'neither Cold nor Hot': an Analysis of Christian World Wide Web Sites That Address Glbt Publics

This research analyzes Christian Web sites addressing gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered publics. The study involved content analysis of visual, operational, and informational enhancements and a frame analysis to assess issues of intent, consistency, accuracy, and validity. Web sites emphasized information dissemination rather than evangelization or proselytization; were overwhelmingly framed as collections of linked resources, rather than as online destinations for users seeking spiritual comfort; were almost completely devoid of traditional Christian symbols, scripture, and testimony; and failed to acknowledge in depth the complex debate over same-sex relationships. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! The Bible, Revelation 3:15 (NIV) Introduction The World Wide Web is a fairly new technological advancement, so it has only been within the past few years that much scholarly research has focused on its use. There still are many gaps in the literature. In particular, there has not been a great deal of attention paid to the subject of how religious organizations use the Web for information dissemination, evangelization, and proselytization–three primary strategic goals for a religious entity. Within this subject area, the issue of how Christian groups use the Web to address gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) publics is especially pertinent. There is intense debate within the Christian community about whether GLBT worshipers should be accepted in the church–and whether their interpersonal relationships should be affirmed (Higgins, 2002; Maloney, 2001). Some Christian groups welcome GLBT worshipers. Others do not, because they view homosexuality as unpardonable sin. Both sides believe there is Biblical authority for their philosophical position. Without a doubt, the acceptance and affirmation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people in the Christian community is "the most controversial issue facing the church today" (Davis, 2001, p. E1). This study seeks to provide some understanding about one aspect of the issue by examining World Wide Web sites operated by Christian organizations that specifically address GLBT publics. A group of Web sites representing a wide range of denominations was chosen for study. Sites were subjected to a content analysis of visual, operational, and informational enhancements to determine the presence or absence of these dimensions that, together, significantly impact users' perceptions of Web site content, functionality, and value (Swanson, 1999). As a result of content found, conclusions can be made about intent, consistency, accuracy, and validity (Cutbirth, Shapiro & Williams, 1983) of religious content as framed in the World Wide Web site. The findings of this research should allow greater understanding of the controversial issue of how Christian organizations address GLBT publics, and how those worshipers are included in different Christian communities. It should also allow Christian groups that actively seek out GLBT worshipers to assess their online communication strategies and become more effective in fulfilling the wants and needs of this population. The Online Experience In the past few years, there has been tremendous growth among consumers who use the Web as an information resource. Between 2000 and 2002, CommerceNet estimated a 40% increase in users worldwide–with 349 million people now using the World Wide Web. One-third of those users are in the U.S. (CommerceNet. . ., 2002). While it is difficult to quantitatively estimate growth in online content, researcher R. H. Zakon estimated that somewhere between 35 million and 40 million Web sites existed online in March, 2002. This represents a 100% growth since March, 2000 (Zakon, 2002). The establishment of a World Wide Web site is a technological endeavor that transforms reality "for practical ends" (Christians, 2002, p. 38). The hosting of a Web site allows people to indirectly define themselves as individuals (Papacharissi, 2002) or as members of a group. The Web site hosted on behalf of a Christian group is a distinct cultural 'reality' that can accomplish three key objectives. The first is information dissemination. A Web site can present information to create an inward sense of community, allowing those who share the same faith to communicate about their experiences. The Web site can have an outward evangelistic role, as well–as it can communicate persuasively with followers and the general public about the group's theology and organizational structure. Finally, the Web site can allow for proselytization, through which the organization can identify and recruits new followers. The Web site can allow a Christian movement to be legitimized in a number of ways. It can help build a dialogue with the public, solicit volunteers, encourage study of the issues, and even raise money and sell merchandise to further group objectives or work against the objectives of an opposed religious theology or organization. The Religious Experience The need to believe in an ethereal being or God is "a part of our nature, built into our neuronal mainframe" as human beings (Shermer, 2000, p. 47). Human beings want to believe in a greater power, and, at the same time, want to share this religious experience. This sharing allows humans to integrate spirituality into