Secondlife and digital theology

Whilst researching for the essay I've just had to write on my theology course, I've been touring churches in secondlife (yes really). I was directed after I'd finished to the Basilica of St Francis at Assisi . Frankly, it's worth creating a secondlife acount for. The 'pictures' I took are in Facebook, but I think I'll move them to flickr so everyone can see - or better, go and look yourself. It really is the most stunning recreation. I've not been to Assisi, more in a sec, but to be able to walk around the Basilica(s) in secondlife is just amazing. There is, I've discovered a virtual tour available at the Institute of Digital Theology , so I feel slightly sorry for them, but perhaps in fact secondlife will increase their sales, not depress them. I'd not heard of the IDT before either, but anyone knowing how I got into technology will realise I'm very pleased they exist. Their demo on youtube is very good, and maybe more professional than secondlife, but since it will basically be the same images, I can hardly imagine much difference, and in secondlife you can put yourself in there via your avatar. Last night we were wandering round admiring it, and I went to look on the web because I felt sure the virtual one is from before the earthquake. Wikipedia has a great page on the Basilica , which can act as a perfect tour guide for your secondlife visit (I so need to get into machinima!), but only a tiny mention of the earthquake, saying one fresco by Cimbue was lost and 2 years reconstruction was needed. This needled me, so I looked further. I haven't been to Assisi, but it was one of the places in the world I was desparate to visit. When I was 18 we took my grandmother to Pisa and Florence, and having queued for ever to see David, mum and I had to literally sprint round the Uffizzi gallery, hardly seeing anything carefully, but saying one day we'll come back. The following year many treasures were lost in the fire, so I never did get back to see them. What you want to do, find a way of doing today. Don't put it off. I was devastated watching the TV coverage of the earthquake that hit Assisi, and felt I'd totally lost my chance. I've never been back, and actually, I've not really heard much about it, though I think I do remember a small news item saying it had re-opened to visitors. But I remember it being a disaster, so to read 'one fresco lost and 2 years' reconstruction' seemed a bit minimal. To practise your italian, and realise a) just how important the work of the IDT/churches/individuals is in documenting our treasured heritage in case of -I hate to say- act of God, or worse, b) just how impressive it is to be able to walk round the place in SL (though I still haven't established whether they had already taken all the photographs - I need to log back in and look carefully at the vault that went), and c) remember just how devastating the earthquake was - those poor people who ran the wrong way into it, rather than to safety by coming forward down the nave really only needed showing once, must be a different cultural sensitivity in Italy, please watch the video. This is why I do what I do. Not so much what I do now, but what drew me into the world of technology. We might argue over the Lindisfarne Gospels living here or in London, but if something destroyed them, we'd at least have the facsimile somewhere. You might also want to say a prayer for those four people...

See the BBC page and links for more info, and be grateful that a photographer was cataloguing the cathedral immediately prior to the earthquake. I guess it's his photographs we have to thank. And here's a temptation to book those tickets.

tags: secondlife  faith