The Triumph of the Therapeutic
As religion's proper practice disappears, other practices arise to fill the resulting void. One of the most popular: therapy. Therapy this, therapy that. Just don't fall down on your knees and pray:
The Internet is now teeming with some 15 million blogs. Although the medium first drew mainstream attention with commentary on high-profile events such as the presidential election, many now use it to chronicle intensely personal experiences, venting confessions in front of millions of strangers who can write back. . .
Although AOL provides tools that allow bloggers to limit their audience to selected viewers, most don't, said Bill Schreiner, vice president for AOL's community programming. "It's like they're writing the novel of their lives, and [public] participation adds truth to their story."
G.K. Chesterton recognized that the psychiatrist's couch was often a mere substitute for the confessional. Maybe these bleeding bloggers send a message to those of us who mindlessly stumble through the group confession at the beginning of church: perhaps there's an existential need to confess or acknowledge one's shortfallings in front of others. And when that need isn't channeled properly, you get things like bleeding bloggers.
