (except books i suppose) where design & marketing ARE your content…

i disagree though with your assesment of the beliefnet logo….

its either a oroboros or a golden mean spiral IMO, both have some deep implications…

one
human?

I don’t think logos or a distinct brand, in the classical sense of print, has anything to do with a site’s success. It’s all about content,

I don’t think you could be more wrong. Why then do we even have design or marketing at all? Surely international companies aren’t dumping billions of dollars and man-hours of research and development for nothing.

Having good and consistent content IS part of how you build a brand online.

A close friend of mine is one of the monitors on Beliefnet - these folks are paid well, given much discretion, and are largely, i think, atheists or agnostics. i don’t see how you could do their job if you were religious, and as it is, they are not loved by the posters in general. They’re always suspected of being stealth advocates of the ‘other’ religion. If you sometimes enjoy watching primates square off over unsupportable abstractions, Beliefnet discussions can be fun.

As to the weakness of the Pagan groups on Beliefnet, i think that has more to do with the way Pagans network and use the web than maginalization on the site. We’re not big proselytizers, and have our own discussion groups. At one time i had a SubGenius topic on Beliefnet, but there wasn’t enough participation, for the same reason. i was only hanging out there because i enjoy religious debate in the same way i enjoy professional wrestling.

Oh, and bravo to the Coast to Coast AM idea. I listen to it on a fairly regular basis, and one of my pet-peeves is that every single speaker on gnostisicm that I’ve heard lumps all the groups into a single unified whole. Even if not the main topic of discussion, it’d be refreshing to hear the subject brought up by someone less eager to push gnosticism as a backing of whatever their own school of thought is.

Their target audience, from the very beginning, seems to be adherents of what was once called - in the 70s and 80s - the “new age movement”: those people who regularly go to the bookstore to purchase bubble gum enlightenment bestsellers. They are now, for the most part, the establishment. That’s their audience, I think. They have mellowed out a bit. A lot of them now have cushy university professorships and/or have started their own NGOs and are part of the whole UN behemoth that ostensibly tries to bridge politics and spirituality, everyday, into some sort of consensus.

Which is why one must wonder what the true charter of beliefnet is. But that brings in questions of conspiracy and that of course has the ability to start a whole new belief that one day beliefnet can include in its categories.

Irony upon irony. We’re in the singularity now.

While we’re on the subject though, I’ll put together a brand study of them as well.

ps I think you should be a guest on Coast to Coast AM.