their personal and professional lives (Schneiders, 1989). For most religious people, this shared experience takes place within the organizational structure commonly referred to as the church. Within the church, followers develop their spiritual beliefs in accordance with the theology of the host denomination (Neck & Millman, 1994). Followers align their values with the organization, to reflect "emotional investment" in its structure (Dehler & Welsh, 1994, p. 22). Followers submit to and participate in "relationshipbased organizing" (Sass, 2000, p. 201) which connects participants, their values, and activities in socially meaningful and supportive ways. The result is a religious organization that can interpret the world and its relationships for followers and the general public (Appelrouth, 1999). At the same time, the organization creates a religious identity for itself. In the U.S., Caplovitz observes that this identity rests on two foundations–"a commitment to religious beliefs and practices and a feeling of kinship with a social group united by a common religious tie" (Caplovitz, 1977, p. 181). In recent years, Christian churches have faced a number of troubling issues. Beginning in the early 1980s, a progression of moral scandals caused many Americans to lose faith in religious denominations and those who led them (Gamson, 2001; Lord, 1987). These scandals involved financial misappropriation (Fraser, 1999; Barr, 1988), sexual misconduct by leadership (Gamson, 2001), the public expression of impolite comment by leadership (Goodman, 2001), and accusations of intellectual dishonesty (Swaggart accused of. . ., 2001). A world-wide scandal even left the once-sacrosanct Catholic Church to be widely perceived as manipulative and corrupt to its very core (Collins, 2002). Public support for religious denominations has been shown to drop dramatically in the wake of scandal (Fan, Wyatt, & Keltner, 2001). It has also been suggested that in recent years, at least partially in response to scandal, an increasingly cynical public has been shying away from some denominations and churches based on the perception that they "cause more problems than they solve" (Barron, 1993, p. A1). Worshipers who happen to be Christian and gay find themselves in a particularly difficult situation. They face widespread negative public stereotyping at the community level (Yang, 1997; Stipp & Kerr, 1989). They also can find themselves unwanted in church because they're gay (Tubbs, 2001) and are "shut out by the gay movement" because they're Christian (How fundamentalists. . ., 2002, p. D8). Some of the most prejudicial attitudes toward gay Christians are expressed within the GLBT community itself (Maynard & Gorsuch, 2001). It could be argued that the recent social and cultural climate is quite favorable to the development of religious organizations that address specific concerns common to GLBT publics. A gay-friendly Christian church would offer these worshipers comfort and support that they may not find within mainstream denominations, churches, and theologies. Christianity, GLBT Issues, and Apostasy An apostate is a person who at one time identified with a particular religious denomination, but for one or more reasons subsequently severed his or her relationship. The apostasy process begins with "individuals experiencing doubts about the viability of religious life and their own commitment to that life" (Bromley, 1988, p. 15). The highest level of apostasy is that of personal "disengagement" (p. 16) from the religious denomination. Apostasy involves more than church membership. "Apostasy implies a rejection, not just of religious identity, but, in part, of the dominant culture's values" (Bromley, 1988, p. 30). It is not unusual for those who become apostates to experience great personal and emotional suffering. Apostates often break from the established group during times of rapid social change that are already difficult for people to deal with (Wright, 1988). They are commonly rejected by family members and friends (Lobdell, 2001) and in some situations are accused of having psychological problems (Witham, 1998). The media add to the difficulty of the situation by commonly categorizing apostate groups among sects and cults in a way that can make them be perceived as deviant (Witham, 1998). Witham says this editorial treatment results from news media logic that seeks to draw attention to unusual behavior that results in social conflict. It also results from input by family and friends of religious group members who pressure media to expose alleged wrongdoing by dissenters. The process is exacerbated by mainstream religious groups that "add the aura of established religious authority to criticism of small groups" (1998, p.3). While apostasy is not a direct concern of this research, it is a related issue. Certainly some Christian denominations hold the theological viewpoint that homosexual behavior is sinful. A Christian group that claims to be housed within such a denomination–but at the same time uses its Web site to communicate affirmation of same-sex relationships–would technically be engaged in apostasy. This concern, and similar moral and ethical questions raised by Web sites studied, will be dealt with through exploration of issues of Web site intent, consistency, accuracy, and validity. Research Design This research required an objective means of determining the level of Web site enhancements perceived by site users. The content