Collaborative Religion

I have been waiting a while to interview a priest in Wisconsin who is the head of a parish that used to be three parishes.  They had a crisis where they were forced to consolidate the three parishes.  In the past there would have been six to nine priests serving that population.  Now there is only one.

To deal with this, the parishoners themselves had to step up and take on many responsibilities formerly dedicated to the clergy.  This had the effect of giving the parishoners ownership of their own faith.  This ownership strengthened the parish.  In short, less leadership created a stronger community with a stronger faith.

Recently Ulises Ali Mejias presented at the Los Angeles Latino Muslim Association's annual meeting this discussion about the intersection of collaborative technologies and Muslim believers.  Despite the fact that at this echo the two comments engendered were not favorable, I find it very consistent with the Catholic experience above.

Ali Mejias is noting that when religion becomes closer to the person, closer to the heart, practitioners of a faith are forced to come to terms with the intersection of that faith and how they live day to day.  In most cases, these examinations are most effective when done with a community.  While the danger of group think is always possible, the benefits of peer review and support often outweigh.

In this case, the parallel between open source coding and religion, I feel, is apt.  Persons of faith need to work at home on the own (introspection) and need to collaborate with others (community) in order to provide a good product for themselves and society as a whole.