analysis method was chosen because it allows for measurement of communication content in a manner that is "objective, and quantitative" (Wimmer & Dominick, 1994, p. 164). Content analysis is widely favored among researchers investigating electronic or published media content because it allows for a "systematic examination of materials that are more typically evaluated on an impressionistic basis"–such as Web sites (See Babbie, 1990, p. 30). An additional method of analysis was needed to allow for broader qualitative generalizations to be made about Web site content. The method chosen was frame analysis–a strategy whereby the investigator proceeds to "select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicative text" in order to define and interpret communication content (Entman, 1993, p. 52). A frame serves as a means for organizing information that allows members of publics to adopt particular beliefs. A frame can organize key words, phrases, or themes (Scherer, 2002); audio/ visual messages (Hung, 2001); graphic images such as photos or cartoons (Ragan, 1979); or sources from which information originates or to whom it is attributed (Entman, 1983). Frames can be used to describe or characterize the communicative relationships that take place as a result of gender (Devitt, 2002) or ethnicity (Moody-Hall, 2002) or any of numerous other explicit or implicit variables (Hung, 2001) that result inand result fromcommunication. In this research, frame analysis was used as an organizing device to make conclusions based on what was found in the content analysis. Specifically, it was used to assess issues of intent, consistency, accuracy, and validity (See Cutbirth, Shapiro, & Williams, 1983) as found in the Web site. It allowed the researcher to isolate issues that Web sites portrayed as salient for public discussion from those that were not (See Tankard, 1997) and allowed an overall characterization of how Christian Web sites addressing GLBT worshipers select and emphasize "certain aspects of experience or ideas over others" (See Andsager & Smiley, 1997. p. 2). Research Questions Four research questions were posed in regard to Christian groups' use of World Wide Web sites to address GLBT publics: RQ 1: What types of visual, operational, and informational enhancements are commonly used to address GLBT publics? RQ2 What quantitative differences exist among sites in regard to the use of visual, operational, and informational enhancements to address GLBT publics? RQ3: What similarities and differences in regard to perceived intent, consistency, accuracy, and validity of content can be identified among World Wide Web sites addressing GLBT publics? Methodology An extensive search was made on the World Wide Web to identify Web sites for study. The author sought to identify religious organizations that demonstrated a national base of support–rather than those whose support was isolated in a particular community, or directed toward a localized GLBT public. Although the Web-based search for qualified organizations was not random it was exhaustive. This search began with inquiries via Yahoo and Google to identify Christian organizations that communicated specifically that they were reaching out to gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered publics. From an initial sample of more than 100 organizations, the researcher identified 12 Christian groups, all of which identified a national base of support. The groups represented a variety of different religious denominations across the wide theological spectrum of Christian worship. Subject Web site names, group names (if different), URL addresses, and statements of purpose as found on Web sites are shown in Figure 1. Existing content analysis designs located by the author were insufficient to fully extrapolate the visual, operational, and informational elements of these Web sites. Therefore, the author created a content analysis instrument and procedure similar to that used in previous studies of Web sites (See Swanson, 1999 and Mitchell, 1996). The content analysis procedure identified presence or absence of 12 types of visual enhancements, 20 types of operational enhancements and 17 categories of information which are commonly found on religious Web sites. Sites were scored to receive one point for each enhancement type present, regardless of the number of instances of the enhancement which were evident. No points were given for enhancement types not present. The enhancement categories measured are shown in Figures 2, 3, and 4. The final procedure carried out was a frame analysis. The frame analysis served to identify the intent, consistency, accuracy, and validity of each site based on its claims and in comparison with the enhancements offered (See Cutbirth, Shapiro, & Williams, 1983). Because the Web is a constantly changing medium, it was important to conduct the content analysis procedure in a way that would come as close as possible to obtaining a 'snapshot' of all the sites' content at a single point in time. All analysis of site content was conducted by the author during a six hour time frame on a single day–January 31, 2003. Each site was viewed once, for 30 minutes. Access was accomplished on an IBM Thinkpad PC using Internet Explorer 6.0 on a local area connection at 100.0 Mbps. A content analysis form for each accessed site was completed manually as each site was accessed and analyzed. All sites were accessible without delay on first attempt.